Annoying Hoods Thing
 

My gravel/rando/road-ish bike has the 105/5800 hydraulic group set. I keep getting this thing where the hood covers want to slide forward, popping up and off of the front part of the brake/shifter/hydraulic reservoir thing.

It seems to have gotten worse after I just put new bar tape on - whether that is because I got too bulky with the bar tape somewhere, or just stretched out the hood covers while doing the job I do not know.

Would appreciate any help or suggestions.
http://www.meijerphoto.com/ImageDisp...08-01T07:46:27

I would clean the mating surfaces with alcohol,

maybe use a dab of rubber cement or spray adhesive,

and be prepared to replace the rubber covers, if they just don't fit well.

I've seen more reports of this problem with these STI's. The hoods are clearly too big and have been manufactured wrong. I dont think there is any trick to make them shrink any smaller.

I'd contact Shimano warranty and ask for a replacement set. But there's no guarantee they will be any better if Shimano havn't acknowledged the issue and made the necessary changes to the rubber mould.

New hoods may solve the issue for you. Did for me.

Bought a bike where the shop had spilled oil while bleeding brake. Oil was under the hood. Even after totally cleaning lever body and hood many, many times the hood just would never hold original shape.

Replaced hood and all is well.

Seems the rubber does not play well with oil. Seems once it gets oiled you can have challenges and opportunities.

Good luck.

I used a couple wraps of self fusing silicone tape while new hoods were on order. That worked really well. If you want to save some $$ you could go that route.

ODI Hudz, is a company making various colors too ..

ODI GRIPS - HUDZ - SRAM DT ENHANCEMENT BRAKE HOODS

is your tape covering up the slots in the sides of the hoods insert into, if so they will not be anchored well and slide forward. Trim the tape back

If you spilled even one drop of brake fluid, that may be the issue. It not only lubricates the surface allowing the hood to slide, it can also swell the rubber causing it to lose elasticity. Depending on how much was spilled, and how long it stayed in contact with the rubber, the hoods may be shot.

Also, as pointed out above, be sure to not over tape over the base of the lever in a way that either covers the latching points or pushes the hood sideways preventing the latching tabs from fully engaging. The tight way to tape is to lead the tape close to the lever body so the hood covers any gap, but not around the lever body itself. Those who like to wrap once around the lever body must exercise care to be sure the hood is not prevented fro latching properly.

At this point, a thorough wash of the hoods, and solvent wipe of the lever body is called for before you try again.

"Brake fluid"... not only will it mess up most rubbery materials, it WILL REMOVE MOST PAINTS, right down to the bare metal... and then, it will fiercely resist being removed from that bare metal, making repainting a failed process...

mineral oil doesn't do that.

Bingo.

I needed to recable for sticky shifting, and couldn't find the time to do it myself so I took it to the lbs. They had to retape the bars,and they way they did it is a bit less bulky around the base of the hoods. They sit and stay now.