Bicycle Mechanics - Reassembling STI lever (Ultegra 10 speed)

Hi,

I decided to dismantle my right Ultegra 10 speed STI shifter. Turns out it was a bad call. You are free to call me an idiot, I have called myself much worse.

I can't get the thing back together with the return spring in the right place. Anyone have any tips (I know there's a special tool out there but I need to do this myself today if possible)? If not, is it toast or should the LBS be able to sort it out?

Thanks,

Idiot Boy

Do you happen to be a swiss watchmaker? If not, LBS stat, if you're lucky.

I've always heard that Shimano stuff is not serviceable and not meant to be taken apart, but run a search as I recall reading from a few who did it successfully.

The Voodoo involved with re-assembling it involves a human skull, fresh dirt from a graveyard and cutting the head from a live chicken while dancing naked around a bonfire built from old tubular tires.

The Voodoo involved with re-assembling it involves a human skull, fresh dirt from a graveyard and cutting the head from a live chicken while dancing naked around a bonfire built from old tubular tires.

That being said, I once succesfully rebuilt a Deore XT 9 speed rapid fire shifter. A lot of luck and an extra pair of hands were involved so you might be able to find some online accounts of successful techniques.

I can't get the thing back together with the return spring in the right place. Anyone have any tips (I know there's a special tool out there but I need to do this myself today if possible)? If not, is it toast or should the LBS be able to sort it out?


It's a mystery, it's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma! The *dang designers* don't even know, don't you get it?! *Darn*, man!!"

Starred portions are substitutes from original JFK quote :).

Good luck gettin' working again.

I got a 9 speed one back together a few years ago just by sort of hooking the spring on and tensioning while reassembling the lever but it took quite a few tries and I learnt my lesson and never took it apart again.

I once because we were having trouble with STIs on a cross country bike rip. I successfully took an Ultergra one apart and managed to get it back together. Unfortunately it didn't work any better after the attempted repair than before. From my experiences with STI Shimano has to have a huge warehouse of these that broke and were replaced for free. Roger

Is the spring you are attempting to replace in the shifter mechanism itself or the spring that returns the brake lever to it's rest position when you let go of it?

If the former, you're not an idiot, you're a customer for a new shifter. :)

If the latter, they aren't that tricky and Shimano includes a small metal tube about 20 mm long and 2mm in diameter with each STI set just for replacing that spring. Your LBS should have a bunch of them.

Is the spring you are attempting to replace in the shifter mechanism itself or the spring that returns the brake lever to it's rest position when you let go of it?

If the former, you're not an idiot, you're a customer for a new shifter. :)

If the latter, they aren't that tricky and Shimano includes a small metal tube about 20 mm long and 2mm in diameter with each STI set just for replacing that spring. Your LBS should have a bunch of them.

I think it's the latter. It's labelled as the "return spring" in the shimano diagrams. I'll go to the LBS. Don't think I'll bother with the usual "I was just riding along when........."