Bicycle Mechanics - Shimano 9 Speed Bar End shifter parts available?

I've got 9 speed Shimano Bar End shifters on my LHT.

For the last few weeks the rear shifter hasn't been indexing properly. I took a look at it, and the outer black plasic ring at the top of the shift lever was cracked, and fell off when examining it. I turns out the little indexing ring (the one where the 2 little ball bearings sit for indexing is broken in half.
I removed both halves with some *gentle* poking with my *baby* finger.

Anyone know if I can get this indexing ring separately?

I would hate to have to buy new shifters for lots of $$$(they're only a year old - purchase new by me) when I could buy a few dollar part.

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

I've got 9 speed Shimano Bar End shifters on my LHT.

For the last few weeks the rear shifter hasn't been indexing properly. I took a look at it, and the outer black plasic ring at the top of the shift lever was cracked, and fell off when examining it. I turns out the little indexing ring (the one where the 2 little ball bearings sit for indexing is broken in half.
I removed both halves with some *gentle* poking with my *baby* finger.

Anyone know if I can get this indexing ring separately?

I would hate to have to buy new shifters for lots of $$$(they're only a year old - purchase new by me) when I could buy a few dollar part.

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Nope- those parts aren't available separately. Breakage of that sort indicates that the indexing mechanism is completely hosed.

A cheaper fix would be to substitute down-tube shifters on your existing bar-end mounts. 9-speed downtube shifters are still available if you look around:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200393921165
This looks a little funky, but it will work perfectly. A couple pieces of advice:

Make sure the indexing ring is positioned properly. Shimano calls it a "lever boss cover" in this PDF:
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/EV/bikecomponents/SL/EV-SL-BS77-1664_v1_m56577569830628723.pdf . If the fat tab isn't pointing down, you'll never get the indexing adjusted at all.

Once you've got everything installed, really tighten the center screw on the right shifter (part #1). If it's not tight enough, it'll let the "index/friction" bail move, and the indexing mechanism will fail again.

In this pdf of the 7700 shifters,
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/EV/bikecomponents/SL/EV-SL-7700-1663_v1_m56577569830611817.pdf
the tab on the lever boss cover is pointing up, not down.
It seems nowadays, the DA 9-speed dt shifters are commanding a high price. I've seen the 9-speed selling for more than their 10-speed counterparts, so it might be worth looking into both options.
On another note, Shimano makes both a 7800 and 7900 down tube shifters. They use non-interchangable SIS unit, lever, fixing screw and cap. Is the indexing different? Is the indexing different on the 7800 and 7900 STI levers?

ljg, I have some shimano 9spd DA bar ends that you can have for free, I can post them to you if you like (or just the right indexed shifter). They're a bit scratched but working fine, they've had about 2 years of use. They were from a 2003 model trek 520. PM me if you're interested!

Shimano makes both a 7800 and 7900 down tube shifters. They use non-interchangable SIS unit, lever, fixing screw and cap. Is the indexing different? Is the indexing different on the 7800 and 7900 STI levers?

The 7800 and 7900 rear shifters and rear derailers are compatible from everything I've seen. My understanding is that the major changes were made to the front shifting and 7800 STI is not compatible with 7900 STI for front shifting. But since DT and bar-end are friction for front, they should still be compatible.

ljg, I have some shimano 9spd DA bar ends that you can have for free, I can post them to you if you like (or just the right indexed shifter). They're a bit scratched but working fine, they've had about 2 years of use. They were from a 2003 model trek 520. PM me if you're interested!

I'd love to get them from you. I can't PM you (it seems to be blocked, or you've not allowed yourself to be PMed) PM me so we can chat!!!!! THANKS by the way!!!!

Make sure the indexing ring is positioned properly. Shimano calls it a "lever boss cover" in this PDF:
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/EV/bikecomponents/SL/EV-SL-BS77-1664_v1_m56577569830628723.pdf . If the fat tab isn't pointing down, you'll never get the indexing adjusted at all.

Once you've got everything installed, really tighten the center screw on the right shifter (part #1). If it's not tight enough, it'll let the "index/friction" bail move, and the indexing mechanism will fail again.

Thanks for the advice on setup and tightness.
I'm thinking that the screw may have been loose at some point and caused the indexing/friction ball to move. It's the only thing that I can think of that caused the indexing ring to crack in half like that.

Find the shimano techdoc for it, if the spare part is available you can order direct from shimano (with the help of an LBS). Or you can troll ebay for another set for parts.

In this pdf of the 7700 shifters,
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/EV/bikecomponents/SL/EV-SL-7700-1663_v1_m56577569830611817.pdf
the tab on the lever boss cover is pointing up, not down.


It's the same orientation relative to the cable. In both the downtube and the bar-end shifters, the shifter's lever will be pointing in the same direction as the fat tab when in the "high gear" position. You can't really get the lever boss cover oriented wrong on downtube levers- on the bar-ends, 3 of the 4 possible positions are wrong!

BTW: "fat tab"? I have a fat tabby: http://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/house08/pages/house08130.htm