Sticky STI (what's the consensus...)

"Bear" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So, On a reide this morning and went to shift to a more difficult gear
and it wasn't happening. My 2000 Shimano 105 shifters just wouldn't
cooperate. When I got home I flushed the shifter really well with
WD-40 and worked the shifter back and forth...no dice. When I push the
small shift paddle it takes the brake lever with it and sticks at the
inner limit of it's travel. If I hold the brake lever stationary I can
shift through the gears...what gives? Any solutions to this
problem...I already checked the bottom bracket cable guide and the
small screw under the levers!!

Maybe a frayed cable. When did you last replace it? Frayed cables inside the
shifter body typically don't want to return. Shifting is flakey for a while
then it breaks. Better to replace it before you have problems because the
little broken wires can get in the wrong places and cost you a lever body
unless you or your shop guy are really good. (and a little lucky)

I figure STI right cable end of life is about 3000 miles. Replace at about
2500 and it will probably never cause you grief. Other than a tube that
cable is the only spare I carry on a bike.
Bill Brannon

Bear said:

So, On a reide this morning and went to shift to a more difficult gear
and it wasn't happening. My 2000 Shimano 105 shifters just wouldn't
cooperate. When I got home I flushed the shifter really well with
WD-40 and worked the shifter back and forth...no dice. When I push the
small shift paddle it takes the brake lever with it and sticks at the
inner limit of it's travel. If I hold the brake lever stationary I can
shift through the gears...what gives? Any solutions to this
problem...I already checked the bottom bracket cable guide and the
small screw under the levers!!

I went through something similar on a friend's bike recently-

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.bicycles.tech/browse_frm/thread/eb87129cd944396/a13fbeaaf266013f?q=shimano+105+sti#a13fbeaaf266013f

I tried flushing, checking the new cable and housing, etc. Finally
ended up just replacing the lever.

About the only decent thing about replacing a $100 plus throw-away
part is that you can completely unscrew the old lever body from the
mounting ring and reattach the new one. Pre-thread the brake cable and
feed the new body down. With the whole annoyance of having an
unrepairable part, not having the re-wrap the handlebars was nice.

Bear said:

So, On a reide this morning and went to shift to a more difficult gear
and it wasn't happening. My 2000 Shimano 105 shifters just wouldn't
cooperate. When I got home I flushed the shifter really well with
WD-40 and worked the shifter back and forth...no dice. When I push the
small shift paddle it takes the brake lever with it and sticks at the
inner limit of it's travel. If I hold the brake lever stationary I can
shift through the gears...what gives? Any solutions to this
problem...I already checked the bottom bracket cable guide and the
small screw under the levers!!

Very common failure mode of 9s STI, small lever 'drags' the big one with
it, no shift, holding the big lever outboard, then it shifts.

If flushing doesn't work, replacement is the only option.

I recommend a Campagnolo lever set, any one of them, a Campag rear
derailleur, and go ride. Campagnolo 9s and 10s levers/rear der are
compatible with shimano 9s...

Quoted message said:

I recommend a Campagnolo lever set, any one of them, a Campag rear
derailleur, and go ride. Campagnolo 9s and 10s levers/rear der are
compatible with shimano 9s...

I never understood this well. Does Campy 9s have a smaller derailleur range
than 10s? In other words, do the C9 and C10 cassettes have different
widths? It would have to if both C9 and C10 work with S9.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

"Qui Si Parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:1111585923.7fa7bc018acbcc5dd3be7282561b9216@teranews...

Quoted message said:

Bear said:

So, On a reide this morning and went to shift to a more difficult gear
and it wasn't happening. My 2000 Shimano 105 shifters just wouldn't
cooperate. When I got home I flushed the shifter really well with
WD-40 and worked the shifter back and forth...no dice. When I push the
small shift paddle it takes the brake lever with it and sticks at the
inner limit of it's travel. If I hold the brake lever stationary I can
shift through the gears...what gives? Any solutions to this
problem...I already checked the bottom bracket cable guide and the
small screw under the levers!!

Very common failure mode of 9s STI, small lever 'drags' the big one with
it, no shift, holding the big lever outboard, then it shifts.

If flushing doesn't work, replacement is the only option.

I recommend a Campagnolo lever set, any one of them, a Campag rear
derailleur, and go ride. Campagnolo 9s and 10s levers/rear der are
compatible with shimano 9s...

I use the Campangnolo 10s levers with Ultegra derailleur and 9 speed Shimano
cassette. I find that the Ergo levers are much nicer to use than Shimano STI
and both the Campy lever parts and Shimano cassette cogs are all easy and
inexpensive to replace.

This combination shifts great using the alternate routing of the cable on
the derailleur cable clamp as shown in: http://tinyurl.com/lc19

Good luck!

Dave

ISTR that Campy 9 has a bit wider spacing than Shimano 9, and Campy 10
a bit narrower. Thus, with a bit of fudging, you can work it with
either. The initial setup is a bit finicky (shifting is PERFECT in the
middle, a slightly less so in the smallest and largest cogs), but once
it's dialed, it works very well.

Phil said:

Quoted message said:

I recommend a Campagnolo lever set, any one of them, a Campag rear
derailleur, and go ride. Campagnolo 9s and 10s levers/rear der are
compatible with shimano 9s...

I never understood this well. Does Campy 9s have a smaller derailleur range
than 10s? In other words, do the C9 and C10 cassettes have different
widths? It would have to if both C9 and C10 work with S9.

Yes they do. Here's why it works. The cogset widths, center to center are-
-Campag 9s-4.55
-shimano 9s-4.34
-Campag 10s-4.12

So the difference are small between Campag 9s and 10s, on either side so
with a floating top pulley and proper chain, you can use Campag 9s OR
10s with shimano 9s...and also Campag 10s with shimano 10s.

catzz66 said:

Qui Si Parla Campagnolo said:

If flushing doesn't work, replacement is the only option.

One of the shifters on my old GT has been balky ever since I bought the
bike used a few months ago. Flushing it with WD-40 did the trick. Thanks!

We have a can of WD-40 labeled, "STI repair kit"..in the shop.