Bicycle Mechanics - Rattling Ergo Lever

My Bianchi's left Campy Veloce Ergro lever has developed a rattle that's driving me crazy. So far, I've peeled back the hood and ensured that the bolt that tightens the band clamp to the bar is tight. I've also sprayed Mobil 1 lube into the mechanism and worked it in by shifting repeatedly but the rattle is still there.

The briifter still works great but this rattle is driving me mad. Please tell that there is something else I can try short of tearing it down and reassembling it - the exploded diagram looks like it's full of tiny parts.

Please help me before I go insane.

Brake release do-hickey???????? and yes, I'm grasping...

Brake release do-hickey???????? and yes, I'm grasping...

I'll try fiddling with the release button this weekend while ride over bumpy pavement and see it that's it. If so, maybe I can partially engage it to stop the rattle.

I really have no other idea.....I'm guessing you've checked the bar clamp?? Is the housing pushed all the way up in the shifter??

Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be....

My guess is that the rubber bumper on the back of the brake lever is gone.

My guess is that the rubber bumper on the back of the brake lever is gone.

I just went out to the garage and the rubber bumper is there, but on both levers there is about 5mm of clearance between the lever and the shifter.

I partially engaged the release button per the suggestion above and gently rapped on the side of the brake hood and it buzzed like an angry beehive.

Tomorrow I'll peel back the hood again and make sure the housing is fully seated. I re-cabled the bike about a year ago and the rattle just started about a month ago.

I'm certain that it is comeing from the brake since I can stop it by gripping the lever. Yhis is proving to be as elusive as a car dashboard rattle!

Try bouncing the bike around and see what rattles.

Someone else had the same problem in this thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=409259). We never found out if he fixed it.

See my post about things to try.

As I posted there, I've disassembled the shifters to replace the G-springs. It's not in the shifter mechanism, it has to be in the levers.

Is there slack in the brake cable when the lever is released? The cable end would rattle. That would be unusual, though.

Try wrapping a rubberband around the shifter lever multiple times as a cushion and see if that fixes it.

If the handlebar clamp is loose, the whole shifter would move around when you rode with your hands on the hoods, so that's probably not the problem.

Try looping a rubberband from the brake lever over your bars, to engage the brake, and try your bumping test again to see if the rattle is still there. This would rule out the brake levers.

It's definitely in the brake lever. I went for a ride today and I can make it quiet by lightly touching the brake lever. It's not the shift lever since holding it doesn't stop the rattle. I'm going to study the thread that rm -rf linked and see if there's something there that might be causing this. Thanks for all your help and I promise to share the solution - assuming I find it

I didn't quite grasp why it wouldn't be the smaller lever bumping against the bigger lever (the braking lever). Usually it rattles if it's no longer aligned with the bumper.

You can buy tiny rubber bands (like for braces) and wrap it around the big brake lever at the point of contact. Other things works too but that one seems pretty efficient and simple.

cdr

Since pulling the shift lever doesn't stop the rattle, that seems to rule out any part of the shift mechanism. You pulled the shift lever in against the bar, correct?

There's only 3 parts to the lever:


The lever's pivot, that has a press fit. In the video, they lay the shifter on it's side, and tap it out with a punch. I used a 3mm L shaped hex wrench and tapped it over a hole in a block of wood.

The brake release button that slides back and forth. Mine was somewhat loose on one shifter, and it tended to slide sideways too easily. So I used some threadlocker on it to make it harder to slide.

The internal cable pivot at the top of the lever, that the brake cable threads through. It doesn't seem likely that this could be the source of the noise, but I don't know what else it could be.
Normally, the brake has to be squeezed together before the cable is clamped on the brake. If yours doesn't work this way, and the cable end is slack when the brake is released, it could rattle in there. Or it could be worn around the pivot.

You could probably reach down to the front brake and lightly squeeze the exposed cable sideways against the brake arms, to give it some more tension. You'd have to be careful, of course! See if that stops the rattle.

You can take the brake lever off without having to unwrap bar tape or peel off the rubber hood:


Unclamp the cable at the brake. Use pliers to squeeze the crimp cable end and remove it. Pull the brake lever so you can see the cable at the top of the lever. Push the cable back through and pull it out at the lever.

Lay the bike on it's side and set a block of wood so the shifter body rests on it, with a hole or gap where the brake lever pivot will press out. Then use the 3mm L wrench or something similar, that's smaller than the pin diameter. You have to tap fairly hard to get it started, then it taps out easily. At that point, the lever comes off. There's an internal split sleeve that fits around the pivot pin when the brake is reassembled. The sleeve is what keeps the pivot pin in place.


When you reinstall the brake cable, make sure the pivot is turned the right way. One side has a wider hole to fit the cable end.

When you have the lever off, don't spray the shifter mechanism with lube. It might wash out the grease that is in the G-spring gear area.

I didn't quite grasp why it wouldn't be the smaller lever bumping against the bigger lever (the braking lever). Usually it rattles if it's no longer aligned with the bumper.

You can buy tiny rubber bands (like for braces) and wrap it around the big brake lever at the point of contact. Other things works too but that one seems pretty efficient and simple.

cdr

The reason I don't think it's the shift lever is that when I hold it stationary the rattle is still present. Since I like to spin, I mostly ride the 39 ring so the left shifter rarely gets used but it rattles on the 53 as well.

What condition are the nylon washer that are between the brake lever (where it pivots in the body) and the pin running through the lever. If they are very worn, cracked or missing the brake lever will rattle.

If the housing isn't seated in the body, i will allow a bit of slack and the lever will rattle as well.

Thanks for all the things to check. I haven't had a chance to look at it since the weekend (my wife and I have an infant plus three dogs). I'll check it out in a few days and let you know what I find.

I just went out to the garage and the rubber bumper is there, but on both levers there is about 5mm of clearance between the lever and the shifter.

I partially engaged the release button per the suggestion above and gently rapped on the side of the brake hood and it buzzed like an angry beehive.

Tomorrow I'll peel back the hood again and make sure the housing is fully seated. I re-cabled the bike about a year ago and the rattle just started about a month ago.

I'm certain that it is comeing from the brake since I can stop it by gripping the lever. Yhis is proving to be as elusive as a car dashboard rattle!

There is no such thing as partially engaging the release button it is either in one position or the other like an on off switch. Sounds like the brakes may have been adjusted with the release open (especially with a 5mm clearance that will be only in the open position) and you aren't able to engage the release button properly without the brake pads contacting the rim.

My brakes rattle if I start out on a ride and forget to close the levers after replacing the front wheel. There is nothing else that should (or can) rattle in ergos. They don't have that topcap piece that rattles in some of the Shimano STIs. Have them on 4 different bikes including a set of Mirage ergos I use on an old C-Record 8spd group (even they don't rattle and are 6 years old). Sorry but I think there is some operator error in this problem...no offense intended.