MitchW

I was out riding when I noticed that the front derailleur wasn't shifting right. When I got home I could see that the cable was frayed at the derailleur, had slipped and would need to be replaced. I figured that would be an easy job and wouldn't need to adjust the limit screws, just replace the cable and adjust the tension. I could still shift between all 3 gears but shifting down from the biggest gear jumped the middle gears and I could feel a lot of resistance shifting from the middle to the biggest gears and the lever won't go all the way. I loosened the cable until its entirely slack but the problem still remains. What did I do wrong and how do I fix it?

I don't know the part numbers but it is a 9 speed drive train.

Thanks,
Mitch

Bob the Mech

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair...eur-adjustment

And remember that road STI levers have a 'trim' feature. On the 9 speed this is at the the big ring side. So on a triple chainset: small ring to middle (1st shift), middle ring to big ring (2nd shift), then trim (a smaller shift movement to remove chain rub). 11 speed Shimano systems have a trim on the inner and outer ring.


Trim function.

dsbrantjr

What is the condition of your cable housings? Excessive friction is an enemy of smooth shifting.
Edit: There might also be bits of the frayed cable still in the shifter.

Kimmo 

Could be the shifter is getting gummy inside.

MitchW

I think the problem is that I can't shift past the trim up form the middle gear. I suppose it could be the cable housing, when I try and shift up from the middle the shifting gets very taut and the housing deforms. OTOH it does shift onto the big gear and is aligned correctly. I loosened the High stop but that didn't make any difference.

Mitch

grizzly59

9-speed 105, maybe google "fd-5500 pdf", fd-5503 st-5500 might be your manual. You can check the derailer itself, bike upside down on the lawn, turn the pedals and pull the inner cable, don't use the shifter. My guess, you have something interfering with the shifter, frayed cable, piece of something in the shifter mechanism.

Maybe these work:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...n-XlvyCWEpgXk5

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...QzepInnfVMup3x

Don't take the shifter apart. But you can remove the cable + housing and look at the shifter. There may be a piece of frayed cable, etc in there that you can see as you shift the shifter. I use a pick, small pliers, and thinned oil followed by air gun from a compressor to fix stuff like this. I replace the cable and the housing together, the inner liner of the housing wears out even if the housing looks ok.

MitchW

The fraying was at the derailleur so I don't think anything got into the shifter. It does move freely with no tension on the cable. I guess the next step is to replace the cable housing and cable. I should have replace it the first time, its been on the bike since I bought it.

Mitch

MitchW

Went out and bought a new cable and sheath but before I put in the new cable I decided to see if it would shift without the cable and it didn't seem to go all the way. I shook it but niothing seemed loose or came out. Does this look like it went far enough? BTW its an ST5510 brifter.



Mitch

andrewclaus

Also check your cable routing at the derailleur pinch bolt. Post a photo of that, too, if you'd like.

MitchW

Nothing to show there since I'm not hooking up the cable till I figure out if the shifter is working correctly. It was pretty much a straight run from under the bottom bracket to the pinch bolt.

Mitch

andrewclaus

Sorry if this is insulting, but a lot of mistakes get made at the front derailleur pinch bolt. If you don't route the cable over a tab, you'll change the pull ratio and get symptoms similar to what you describe.

MitchW

Not at all insulting, does the cable go on the inside or outside of the pinch bolt? I think I had it on the inside.

andrewclaus

Generally it goes as far "outside" as it can, over a tab. Any doubts, post a photo of your attachment.

cxwrench

Assuming the limit screws are correctly adjusted you should:

Make sure the shifter is all the way in the low position.
Attach the cable.
Shift up to the middle ring, make sure the rear is in the big cog.
Adjust cable tension so the inside front der cage is 'close' to the chain...roughly a mm or so.
Shift the rear down to the small cog.
Shift the front up to the big ring and verify limit adjustment.
I'm not remembering exactly what trim positions you have but you can figure that out by holding the cable in your fingers and shifting the lever. In your photo above the shifter isn't all the way in the low position. You should be able to insert the cable straight in to the carrier.

MitchW

Looks like the cable goes on the inside. Here's a web example followed by my blurry photo.


Note the shoulder on the pinch bolt arm.

MitchW

Got back to it today and blew out the shifter with compressed air. I found a small white ribbon that was torn and a piece of plastic. It now seems to shift from small to large correctly but still skips the middle ring when shifting down from the big ring. Sounds like the shifter is shot, so what are my options: used off of EBay, new Microshift or Shimano Sora shifters or bar end shifters? Any opinions?

MitchW

Another option: I found a single ST-5703 left shifter that the seller claims is compatible with 3x9. Is that correct?

Bill Kapaun

The 03 denotes a triple.

FLUSH the shifter innards with WD-40 to dissolve any stiff grease that may be impeding rapid pawl/detent engagement.
Repeat 2-5 times if needed.
Just a tick slow is too late to catch it at mid ring.

I'm ignorant about "road" shifters, but on my MB shifters-
After sitting a bit, after a few minutes "soak", shift ALMOST to the largest ring and then ease it back down SLOWLY, giving things more time to engage.
IF you can do similar, it'll help speed up the process.
IF successful, I give one (or more) more flush(es) to get more "gunk" out.