Bicycle Mechanics - campagnolo 9 speed shifter problem? not holding gears

Hey everyone, new to the forum - found it while looking for info on my shifter which is misbehaving!

On the way home from a 70km ride yesterday, my bike started shifting up gears on its own. I realised after a while that if I hold the down shift lever in a little bit, it stops it from shifting up on its own. At first I thought the cable was slipping but I still had the full range of gears. When I use the up shift lever it doesn't "click" in to gears any more - the dérailleur moves and the gear changes, but there's no click, and after a few seconds it will start shifting up gears on its own again. I suspect something has gone bad with the ratchet mechanism but I don't know anywhere near enough to be confident here.

It's a 9 speed Veloce - unsure of exact age. Is this a common/known problem with an easy fix? Is it worth dismantling to attempt a repair or should I just find a second hand replacement?

Sorta new to this stuff so any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Warren

Your best bet is to spray a bit of lubricant into the shift mechanism to see if it frees up, and then taking it to a bike shop to see if someone will rebuild it.

Sounds like worn g-springs.

If you want to rebuild your shifters go on YouTuby and queiry Campagnolo Ergo Shifters and you should get the assembly and disassembly of the shifters on video. Best to have a campy expert do the job. Find a shop who works on Campy gears. When your rebuild shifters right they are like new.
The first thing you might want to do is lube the mechanism then try adjusting the tensioner on the RD to take up some slack and/or check to see if your cable has slipped. Tension may have changed. Go for the easy things first.

Sounds like worn g-springs.

Personally, I found lube and cleaning does nothing for Campy. OTOH, for Shimano it's a real lifesaver. 99.9% of the time it's worn G-Springs. They're an easy fix if you have some skill. I've done the repair on Ergos and barcons. You'll be amazed at the difference a few springs can make. While they're apart check on any other worn springs. The bronze bushing on Centaur/Daytona almost never wears out. On a Chorus and above they use bearings which are easily cleaned. Good luck

I sent my crashed Chorus brifter to Branford Cycles about 3 years ago, they returned it in a few weeks time as good as new and I haven't had a single problem with it since. They had just moved from CT to Montana (I think that's where they were.) Then last year or maybe 2 years ago they had a fire and lost almost everything. They were a source of all things Campy. They've reopened in Seattle and at Branfordbike.com and have a page devoted to Ergo levers.

I just noticed you're in Perth, so sending it to Seattle may not be worth it, but their web info is good.

Tighten the cable adjuster on the rear derailleur about a 1/4 turn,sounds like cable stretch. Lp

Thanks for the hints everyone. I'm quite sure the cable tension is fine but I'll check it when I get home anyway. Otherwise I think I'll borrow an identical shifter from a friend and set about dismantling mine and see how far I get. If I get really stuck I'll just find a local bike store that does campy stuff and leave it to them.

Thanks again! I'll update this thread again when I've managed to solve the problem.

Problem solved, just got a chance to post an update. I had the shifter rebuilt by a local bike shop, revealing the cause of my woes:

http://w.guy.net.au/dsc02682.jpg

Before I realised how serious the problem was, I continued riding, and after a few sudden auto-gear-shifts I ruined 3 of the cogs on my cassette, so ended up having to buy a new cassette and chain as well. I guess in future I'll stop riding it when my shifter is broken ;)

thanks all for your help