Crossthreaded88

I have read of similar accounts of my problem being that Shimano discontinued the replacement hoods for the shifters on a bike I just acquired. Found a nice condition Trek WSD for what I thought was a great price equipped with Sora ST 3400 integrated shifters. Both hoods are gummy and leave a black tar residue on your hands when touched. I thought, no problem just buy replacement hoods but as everyone but me knew the damn things are discontinued. Changing the shifters are a deal breaker and not an option. So will something else work, st 3500 maybe? How about rehabing the current hoods or worst case scenario rig it up with rubber paint or bar wrap. I'm stuck here and I'd love to just have nice new hoods. Any ideas what I can do besides buy new shifters?

On a side note why doesn't spell check recognize "shifter" as a word, weird huh?

dsbrantjr

Welcome to the world of planned obsolescence.

zebede

Good luck...I hope you can find them...I couldn't, I have a set of 9 speed Tiagra Brifters with hoods that eventually got disgusting and broke down. Search as I may I could not find replacements. Mechanically they are in good condition. Now they just sit in a box.

FWIW...I replaced them with Barend shifters.

Qrs Mwanda

Did you ever manage to find a solution to this? Am currently expiriencing the same. Will appreciate any feedback

Crossthreaded88

Yes I did as a matter of fact! 2 1/2 years later I still have the ticket for the item and place purchased. Shimano Tourney A070, A073 STI Lever Hoods, Black
Sold by: Niagara Cycle Works I bought them and they fit the Sora shifters the only difference was they had a hole molded into the side for a cable to exit which the Sora's don't have other than that perfect fit and I ended up making a killing selling that bike because of it. Hope this helps I just checked and they still have them although the price has doubled from $5 to $10.

zjrog

Good to hear! I picked up a set of drop bars with Sora 3400 brifters, the hods are n great shape, but I think I'll snag the these just in case. I recently mangled my 3500 Sora brifters all cosmetic damage, I got covers and hoods to replace them

Qrs Mwanda

Question please, I have a supplier who has SHIMANO SORA ST 3500, could they be a great fit for ST 3400? I've looked all over with major bike suppliers within my country(KENYA🇰&#127466 but in vain. Kindly advice...

zjrog

They are quite a bit different. The original poster showed the Tourney hoods fit. Maybe your local supplier can find them for you.

Cyclist 92637

I recently purchased every Shimano brake hood that had the correct “ mounting tab shape” above the nameplate from Amazon. I removed the existing 3400 hood and compared it against each set. The readily available ST-4400 hoods appeared to be a near perfect match. All of the internal tabs and cutouts are correct they are correct width and profile front and back. They mounted up easily using a brake spoon to guide them into place And after I installed them I would say they are 95% right. The only area that wasn’t great was a slight “flaring out “ at the very top. In no way affects operation and unless you are looking closely it’s not even noticeable

again not perfect but so much better than what was left of the factory hoods

$16 and next day on prime. 5 other sets being returned……



QUOTE=Crossthreaded88;19644516]I have read of similar accounts of my problem being that Shimano discontinued the replacement hoods for the shifters on a bike I just acquired. Found a nice condition Trek WSD for what I thought was a great price equipped with Sora ST 3400 integrated shifters. Both hoods are gummy and leave a black tar residue on your hands when touched. I thought, no problem just buy replacement hoods but as everyone but me knew the damn things are discontinued. Changing the shifters are a deal breaker and not an option. So will something else work, st 3500 maybe? How about rehabing the current hoods or worst case scenario rig it up with rubber paint or bar wrap. I'm stuck here and I'd love to just have nice new hoods. Any ideas what I can do besides buy new shifters?

On a side note why doesn't spell check recognize "shifter" as a word, weird huh?[/QUOTE]

Camilo

For posterity: first place to look for old/outdated hoods is eBay. Can often find them there through a lessor known bike store or a individual who has them, maybe from inoperable shifter (i.e. "for parts"). I sold a 6500 shifter that way, the guy only wanted the hood and the faceplate thing. I also earlier and later found faceplate and hoods for the same shifters the same way.

KCT1986

Yes, Ebay seems to be the only place to find old hoods these days. Need to get lucky to catch a listing and be willing to pay a high price sometimes. Parts for Shimano 9 speed Ultegras and 105, (6500/1, 6510, 5500, 5510) are quite expensive. Too bad since there were so many nice bikes that were fitted with these groups and worked well.

martwa

Following Crossthreaded88's advice, I picked up the A070/A073 hoods and they do indeed fit the 2300 levers perfectly. There is a cable exit hole on the inside of the hood that isn't used with the 2300 levers, but it doesn't interfere with fit or function. Many online retailers show the levers as out-of-stock or backordered, but a few places have them available, e.g., https://shop.unlimitedbiking.com/pro...ods-black-pair. Oops, they're sold out now, too!

Thanks to Crossthreaded88's post, I was able to do a nice refurb of a Trek 1.1 and send it on to a new home.