BCDrums

I am doing some maintenance on a little-used 1999 Bianchi Sen Remo 9sp, equipped with Campy Mirage levers. Will be replacing the original shift & brake cables & housings. The levers seem to shift okay, maybe a bit stiffly. I have read here at BF of riders dousing the innards of shift levers with PB Blaster or similar to lube and restore shift/brake levers.

In general, I believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but would it be useful to squirt a little lube into these levers while the cables are out and bar tape off? I understand that Campy levers can be disassembled, but that's not on the menu.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Andrew R Stewart 

PB Blaster is not a lube, it will help degrade any current lube however. Adding a drop or three of suitable oil to the shift pod internals is a good idea. Campy has had a few lube ports molded into some versions of their Ergo levers, one form the inside face and one form above, both under the body hood. I use Phil, FL Wet and Chain L for this once a year, or so. I would not inject thick grease or use thin penetrants. Andy

alcjphil

Campagnolo shifters don't usually fail because of grease that has thickened with age, at least mine haven't. Rather, what fails is the g-springs or the spring carrier. A few drops of oil can't hurt but a flush could actually make things worse

BCDrums

Gents, thanks for the tips. I found a lube port on the inside/top of Mirage levers that runs right down to the bottom of the downshift thumbies, and I put a couple-three drops of a nice oil into them. I worked the shifters a bit and the oil made its way to the visible part of the mechanism. Shifting feels a bit less stiff.

Thanks for waving me off the flush.