Did I break my STI lever?

[clawhammer]

I recently had a road trip where I had to leave my car unattended in public places for several hours so I put my bike in my car instead of on my bike rack. Now my left STI lever is acting funny, and I fear I may have borked it. I'm running Dura Ace 7700 levers with an Ultegra 6500(?) front derailleur.

There's three main symptoms. First, the lever is acting different now. When I shift all the way up and let the lever return to normal position, it doesn't always "stop" from being pushed up again. Instead, it will give me the full travel without catching on anything, though I can definitely feel several distinct points where it feels like it's trying to grab something (which I'm assuming is related to the various trim click stops).

Second, related to this, if I trim my front derailleur and then try to shift up later, I have to throw the lever the whole way instead of just the last one or two clicks. This tells me I might have broken something in the shifter mechanism that catches on the trim clip stops.

Third, and this is the one that is most annoying, it struggles to get the chain onto the big ring. I've reindexed my front derailleur and played with the cable tension but that doesn't seem to have done much. It will shift if I pull the cable by hand, but the lever struggles to get it all the way up—it just sits there with the big ring almost catching the chain. The derailleur definitely moves, but apparently not all the way.

Given all this, I'm thinking I broke something in the shifter mechanism and its time to start looking for a new lever. Has anyone had a similar problem and can corroborate my diagnosis, or prove it wrong completely?

[jc031699]

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=186327

[regularguy412]

You can try cleaning it up/out with the WD40 route. IMO, it's probably just worn out. I had a front der. STI Ultegra shifter do the very same thing. Just too many miles on it. Found some NOS 7400 (first gen.) STI levers and they're still going strong.

Mike in AR:beer:

[clawhammer]

Thanks for that link—I've read about the WD-40/spray lubricant trick before, but I was suspicious of the sudden onset of the problem coinciding with the (admittedly poorly handled) road trip. That shifter hasn't given me any grief before this problem. I'll go out and get some spray lube tomorrow and see if I can revive it.

[rustychisel]

Not clear from the road trip what you might have done to break it. Insides don't just break in transit, so satisfy yourself it's not other small issues.... all cable housing correctly located in stops and ferrules and not loose.... cable is correctly tensioned from detente position... derailleur adjustment stops not out of position... derailleur itself not knocked out of position, or rotated on seat tube of frame.

Failing that, pull the cable and look for broken strands (at ferrule end)... replace... then try the WD40 trick.

[weisan]

Just a theory. Maybe you leaving it inside the car for an extended time with the buildup temperature and humidity cause the grease inside the shifter to melt and move into unintended places where it mix in with the dirt accumulated and gunk up the whole thing. The idea behind using WD-40 is to flush out the gunk and untangle the mess so give it a try and see how it goes.The key is to spray copious amount and shift up and down, cycle through all the gears, do it like 20 times or more....I also wrap some blue towel around the hood to catch any drips. You will see the dirty stuff oozing out...that's a good sign.

[oldpotatoe]

Thanks for that link—I've read about the WD-40/spray lubricant trick before, but I was suspicious of the sudden onset of the problem coinciding with the (admittedly poorly handled) road trip. That shifter hasn't given me any grief before this problem. I'll go out and get some spray lube tomorrow and see if I can revive it.

If you hold the big lever outboard and then try to shift small shift lever, does it work as advertised? Common failure mode for STI..BUT I'd try the 'STI repair kit'..flush and lube, may bring it back to life. I think the circumstances are a coincidence is all.

[Erik_A]

I would recommend buying a gallon of WD-40 from Home Depot along with a small plastic container w/ lid.

Then take the hoods off and let them soak submerged for 3+ days. If they are salvageable; that will do the trick.

[rockclimberalex]

I've gone through 3 ultegra rear shifters. Chain lube seems to make them work for about another week. just long enough to order another.

[Dead Man]

$5 says a good dousing in WD40, let sit overnight, brings it right back to life

[deechee]

Have you looked at the cable? With my 6600 I sheared the end of the cable where it stops in the shifter so I had a lot of trouble going up to the big ring too. It was a long ride so eventually the cable/housing snapped clean off and I realized oh, it was the cable.