Bicycle Mechanics - Do I Have a Bad Shifter?

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Ratfish
02-09-09, 01:06 AM
I just spent hours trying to adjust my rear derailleur before I realized that if I'm on the largest cog and I click to shift to the next largest, the shifter is double-clicking and shifting twice but with one louder than normal click. I can click in the other direction perfectly, so if I wanted to hit that second largest cog, I would have to do the loud click and then shift back one. This is why I don't think it's a tension problem, since everything else is perfect except for this.

The shifter is an Ultegra 9 Speed that the previous owner used to replace a Dura Ace one. Everything else on the bike is Dura Ace. Presumably they are compatible, but I don't know. I don't really remember it being like this, but it's possible that I just never noticed.

I'm wondering if maybe the shifter is half broken, and if so, if it's possible to repair it.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Panthers007
02-09-09, 01:36 AM
First thing I'd do is get the chain on the smallest cog in the cassette* and the smallest chainring up front. By hand if need be. Loosen the cable-anchor and pull the cable taut. Not really tight with pliers. Just so it's got some obvious tension. Use your fingers and not a pair of pliers. Tighten the cable-anchor bolt.Then try shifting through all the gears. Let us know what works and what doesn't.

* - some say to place the chain on the biggest cog of your cassette and smallest chainring. Either/or.
Metzinger
02-09-09, 02:07 AM
Have you tried jiggling the handle?

Oh, you said shifter.

Ralleh
02-09-09, 10:22 AM
First thing I'd do is get the chain on the smallest cog in the cassette* and the smallest chainring up front. By hand if need be. Loosen the cable-anchor and pull the cable taut. Not really tight with pliers. Just so it's got some obvious tension. Use your fingers and not a pair of pliers. Tighten the cable-anchor bolt.Then try shifting through all the gears. Let us know what works and what doesn't.

* - some say to place the chain on the biggest cog of your cassette and smallest chainring. Either/or.

I tried 3 or 4 different tensions on the cable by loosening the bolt last night and starting over, and each time it was exactly the same, since getting all the gears but that one correct requires the same tension when I finally dial it in. And that gear isn't bad either, it's just bad shifting to it from one direction. I always start on the small cog and ring.

Oh weird...I seem to have an account saved in my browser that's different from home.