Poor Shifting in the Cold?

[redir]

I noticed this last year when using my Shimano 105 11-speed bike on cold morning commutes. It's getting cold once again in the mountains of Virginia, 29 degrees on this morning commute.

Anyway what seems to randomly happen is when I go do shift up, so moving the chain to smaller cogs in the back using the little inside lever, the lever has no engagement. It's like pushing on air, there is no mechanical engagement. Sometimes I'll shift down, with the big lever to bigger cog, and then try to shift up again and it works, other times I just keep flicking it till something finally catches.

I swear it only happens when it's cold... Is this a known issue?

[charliedid]

Try some Rock N Roll cable magic.

It might be going from hot to cold freezes things up a bit.

Sort of like how skis that are warm indoors stick to the snow when you first take them out.

[Seramount]

my 7800 DA does the same thing...

rode last week when it was 87F, front der shifted smoothly. cold front came thru, temp dropped to mid-50s and it does the 'air-shift' thing about 50% of the time now.

[pjbaz]

my 7800 DA does the same thing...

rode last week when it was 87F, front der shifted smoothly. cold front came thru, temp dropped to mid-50s and it does the 'air-shift' thing about 50% of the time now.

My 7800s freeze, as well. I just ride other bikes right now but have a feeling there will be an 11-speed change very soon

[David Kirk]

The grease in the mechanism gets old and dries out getting thicker and the cold temps add to that turning the light grease into peanut butter.

You can usually thin it out with a liberal application of a light spray lube...even WD-40 will usually do the trick. Stick the spray hose into different places in the shifter mechanism and spray away. Cover it with a rag to reduce the mess while flooding it and then let it drain.

This should take care of it.

dave

[Seramount]

Stick the spray hose into different places in the shifter mechanism and spray away. Cover it with a rag to reduce the mess while flooding it and then let it drain.

This should take care of it.

dave

sounds easy enough...just gave the shifter a liberal shot of WD, will see how it works in a couple of hours.

[TunaAndBikes]

I asked a mechanic about this and she recommended taking off the hood to spray it with warm soapy water to dislodge the old grease, let it dry (with like, a hairblower), then apply preferred lubricant or dura-ace grease to restore shifting performance.

[lhuerta]

then apply preferred lubricant or dura-ace grease to restore shifting performance.

YES, a must after you flush (using whichever flush method noted in above posts), otherwise your DRY shifting is going to b worse then your COLD shifting.

[redir]

Ok cool thanks for the tips, I'll try the flush. Glad to know I'm not the only one out there.Besides my old DT shifter bikes the only other Ergo's I have are Dura Ace 9 and Campy 8 and they have performed flawless in the winter.

[pjbaz]

Ok cool thanks for the tips, I'll try the flush. Glad to know I'm not the only one out there.Besides my old DT shifter bikes the only other Ergo's I have are Dura Ace 9 and Campy 8 and they have performed flawless in the winter.

9 speed Shimano road groups were the best ever! My 6500 has been absolutely bulletproof

[Chief]

The grease in the mechanism gets old and dries out getting thicker and the cold temps add to that turning the light grease into peanut butter.

You can usually thin it out with a liberal application of a light spray lube...even WD-40 will usually do the trick. Stick the spray hose into different places in the shifter mechanism and spray away. Cover it with a rag to reduce the mess while flooding it and then let it drain.

This should take care of it.

dave

Will a degreaser followed by a spray lube work?

[oldpotatoe]

Will a degreaser followed by a spray lube work?

Preferred way...for above, using water, even if ‘drying’, some may remain and rust the innards. Best is WD-40(solvent), blow out, then spray lube.

[David Kirk]

I don't like a de-greaser....the chance that you'll get it all out is nearly nil.....WD-40 until it works and then let it sit and dry out and then real lube.

dave

[dddd]

In a pinch, like when you first notice on a cold ride that shifting has become hit-or-miss, the trick is to move the lever slowly, it will engage every time.

I have tried many approaches to restoring gummed shifters and prefer an aerosol with some solvent in it but with a good percentage of oil, and having a foaming characteristic after it exits the can. TriFlow worked but did tend to re-gum after a couple of years, as did a brief blast of WD40, so I still sought a better lube.
I recommend Liquid Wrench Lubricating Oil, sprayed into the shifter mechanism from such points that it foams out of the other gaps.
Have the bike or just the bars pointing 30 degrees downhill to prevent the oil from creeping under the hoods (which can be a serious problem if this occurs).

