Bicycle Mechanics - 105 Right Shift Problem

Hi,

Recently my right 105 shifter/brake has been "sticking or catching" on me. For example, I'll be cruising along, attempt to downshift and the small lever will catch (on something?) and grab the brake lever which causes an upshift instead. Which is kinda brutal when I'm trying to pick up speed. I gave it a look over last night and can't really see what is causing the problem. Any suggestions as to what the problem might be? Is it possible to "overhaul" the mechanism to inspect it or maybe to just clean it? I figure the hood should keep them free of debris though.

I did have a crash a while back and landed on the right side however I did not notice this problem right away. I did land hard enough though to cause the lever to twist inward (good thing I didn't clamp those suckers on too tight). I don't think that's the cause, you never know though.

Thanks,

Shane

I have had a recent similar experience. Basically, when I was trying to use the small black lever to shift to smaller cog, the large lever would move a little bit towards the left. As you know, if both levers are moved it won't down shift. Your sysmptoms seem to be pretty much the same except more extreme. My first approach was to remove the shifter, clean it with a degreaser/grime remover. Then lubricate. This improved things for a week or so, then the problem returned. This time when I had the shifter on the work bench, I noticed what looked like a small threaded hole that goes through two very small plates. Thing was there wasn't a screw in the holes. I checked the rear shifter to see if it had a screw in that position. It did. I was able to locate a correctly threaded small phillips screw, cut it to length and install it. That fixed my problem. The screws I'm speaking of are probably not even visible unless the shifter is off the bike. I'll try to describe the location. If you can imagine a very small screw that might be visible if you were laying on your back directly under the black and silver shift levers. The screw lies in a horizontal plain from front of bike to back. Good Luck!

Thanks Don. I was reading up on the Barnett's manual and found instructions on how to disassemble the unit. (GAWD I hate pain in the arse repairs!) I'll see if I can locate the screw or holes you're taking about. Maybe that's all it is, I hope.

If you clean/lubricate it first, try turning the bike upside down. The cleaner/lube will go where it needs to better. Plus, you'll probably be better able to se the screw/hole that Don's talking about.

BTW, downshifting means going to a lower gear ratio, thus, on the rear, a larger cog.

BTW, downshifting means going to a lower gear ratio, thus, on the rear, a larger cog.

Yeppers, I always get it mixed up. I keep thinking chain moves down onto a smaller cog, or up onto a larger cog. Maybe I need to change my thinking, like up the steps of a pyramid?

Thanks again.