thehammerdog

I have an old school 9 speed Dura-ace set up works great but will not shift into my 2nd largest gear on rear cassette. I cannot figure out the issue and wondering out loud if the shifter mech is somehow faulty or rear der itself or is it a cable issue?? curious if there is a simple answer to the problem. all other shifts work great,

Retro Grouch 

Have you had the derailleur hanger alignment checked?

Andrew R Stewart 

One thing I think of is a cable snag that corresponds with that problematic gear. Frayed cables can have specific points of halting movement. Andy

thehammerdog

all cables are new.

thehammerdog

i havd not checked that. all other gears work well.

100bikes

Did it function correctly before the new cables?
A burr on the housing or in a connecting ferrule may be a cause.

Did you rebuild or take the cassette apart ? A cog on backwards or not correctly oriented would be a source of this as well.

BTW, never thought of 9 speed as "old school", but I guess it getting to be that.

Andrew R Stewart 

So as the brake/shift lever (the big front one) is pushed enough times to bring the chain up to the 3rd biggest rear cog. The lever is pushed more and there's no "click" holding it in place when the chain is fully on the 2nd big cog. Release the lever and the chain drops back down to the 3rd cog. Push the lever further then what 2nd might be and 1st can be engaged and held in place??? The most obvious thing to think of is what is restricted only to that 2nd cog position within the shift pod. The ratchet pawl and the related tooth. Now these levers are well known for getting gummy lube over the years. A solvent cleaning and relubing can often bring funky lever function back to agreeable function. The lube that the pawls use on their little pivot shafts is often the first to start to freeze up. This is the next thing after cable possibilities to check out. I probably should have mentioned this in my earlier post but thei gumming up issue is so well known...

There are dozens of on line vids as to what others have done to refresh their levers. Mere spray lube into the shift pods does a short term fix and sometimes if done once a year the levers won't need more. But I like to remove the lever/pod sub assembly from the lever body and then soak/flush in solvent a bunch, dry with warmth/compressed air. Relube with first a light weight oil then finish with a thick oil, assisted with compressed air. Reattach to the lever body, run cables and readjust the brakes and gears. Andy

kingsting

Dumb question (Only because I got skunked on this one before)

Are the shifters definitely 9 speed? Or do you have an 8 or 10 speed shifter?

Other causes point to a cable being a tad too loose, derailleur hanger alignment issue, or a broken tooth in the shifter.

Also, is everything Dura Ace? (Derailleur, shifter, cassette, chain). Dura Ace doesn't always play nicely when it comes to mix and match components.

thehammerdog

9 fo sho
all dura ace groupo..from a Lemond 853 steel beauty.
i think the gummy cleaning is my next move.

kingsting

Everybody here has their favorite magic gummy cleaner for Shimano shifters and I'm sure they'll chime in.

I've had good luck with silicone spray.

ChrisAlbertson

You want a quick-fix but in this case it is best to start over at "zero" and set up the derailer from scratch. Disconnect the cable, pull off the housing and inspect both ends of each housing. Make sure the ends are clean-cut and square andfurrels are OK and pushed on well. Do NOT say "I checked them last month "what could be wrong. The plan today is to pull it al apart and check and reinstall everything all at once. It only takes about 30 minutes.

OK, so you cable and housing and ends are perfect.

Park Tool has a pair of videos showing ho to proceed from here. They start by setting the limit screw for the smallest cog and then just follow along.

My guess as to the problem
1. limit screw prevents movement
2. you are using the large chain wheel. Don't do that. The last rear cog goes with the smaller chain wheel. You chain might be to short or the derailer not have enough range for the worst case of "cross-chain"


That said, guessing at the problem and "trying stuff" is not as productive as pulling the cable off, backing out all three adjustment screws and starting over in a methodical way. The park tool video shows a good "cookbook" method. and a way to double-check each step.