mitchmellow62

Do any of you follow a schedule of preventive maintenance on your Shimano Brifters? I have had friction shifters on all my recent bikes but I just acquired a 2002 Specialized with 9 speed Ultegra brifters (6500 I believe). This bike is very low mileage (based on the OEM tires) and the brifters work well. However, I know that many brifters gum up or the cables fray. Is there recommended maintenance and a schedule I should follow? I'm not a high mileage rider and the total miles are shared between bikes so this bike will probably get several hundred miles a year at most. I previously had a bike with Tiargra 9 speed brifters and did no maintenance on the brifters. I was on my second chain (with proper maintenance) when I got rid of it and it was shifting fine. I'm very interested in what the rest of you do. There's another thread on RSX brifters right now and someone stated they replace the cable every year. Hopefully, that's excessive for my situation. Looking forward to all those knowledgeable opinions.

dsbrantjr

Check the shift cable for fraying frequently and anytime there is a sudden or unexpected (non-adjustment related) change in shifting. It would probably be wise to run the gears through their ranges occasionally when it is not being used. I will leave it to others to make lubrication/cleaning recommendations.

dedhed

I just preemptively change the $4 inner cable yearly. Outer every few years.

Andrew R Stewart 

Shimano once suggested a shifter lubrication schedule but i forget the frequency. My experience suggests if the shifter is new then every couple of years to spray in light weight oil. If the shifter is old then every year. OPf course if the shifter have been flushed clean and relubed due to gumminess then certainly at least once a year as the relubing is not likely to be as long lasting as the OEM lube was. Andy

djb

Andrew, a question : (I'm more in the touring forum regularly so you may not recall my user name, but I've always appreciated your experience and time taken answering folks...)

with my brifters, and any of friends bikes, when they start to get older, I regularly liberally spray the innards as best I can with one of those non sticky silicone type sprays ( stuff called jig-a-loo, sold here in Canada). I realize it's not the same as oem grease, but for years now, it has kept my shifters shifting with very little resistance and shifting perfectly.(ten seasons now)
I kind of figure that avoiding guminess is a real plus.
it's so easy to do, and not messy, it's easy for me to do even twice a year. Bing bang boom and done.

your thoughts on this type of lubrification
cheers

DrIsotope

^^^
I do the same. Never had an issue.

mprince

I've been running the same Shimano ST-7700 brifters since 2001, many miles in a variety of conditions, have never done anything other than replace cables and hoods and to this day they work as well as the day I unboxed and installed. Maybe I'm an edge case, but I wouldn't mess with the internals unless something stops working correctly.

Amt0571

Replace inner cables yearly. They tend to fray (IMHO they have a design issue) and that tends to happen. If you're unlucky, it's not unheard of shifter damage because the frayed cable ended up inside the mechanisms.

Andrew R Stewart 

djb- Yes I recognize your handle. As to lube type I'm an oil guy. I don't use much wax or silicone (although two stints in the ski binding service world decades ago saw a lot of silicone spray) (I do use LPS-3 for steel tubing storage) for lubing moving parts. But lube is like soap, that you use something and do so periodically is more the issue then whether it's Dove or Dr Bronners. Andy

djb

thanks, any specific light oil suggestions that you use? And do you just drip it in from sides holding shifter wide open in a sweep shift position? Or is it a spray?, just curious

Andrew R Stewart 

I use Triflow spray as my go to light spray lube. The same in a drip for specific points. For medium weight Finish Line Wet in a drip and Phil's Ten oil for the thick stuff.

When just doing a quick addition of lube during a tune up the shift pod gets a shot or two of Triflow spray. Ideally in two different directions but not enough to drip out much. When I do a proper flush and lube I remove the pods and solvent soak then air hose out the old crud. Relubing starts with Triflow and air then medium oil and air then thick oil and air. I do let the pod sit and drain a bit between the applications of lube. If possible I finish with a grease coating. I do about a dozen + each year at work and having used this method for years. I don't get returns a month later like I have seen when "on the bike spray lube only" has been done (on true gummed up shifters). Andy

djb

cool, thanks for putting down the details, appreciate it.
will try to store that in the old noggin
i betcha having compressed air is pretty important with getting out old gummed up junk.

mitchmellow62

To summarize:
* Relatively frequent inspection of cable to avoid fraying.
* Replace cable as often as every year (for those who do: How does the cable look at one year?).
* Shoot a little light spray lube into shifters from two directions every 1-2 years depending on age and use.
* When brifter starts to gum up and/or shift poorly flush with light spray lubricant and compressed air. Relube with combination of light, medium and heavy lubricants in conjunction with compressed air between each (Andrew uses Triflow/ Finish Line Wet/Phil's Tenacious).

Thanks to all!

djb

Re cable changing frequency, probably many factors at play

how much riding, flat riding or in hilly where you shift a lot more
derailleur adjustment, ie not having to force too hard shifters
are you a bull in a chinashop type person for shifting, forcing stuff
housing or general routing issues that require you to force more?

I've changed cables that were fraying, obviously waited too long, and probably didn't adjust stuff properly (too high tensions) but have changed cables after 2,3 years and they looked fine.

I figure changing cables sooner is better, but you'd get an idea easily if it's not needed every year lets say if cable and that sharp bend inside sti still looks fine.