sam83

After 1400 blissful miles, my 10-spd shifters are giving me problems. The problem is that the right one is hesitating when shifting down into the two smallest cogs in back. It's not all the time, but most of the time. Sometimes it happens a little further up, but so far it has not happened on the larger 6 cogs. No problems shifting up to the larger cogs.

I've given everything from the brifter to the rear der. a pretty good douching, compressed air and re-lubing with tri-flow, but it did not seem to help.

I'm pretty sure it's the brifter because it happens even with me maintaining tension on the cable.

Suggestions?

Chongo

Since you've already cleaned and lubed the cables, you might want to check the derailleur hanger alignment. 10-spd systems are very sensitive to hanger mis-alignment. You can buy a Park tool for this, but any shop should be able to do it for you for $. Also, it sounds like you already did, but try adjusting the barrel adjuster.

colnagorider

Perhaps the spring is loosing it's strength. If the larger cogs don't have that problem, perhaps it is because the spring has more pull on it when it is on the larger cogs but when on the smaller ones it isn't as stretced out, hence it doesn't have the same pull. It may no longer be as strong as it was when new and may be stretched out. Just a thought. Slide your cables through the cable housing and check for any kind of resistance. There shouldn't be any.

sam83

Yes, checked the stops and cable tension. Hanger looks good and have no reason to believe it got tweeked.

This problem still occurs on the last couple shifts while I manually pull on the cable. Wouldn't that have eliminated the rear der, cable guide drag and cable/housing from consideration, leaving only the brifter?

robhunterx

It may just be a fine cable tension adjustment. Since the RD parrallelogram (spring) pulls the mech. back to the smaller cogs, too much cable tension can cause this sympton. Try turning the RD cable adjustment clockwise, 1/4 turn at a time to see if the problem goes away. Remember you also have the cable stops on the downtube (right side for RD) for more subtle tuning. Try https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64 for pictures & details. Good Luck.

sam83

Cable tension seems to make no difference.

Since this AM, I've replaced the cable. Housing and ferrels seemed fine.

Problem still there.

The entire drivetrain is only about 5 months old and has not seen much moisture at all. Stored in the house.

Ray Dockrey

You could try flushing the innards of the shifters with WD-40. Sometimes the grease Shimano uses gets hard and cruddy and causes the shifter to shift poorly. Wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

operator

Is the section of housing that exits the RD moving around when you shift?

sam83

Tried it.

No luck.

sam83

Not that I can tell.

The situation seems to have been deteriorating. Now it's not shifting down consistently on the final 4 gears.

Sometimes when it won't shift I can reach down and pull out on the cable and hear / feel a click in the brifter. Then it will shift. Once.

But, it behaves the same whether I maintain tension (manually) on the cable or when it's just the rear der. that's maintaining the tension.

bccycleguy

Did the derailleur jump to the smallest cog when you loosened the cable nut to change the cable?

If it didn't, turn the bike upside down and look inside the derailleur by the spring and see if a little pebble or a bit of a stick is stuck in there keeping the derailleur from returning to the neutral position.

sam83

Rear der. seems to work just fine. Pretty sure there is something wrong with the brifter.

fmw

Testing the shifter isn't hard. Just release the cable and pull it out through the housing. You can then hold it with one hand and operate the shifter with the other. You should be able to pull the cable cleanly through all nine clicks in both directions. If you can, then the problem was most likely tension and you'll fix that by reinstalling the cable.

HillRider

That's what warranties are for. If you've isolated the problem to the brifter and it is within the warranty period, (1 year or 3? I know Dura Ace is 3 years but I'm not sure about Ultegra.) contact your dealer about a warranty replacement. I understand Shimano is very good about honoring their warranties.

masiman

Another poster recently tried to fix thier 105(?) brifters. As others have experienced, this is not an easy task with the Shimano eqpmt. In other words, people do not recommend trying to take apart the Shimano brifters for maintenance.

If your problem is indeed the brifters I hope you are able to get a warranty replacement.

Good Luck.

Bobby Lex

Have you measured the chain for wear? 1400 miles is not much, but stranger things have happened.

Bob

sam83

300 miles on a new DA.