Bicycle Mechanics - Sticky S-i-T-uat-I-on

yesterday I made a fouled attempt at fixing one of my ultegra sti shifters by removing the plastic namelplate that is screwed in place. After seeing the next screw and realizing it's structural importance i decided to go no further. I did not feel like reeassembling the mess of tensioned springs and devices that seemd so likely to go bezerk upon the removal of this quite literally "pivotal" screw. I had planned on simply greasing or oiling the shifting mechanism of the lever, for it sticks, but saw no good opening in which to insert my goo. Can anyone reccomned how to do this and also what to use(telflon, grease....?)

Tahnks

Iand123

Oh no! Here come the WD-40 police again!

I just give the innerds a good shot of WD-40 and follow up with a blast of compressed air to clean out all of the collected crud. That usually does it. Don't overdo lubricants on STI levers because they'll cause more dirt and such to collect and gum up the works again.

Do the newer Ultegra shifters do that too? I was planning on upgrading to the newer 9 speed Ultegra shifters eventually but if they do it too what's the point. I've got the original Ultegra STI from when they came out around 1992. If I don't ride the bike for several weeks it won't shift at all. What I've been doing is spraying silicone through the slots on the inside of the shifter, nothing to disassemble. The silicone is a very clean lubricant so I don't think you'll have much problem with crud accumulation. But I do have to lubricate mine before every ride just to keep everything working.

I use the retrogrouch method but with carbcleaner, then a little light lube. Shimano grease gets very stiff/tacky when it gets old.

this stuff is good to know, and I am not ungrateful for it, but will someone supply the specific name of a trusted lubricant... this would be very useful!!! Is anyone familliar with "tri-flow" teflon?

"a little light lube" is just a bit too vague!!! Haha!!!

Thanlks again
Ian

I like triflow. It is very "lubey" but washes off easy when you need to get it off. Don't use any thing like whitelightning on your shifters

Yeah, I like tri flow too... I think primarily because of it's smell...I can't describe it. Dupont or who ever really hit the nail on the head when they made a super lube that smells good.