No tension on right inside shifter

[oceanluvr30]

New to road biking and bought a used bike that was assembled by a bike shop. Problem is the inside right shifter has very little resistance and takes a long time to shift. This problem seems to be getting worse and requires moving the inside shifter multiple times to get it to shift. Would take it back to the bike shop however they are very expensive. Several items i bought from them were double and in two cases triple what i found elsewhere...so would like to do fix the problem myself. I am all for supporting local business but don't want to be ripped off as well...

Any suggestions as to the cause of this problem? The shifter is a Shimano 600

Thanks in advance

[DaveM]

Probably the shifter cable has gotten loose and needs adjusting. But more information on what kind of shifters and what situations this happens in would help. (Shifting to higher gears, lower, etc.)

Look at the derailleur adjustment videos here on the site.

[oceanluvr30]

(09-16-2010, 01:14 PM)DaveM Wrote:  Probably the shifter cable has gotten loose and needs adjusting. But more information on what kind of shifters and what situations this happens in would help. (Shifting to higher gears, lower, etc.)

Look at the derailleur adjustment videos here on the site.

DaveM this happens whenever shifting to a higher gear. The shifter came with my bike, which is an older model and is a Shimano 600. Will definitely watch the video..

[RBurrelli]

(09-16-2010, 07:38 AM)oceanluvr30 Wrote:  New to road biking and bought a used bike that was assembled by a bike shop. Problem is the inside right shifter has very little resistance and takes a long time to shift. This problem seems to be getting worse and requires moving the inside shifter multiple times to get it to shift. Would take it back to the bike shop however they are very expensive. Several items i bought from them were double and in two cases triple what i found elsewhere...so would like to do fix the problem myself. I am all for supporting local business but don't want to be ripped off as well...

Any suggestions as to the cause of this problem? The shifter is a Shimano 600

Thanks in advance

Is this the type of shifter?

If so, over a period of time it is not uncommon for the inner workings of these to get gummed up. They need a good cleaning/lubing with a suitable product. Some say WD40 would be OK for this application. Give it good squirt without disassembling. Also good to wrap a cloth around the handlebars behind the shifter to catch any excess. Otherwise you end up need new bar wrap.

This generally works.

[oceanluvr30]

(09-16-2010, 03:01 PM)RBurrelli Wrote:  

(09-16-2010, 07:38 AM)oceanluvr30 Wrote:  New to road biking and bought a used bike that was assembled by a bike shop. Problem is the inside right shifter has very little resistance and takes a long time to shift. This problem seems to be getting worse and requires moving the inside shifter multiple times to get it to shift. Would take it back to the bike shop however they are very expensive. Several items i bought from them were double and in two cases triple what i found elsewhere...so would like to do fix the problem myself. I am all for supporting local business but don't want to be ripped off as well...

Any suggestions as to the cause of this problem? The shifter is a Shimano 600

Thanks in advance

Is this the type of shifter?

If so, over a period of time it is not uncommon for the inner workings of these to get gummed up. They need a good cleaning/lubing with a suitable product. Some say WD40 would be OK for this application. Give it good squirt without disassembling. Also good to wrap a cloth around the handlebars behind the shifter to catch any excess. Otherwise you end up need new bar wrap.

This generally works.

Hi, Yes they are very similar to your photo. I will try to upload a photo later today..
thanks!

[oceanluvr30]

(09-16-2010, 03:01 PM)RBurrelli Wrote:  

(09-16-2010, 07:38 AM)oceanluvr30 Wrote:  New to road biking and bought a used bike that was assembled by a bike shop. Problem is the inside right shifter has very little resistance and takes a long time to shift. This problem seems to be getting worse and requires moving the inside shifter multiple times to get it to shift. Would take it back to the bike shop however they are very expensive. Several items i bought from them were double and in two cases triple what i found elsewhere...so would like to do fix the problem myself. I am all for supporting local business but don't want to be ripped off as well...

Any suggestions as to the cause of this problem? The shifter is a Shimano 600

Thanks in advance

Is this the type of shifter?



If so, over a period of time it is not uncommon for the inner workings of these to get gummed up. They need a good cleaning/lubing with a suitable product. Some say WD40 would be OK for this application. Give it good squirt without disassembling. Also good to wrap a cloth around the handlebars behind the shifter to catch any excess. Otherwise you end up need new bar wrap.