I put a bucket under the lever to contain the flow of oil and subsequent dripping, then I tuck a folded sheet of paper towel fully up between the big and small lever to soak up any excess of oil overnight.

I've also restored STI levers that were beyond gummed, hardened might be a better term for grease that has perhaps sat for successive summers in a hot garage! The stuff to start with on such levers is the aerosol form of Finish Line's petro-based Citrus Degreaser, which has an aggressive-enough solvent in it to penetrate the annular clearance between the pawl's bores and their mating pivot pins. Following up with the Lubricating Oil (preferably after the shifter has been blasted out with air) makes for a long-lasting repair and smooth shifting action.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7314/10295959365_21f768ef4c_c.jpg

[jamesau]

I have several older bikes that run either 9 or 10 speed STI and use TSI-301 to lube the shifters if they start acting up. This product is used often in gun and fishing reel circles. It lasts a long time and doesn't seem to degrade or dry out. I use it to both flush and lube.

Note that this product used to have a greater web presence than I can find today. It's made by American Gas & Chemical and sold through their ecommerce site below. Note also that the product description says not suitable for all plastics; it's never posed a problem during my many years of use in this application.

https://detectorbuy.com/product/tsi-301-14

To apply while shifters are mounted on the bike:
Suspend bike from rear wheel or front wheel low in stand so excess doesn't get on bar tape.
Remove wheel associated with brake lever so that lever's motion is least restricted.
Pull main lever all the way to the handlebar and actuate shift lever to end of its range.
Spray into shifter openings (with spray tube attached to can's nozzle) while alternately actuating the shift levers up and down the range. Your intent should be to free up the pawl/ratcheting mechanism. Let it sit for a while and repeat.

Good luck.

[shortwaveradio]

The grease in the mechanism gets old and dries out getting thicker and the cold temps add to that turning the light grease into peanut butter.

You can usually thin it out with a liberal application of a light spray lube...even WD-40 will usually do the trick. Stick the spray hose into different places in the shifter mechanism and spray away. Cover it with a rag to reduce the mess while flooding it and then let it drain.

This should take care of it.

dave

This is the way to do it. Something about stock Shimano lube in particular, it turns to gum after a certain age or temperature. I am surprised to hear that it's occuring on an 11 spd drivetrain though, so I would make sure your housing wasn't overlubricated with something thick like poly-lube. As an aside, I get that some touring bikes that are going to see a lot of rain might benefit from cables lubed with poly grease, but for most bikes it's going to attract more dirt and cause more wear than it prevents.

Anyway, I've found that a few squirts from a can of de-greaser with the straw attachment followed up by a few squirts of aerosol tri-flow teflon lube once the de-greaser dries works best. There are products that claim to do both at the same time but I find that they do both at the same time...poorly.

[Bob Ross]

when I go do shift up, so moving the chain to smaller cogs in the back using the little inside lever, the lever has no engagement. It's like pushing on air, there is no mechanical engagement. Sometimes I'll shift down, with the big lever to bigger cog, and then try to shift up again and it works, other times I just keep flicking it till something finally catches.

I swear it only happens when it's cold... Is this a known issue?


It's certainly a known issue to me!

My now 12-year old Ultegra 6600-equipped Cannondale started exhibiting the exact behavior you describe when it got to ~7 years old. Only ever happened in the winter, when temps were near or below freezing.

Never got a completely satisfactory explanation about what exactly causes the problem. The temporary solution was either to 1) drench the inner guts of the brifter with WD40 and then allow it to drain [edit: basically exactly what Dave Kirk described above], or 2) hang the bike up until Spring. Choice #1 would usually last for a couple of weeks, but eventually if the cold spell continued the symptoms would reappear. And then again the next winter, like clockwork.

The more permanent solution is, I have retired that bike to Tucson AZ, and I'm never there when temps are near freezing.

=========

fwiw I never experienced a similar issue with my 8-year-old Ultegra 6700-equipped bike (which just got updated to SRAM eTap this year, so now I'll never know).

This will be the first winter with my new 105 5800-equipped groad bike, so no data on that yet.

[avalonracing]

Sometimes this means the head of the cable is about to break off. Twice now I've thought it was just the weather or something gunking up the cable run and "Boom!" time to ride home in the 11 tooth cog.

It's MUCH easier to replace the cable before it snaps at the head.