Bicycle Mechanics - Does a regular person fix an STI brifter?

The internals in my front der STI shifter have developed some problems. I've taken it apart enough to find a plastic part broken; the next step will yield springs, cogs, and the like all over the place. Does a regular person have access to the individual replacement parts? Do LBSs repair these? Or, are these considered kaput when the guts stop working properly?

thanks,
Kevin

Are they Shimano or Campagnolo? If you search google you can find a lot about Shimano STI shifter rebuilding.

Thanks. Shimano 105.

For all the time I spend googling mindless crap, I can't believe I didn't think to simply start with a google search.

thanks again,
-K

Hmm, I've always heard that Shimano brifters are not "rebuildable", but then I never really looked into it.

Shimano shifters 'are not rebuildable' - that said, it's been done, but isn't for the faint of heart. You may also have trouble getting the piece.

Shimano does not sell repair parts for brifters, so the only way to get parts is to cannibalize
another brifter. The mechanical complexity of Shimano brifters is enough to make further
disassembly inadvisable as rebuilding requires well above average skills even if you found
some repair parts. Campy brifters are simpler, more robust and repair parts are available.
No word yet on SRAM.

FWIW it is unusual for the FD brifter to malfunction, the RD brifter much more
commonly fails, so in theory there are probably a lot of left over functional FD
brifters floating around rendered worthless by a broker RD brifter I have four
of them, 1 8 spd and 3 9spd. Not offered for sale just a comment on how many
Shimano brifter sets I have gone through in 35kmi of riding on brifters.

Campy brifters are simpler, more robust and repair parts are available.
No word yet on SRAM.

Don't know if SRAM brifters are rebuildable, but I have heard they are simpler and have less parts then Campanolo.

Personally, if I can't get the shifter to index correctly after working in a ton of Tri-Flow, I generally call em gone. I've had some luck rebuilding main components of an STI, but they are not user friendly.
Also the 105's are notorious for having problems.
Get campy. Much better.

The arguments about the high cost of campy are true until you have a Shimano go bad. I have been rebuilding campy shifters for years for myself and friends. Typically the cost is less than $50 for parts which are readily available. See the site Campyonly.com for instructions. Your campy dealer will have the parts or can order them.

Thanks for the info. By vast majority of opinion, here and abroad: disposable, not rebuildable.

With Shimano price increases to the retail buyer over the past 2-3yrs, Campy is no longer
the high price leader it was. SRAM has certainly not chosen to compete on price in
their road groups and the recently released barend/TT/Tri shifters are really pricey at
$200.