Shimano Ultegra rear shifter - No resistence on first few cogs
10-16-12, 08:42 PM
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Shimano Ultegra rear shifter - No resistence on first few cogs
I just bought a bike on craigslist, test road it for about 30 sec at night and didnt notice the shifting wasnt working. When i got home today i road it for a little around the block to test it and i noticed the shifting isnt working right. When the chain is on the top cogs it shifts up and down fine, but once it gets to the first 1-5 cogs, the shifter has no resistance when i try shifting down to a smaller cog. I noticed that if i pull the derailleur cord my bike makes a snapping sound and i can shift down. Im not sure how long the bike has been laying there for but could it be that it just needs some WD 40 on the Shifter? Maybe its been sitting there for a while and grease has built up?
10-16-12, 09:57 PM
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Sounds like the shift pod needs flushing out with a solvent then relubing with medium thick oil. The factory grease will dry and thicked over time. Andy.
10-16-12, 10:13 PM
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10-16-12, 10:20 PM
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How old is it?
It sounds to me more like the seller recently swapped the shift cable, and didn't engage it properly.
I'd loosen the cable screw on the rear derailleur, cut a little off the cable end if it's frayed at all (so it won't scratch up the inside of your cable housing), and remove the cable from the housing and pull it out of the shifter.
Then simply click the smaller, upshift lever 9 times times, so that the hole in the cable mount is properly aligned for engagement. I like to be extra sure it's clicked all the way out, so click the smaller, upshift lever a few more times while pulling on the cable. Then thread that cable back through to the rear derailleur and re-engage it.
If you know how old it is, if it's 6400, 6600 or 6700, we can find you the Shimano install/tech document with all the instructions for honing it so it shifts perfectly.
It sounds to me more like the seller recently swapped the shift cable, and didn't engage it properly.
I'd loosen the cable screw on the rear derailleur, cut a little off the cable end if it's frayed at all (so it won't scratch up the inside of your cable housing), and remove the cable from the housing and pull it out of the shifter.
Then simply click the smaller, upshift lever 9 times times, so that the hole in the cable mount is properly aligned for engagement. I like to be extra sure it's clicked all the way out, so click the smaller, upshift lever a few more times while pulling on the cable. Then thread that cable back through to the rear derailleur and re-engage it.
If you know how old it is, if it's 6400, 6600 or 6700, we can find you the Shimano install/tech document with all the instructions for honing it so it shifts perfectly.
Last edited by calamarichris; 10-16-12 at 10:29 PM.
10-16-12, 10:48 PM
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How old is it?
It sounds to me more like the seller recently swapped the shift cable, and didn't engage it properly.
I'd loosen the cable screw on the rear derailleur, cut a little off the cable end if it's frayed at all (so it won't scratch up the inside of your cable housing), and remove the cable from the housing and pull it out of the shifter.
Then simply click the smaller, upshift lever 9 times times, so that the hole in the cable mount is properly aligned for engagement. I like to be extra sure it's clicked all the way out, so click the smaller, upshift lever a few more times while pulling on the cable. Then thread that cable back through to the rear derailleur and re-engage it.
If you know how old it is, if it's 6400, 6600 or 6700, we can find you the Shimano install/tech document with all the instructions for honing it so it shifts perfectly.
It sounds to me more like the seller recently swapped the shift cable, and didn't engage it properly.
I'd loosen the cable screw on the rear derailleur, cut a little off the cable end if it's frayed at all (so it won't scratch up the inside of your cable housing), and remove the cable from the housing and pull it out of the shifter.
Then simply click the smaller, upshift lever 9 times times, so that the hole in the cable mount is properly aligned for engagement. I like to be extra sure it's clicked all the way out, so click the smaller, upshift lever a few more times while pulling on the cable. Then thread that cable back through to the rear derailleur and re-engage it.
If you know how old it is, if it's 6400, 6600 or 6700, we can find you the Shimano install/tech document with all the instructions for honing it so it shifts perfectly.
10-16-12, 11:02 PM
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Good luck. If the cable looks pretty new, that's probably what happened.
I accidentally did this when my beloved girlfriend was ticking around with my mounted, but unengaged shifter and it wasn't upshifted all the way out, the way I'd left it when I threaded the cable in.
I was going crazy trying to figure out what I'd done wrong. My gf apologized and I got a nice massage out of the deal. Win-win.
I accidentally did this when my beloved girlfriend was ticking around with my mounted, but unengaged shifter and it wasn't upshifted all the way out, the way I'd left it when I threaded the cable in.
I was going crazy trying to figure out what I'd done wrong. My gf apologized and I got a nice massage out of the deal. Win-win.
10-16-12, 11:06 PM
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Hahaha thats funny. and alright thanks! I'm going to keep putting WD40 and see if it helps, if not tomorrow ill go to my LBS
10-16-12, 11:29 PM
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WD40 is not a lubricant! WD=Water Displacement. It is a solvent that removes any lubricant in the shifter mechanism. If you have any motorcycle chain lube or white lithium spray grease, that would be better.
If you've already sprayed it out with WD40, please mention this to your LBS tomorrow, so they know to freshly re-lube the shifter mechanism.
Spraying it out with WD will remove much or most of the lube in there, and that will dramatically shorten the life of your shifter.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
If you've already sprayed it out with WD40, please mention this to your LBS tomorrow, so they know to freshly re-lube the shifter mechanism.
Spraying it out with WD will remove much or most of the lube in there, and that will dramatically shorten the life of your shifter.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
10-16-12, 11:35 PM
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Or as Andrew mentioned, re-lube it with a heavy gear oil, or something like Phil Wood Tenacious Oil.
And you'll want to let it drip out for a few days before taping your bars, because the stuff will seep out and stain your tape.
IMO, 6600 really isn't old enough for the grease to dry up and solidify--something like that usually takes decades, especially with the high-quality stuff Shimano uses.
Edit: just looked it up. 6600 was released in '05--no way that grease is dried up.
And you'll want to let it drip out for a few days before taping your bars, because the stuff will seep out and stain your tape.
IMO, 6600 really isn't old enough for the grease to dry up and solidify--something like that usually takes decades, especially with the high-quality stuff Shimano uses.
Edit: just looked it up. 6600 was released in '05--no way that grease is dried up.
Last edited by calamarichris; 10-16-12 at 11:50 PM.
10-17-12, 12:24 AM
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Yeahhh, im definitely going to my LBS tomorrow. I gotta get it cleaned up from all that WD 40 i sprayed lol. It feels like it helped a little but im not sure because its shifting now but the shifting still sucks. The reason i sprayed it was because i bought a bike at goodwill with dura ace and the rear shifter didnt work at all. It had no resistance just like this one except my dura ace didnt work on any gears, you couldnt shift up or down. With this bike i can shift up but once im at the 4th cog i cant shift down that well. And well i was told by my bike shop that spraying wd 40 could fix it and after about a day of spraying, it worked. Your probably right, it might be something with the cable
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