masi61

I seem to have developed less than crisp shifting with my 3x9 road bike. My rear derailleur is an Ultegra 6500 GS long cage road model and I have a Dura Ace 7803 triple crank running a 9-speed Ultegra 6500 12/23 cassette for a road club rider triple set up. I’ve been suffering embarrassing mis-shifts on these club rides when the terrain turns to the steep hills. To avoid destructive crunch shifting while standing I have been carefully goosing it, sitting in the saddle applying even pressure and “sitting-in” at the back on climbs until I get back to smaller rollers where I can keep the torque light. Standing climbs, a skill that I like to practice has mostly been sacrificed in favor of seated climbing until I figure this out.

I noticed that the upper cage is not popping up into the correct relationship/spacing with relation to the cog. At first I thought that the “B” screw was misadjusted but now believe that the upper spring pivot has become “sticky”. I can manually move it but even then I am able to feel that the upper spring pivot seems excessively tight.

I believe I am on to something here but am requesting some opinions on whether Shimano rear derailleurs can manifest this when they get vintage like this one is now (this series of Ultegra is from, what the mid 1990’s?). The silver RD looks really clean externally but I have never disassembled anything on it but the pulleys when they start to squeal.

So, would a disassemble/clean/lubricate/reassemble procedure help s RD’s sluggish upper pivot?

HillRider

I would first try dripping light oil (Tri-Flow or similar)i into the pivot to see if that improves the action. A more intensive cleaning can be done by removing the two pulley pivot bolts and the inner cage plate and soaking the entire body and the removed parts in mineral spirits with agitation. Then brush them clean, dry and reassemble it with light oil in the pulley bushings and all the pivot points. That should really help. You can always disassemble it later if that doesn't cure the problem.

masi61

Thanks for yourHillRider - I actually already did this a couple of weeks ago when I re-greased my pulley bushings I put light synthetic oil dispensed with a needle tip into the upper pivot gap. I have riddden the bike a couple of hundred miles since then and my shifting gremlins are about the same. Definitely a tight upper pivot. I pulled the RD off and plan to remove the circlip now and examine the internals of the pivot bolt & spring now.

curbtender

If you can't figure it out, an old XT is a nice replacement.

70sSanO

The Dura Ace RD-7700 might be at the top of the heap for the era. However, if you can get your hands on an XTR M900/M910 for less than a king’s ransom, they make fabulous road RD’s.

John

masi61

Update: upper pivot successfully rehabbed!

After removing the circlip from the upper pivot bolt, I had to spray carb cleaner into the orifice from both directions and tap the bolt out with a nylon hammer. It took like 3 or 4 resprays and wipe-outs with paper towels soaked in carb cleaner to get the brown colored spent grease out of the articulating surfaces.

I put silicon grease on the nylon pivot washer and the O-ring that is on the bolt. After some fussing with the correct orientation of the spring (longer protrusion in the hole, shorter spring protrusion engaging outer plate spring hole) then rotated the backing plate so the the stop is in the right orientation & the spring slightly wound, the circlip finally got re-installed properly.

Woo Hoo - now to hook it back up and test my shifting.

BTW: while I had the RD off I used the opportunity to check my derailleur hanger with my Park Tools derailleur alignment gauge. It was out slightly so I got that sorted. Will do a test ride this afternoon for an update. My litmus test that everything is good would be if I can reliably stand to climb while in my 30 tooth front chainring and able to shift through the rear 9 speed with no drama…

KerryIrons

Shifting while under standing pedal pressure is not really a good idea. It fits into the "it can be done but shouldn't be standard practice." You're expecting too much of your drive train.

masi61

You misunderstood me. I’d didn’t mean that I would shift while standing, I just meant that I expect my gear to remain smooth while standing after I shift.

masi61

One more update on the sticky upper pulley - the problem has truly been sorted. My confidence is much better thanks to knowing that the RD can track the cassette without jumping a cog. I can stand to climb and did not suffer any mis-shifts on my club rides this week.

Also, in my quest to have a tight, quiet bike, I wanted to comment on how strange it is the way that once a loud, but intermittent mystery noise is identified and then ameliorated, it follows that the second loudest mystery noise then reveals itself. In my case it was a clicking sound audible when I was standing - I did a process of elimination and traced it to my front wheel hub in the fork. I checked the quick release skewer and realized that it was gripping too light. 10 seconds to tighten the skewer nut, close the skewer and now the front end of the bike is no longer creaking while climbing ! Yes!

fishboat

Good on ya for working with it until you sorted out the issue(s). Glad you got it fixed and q-u-i-e-t. Love a quiet bike..Shimano will get you there.