This generally works.

Hey thanks for the tip...i cleaned, as you suggested the shifter and it now works great. I did not use WD40 but a bike lube spray and it did the trick....Probably saved me minimum of $35 bucks if i had taken it to the the LBS

[RBurrelli]

Glad it worked for you. You may need to do it occasionally as part of general maintenance.

[eeforme]

(09-20-2010, 10:31 AM)RBurrelli Wrote:  Glad it worked for you. You may need to do it occasionally as part of general maintenance.

If you do not regrease them properly you will soon have a worn out shifter.

[RobAR]

(09-28-2010, 09:02 PM)eeforme Wrote:  If you do not regrease them properly you will soon have a worn out shifter.

eef is new here (like me) but I tend to trust this advice!

[eeforme]

Thanks for the positive reply. If anyone tells you to use WD-40 for anything on a bike you should run away from them as fast as you can. WD-40 has no place in the proper maintenance of a bicycle. There is nothing worst than the spread of bad information on the internet and most of what you read about these shifters is wrong. Whoever assembled the bike probably sprayed something in there to get it to work long enough to sell it and then you're stuck. Kind of like the old sawdust in the differential trick for cars.

[RBurrelli]

(09-30-2010, 08:32 AM)eeforme Wrote:  Thanks for the positive reply. If anyone tells you to use WD-40 for anything on a bike you should run away from them as fast as you can. WD-40 has no place in the proper maintenance of a bicycle. There is nothing worst than the spread of bad information on the internet and most of what you read about these shifters is wrong. Whoever assembled the bike probably sprayed something in there to get it to work long enough to sell it and then you're stuck. Kind of like the old sawdust in the differential trick for cars.

So I gave the poster "bad" information? And he should run away as fast as he can?

This is a very common way of freeing up a shifter like this that may be gummed up inside. If you notice I did use the word "might" in reference to WD40. I don't use it myself and I don't think the poster did either.

I will take you comment about regreasing and accept that as good advice. Most of us don't have the means or desire to tear apart a shifter and rebuild like you do, so we do some preventive maintenance.

I visited you facebook page and impressed with your work. But don't come here and try to put down others.

[oceanluvr30]

(09-30-2010, 12:15 PM)RBurrelli Wrote:  

(09-30-2010, 08:32 AM)eeforme Wrote:  Thanks for the positive reply. If anyone tells you to use WD-40 for anything on a bike you should run away from them as fast as you can. WD-40 has no place in the proper maintenance of a bicycle. There is nothing worst than the spread of bad information on the internet and most of what you read about these shifters is wrong. Whoever assembled the bike probably sprayed something in there to get it to work long enough to sell it and then you're stuck. Kind of like the old sawdust in the differential trick for cars.

So I gave the poster "bad" information? And he should run away as fast as he can?

This is a very common way of freeing up a shifter like this that may be gummed up inside. If you notice I did use the word "might" in reference to WD40. I don't use it myself and I don't think the poster did either.

I will take you comment about regreasing and accept that as good advice. Most of us don't have the means or desire to tear apart a shifter and rebuild like you do, so we do some preventive maintenance.

I visited you facebook page and impressed with your work. But don't come here and try to put down others.

Hi Guys....sorry took so long to jump back into the conversation but you are right, i did not use WD40 but rather a good bike lube/cleaner and do it whenever the shifter starts acting up and so far so good...Really appreciated the feedback.

[sheldonsite]

As someone else said, the lube in old Shimano STI road shifters gums up. Best send it out to the expert in repairing these complicated assemblies. He is eeforme who posted earlier in this thread but he appears to be too modest to promote himself. See this for more info: http://sheldonbrown.com/sti-repair.html

(09-16-2010, 07:38 AM)oceanluvr30 Wrote:  New to road biking and bought a used bike that was assembled by a bike shop. Problem is the inside right shifter has very little resistance and takes a long time to shift. This problem seems to be getting worse and requires moving the inside shifter multiple times to get it to shift. Would take it back to the bike shop however they are very expensive. Several items i bought from them were double and in two cases triple what i found elsewhere...so would like to do fix the problem myself. I am all for supporting local business but don't want to be ripped off as well...

Any suggestions as to the cause of this problem? The shifter is a Shimano 600

Thanks in advance