Road shifters "sticking"

[han-grrl]

Anyone have this problem...i try to go and shift either front or back, it varies, its never both at the same time, and its like the shifters are STUCK. eventually it will go, if i play with the opposite shifting..

do i need to replace them??

[maillotpois]

How many miles do you have on your bike? shifters usually last a long time....

If you have Campy you don't need to replace them; they can be overhauled pretty easily at your bike store. Not so sure about Shimano but pretty sure you would have to replace.

Be sure you don't have any "gunk" gunking up (technical term) the cable feeds under your bottom bracket. Build of up sport drink, dirt, dead worms and frog guts down there can impede shifting.

[han-grrl]

oh, they are several years old. Shimano 105's.
probably many thousands of km on them, as i bought the bike off a friend, and i know i put in at least 2000 in the last couple of years (when i actually put on a computer on the bike)

[HoosierGiant]

Be sure you don't have any "gunk" gunking up (technical term) the cable feeds under your bottom bracket. Build of up sport drink, dirt, dead worms and frog guts down there can impede shifting.

Amen to that!

Had my road bike at the LBS last fall to repair a cable that had snapped right at the shifter. When I went back 10 days later to test ride before bringing it home, couldn't shift at all. A quick inspection revealed that the cables were gummed up at the bottom bracket. Gatorade. Riding every day kept them broken loose and at least usable; sitting for 10 days allowed everything to seize up into a goopy, gloppy mess. Since then, I've switched to Teflon cables and make sure to wipe down my bottom bracket after every ride.

And, having finished a ride this spring that left my bike a writhing, wriggling mess -- worms hanging everywhere -- I can vouch for them gumming up your cables also.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

worm jerky.....mmmmmm......

[DebW]

Also possible for the cable to get frozen into the housing by rust, or crimps in the cable or housing to cause poor shifting. Check cables before deciding that the lever is stuck.

[aicabsolut]

if you can't find anything up with the cables, try putting a little bit of lube in the shifter

[SadieKate]

Any gunk in the levers themselves? Do you turn the bike upside down to fix flats possibly burying the shifters in the dirt?

[han-grrl]

tonight was cleaning out the drawer night...
tomorrow night i tackled the bike clean up

both bikes need some major TLC...

thanks for all the advice ladies...this is super helpful!
i'll let ya know what i find in there (alhough after worms, and gunk and major old gatorade...yew!!)

[eofelis]

In my experience, usually when the shifter fails it's because a spring or pawl breaks and the shifter won't move the cable; the shift lever will move, but it doesn't pull any cable and it has little or no resistance on it. This can also happen when the factory grease turns to a substance resembling taffy, but that usually occurs only after the bike has sat for an extended period (usually a year or more).

In your case it sounds like something may be jamming the shifter. It is possible that what has happened is that the shift housing itself is coming apart and the wires in the housing are protruding into the shifter, thus biding the shift wire. I've seen this a few times on bikes with old or original shift housing. On one bike I found that the wires from the housing had forced themselves well into the shifter, so they not only bound up the cable but were jamming the shifter mechanism as well.

So you might want to check the shift housing at the shifter. You can do this without unbolting the cable: shift the rear derailleur until the chain is in the largest cassette in back. Then, with the bike stationary and without moving the rear wheel, "upshift" the shifter all the way. This puts slack in the cable and will let you pull the housing away from the shifter a centimeter or so without unbolting anything. If you see any wires other than the shift wire coming out of the housing ferrul, you've found your problem.

Good luck.

[han-grrl]

Hello Ladies

Ok, i finally got around to cleaning and looking at my bike.

I *think* one of the problems with the shifting is the front deraileur rubs right against the chain at about gear 7 (or 3rd gear up from smallest cog if you will ) it does the same thing in either chain ring in the front. if i shift down one, and up again it will go, but i think its more of shake that happens so it goes. it also doesn't stay in the next gear hopping right up to the top cog.

I don't see anything too disgusting inside the shifters, but i haven't actually taken it apart.

I definitely need to shim - i am so glad i found out about that from the other thread. and new pads. yeesh.

My bike is going to the shop tomorrow for some tweaking...

thanks everyone!

[aicabsolut]

Oh....this sounds like an indexing problem. It's stalling when you shift up, and then you have an automatic transmission problem. Maybe try tightening the rear cable after you clean around the bottom bracket and the shifters really well. Or, it may be time to replace your cables. Also, sit down with the ParkTools website on front derailleur adjustment. Sounds like it's not positioned right (or a limit is way off) for you to get chain rub to that extent in both rings.

[han-grrl]

yeah - thats a bike shop fix i think i'm not confident enough with the cables - plus - NOT TIME gah!

thanks though!

Knowledge is power, so i will at least SOUND like i know what i am asking for

[han-grrl]

a little update

so the bike shop doesn't have shims for these ultegra breaks. they suggest i upgrade to a ten speed. yeah. sure.

my friend who i bought the bike from, said the handlebars are steep and wide.
she has narrower less steep bars, we will swap them, and i guess move the whole "unit" down a bit and see if that works.

i will ride as is while i am away for now, the roads i am going to are flat, so it should be ok over there...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

a little update

so the bike shop doesn't have shims for these ultegra breaks. they suggest i upgrade to a ten speed. yeah. sure.

They do make great new Shimano ST-R600 short reach brifters now for 9 speed, they come with shims for smaller hands. I absolutely LOVE mine. My other bike has bar-end shifters and Shimano plain brake levers, non-shim-able, and I too have trouble getting my fingers around them to brake.