Brifter Durability
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Brifter Durability
Are the varying levels of brifters from Sora on up different in their guts? I have use Sora for a long time, works ok for me, no breakdowns. Is spendy really better or not?
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 3,783
Bikes: Bianchi San Mateo and a few others
Mentioned: 18 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 634 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 13 Times
in
9 Posts
It depends on what you mean by "better". More money spent on brifters will buy you lighter ones, ones with better aesthetics, possibly ones that'll shift more cogs (11 speeds versus 10 or less), and so forth. As far as I know, durability hasn't been a problem with Sora relative to other Shimano brifters, so I don't know that spending more money buys you better longevity or reliability.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 18,073
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4201 Post(s)
Liked 3,857 Times
in
2,305 Posts
I would make sure the LH lever has two trim "clicks". Some of the older versions didn't. The biggest issue with STI is the cable breakage on the exposed casing routing versions. Replacing the inner cables before they fray is the simple and cheap solution. Andy.
#5
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,502
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
Liked 2,465 Times
in
1,433 Posts
My very small sample is that I had some Ultegra brifters from about 1998 that were 3x9, and they worked flawlessly. I got them used from a friend. The bike they were on was stolen, so I didn't get to use them until they failed.
I have a 1995-or-so Bianchi Volpe which came with an RSX-100 drivetrain, which is fairly low end, slightly higher or lower than Sora. The bike came to me badly neglected, and the brifters didn't work at all, because the pawls didn't engage. I spent weeks soaking them in lubricant, and they came back to life. Now they work very well.
That's a sample size of two, so don't take it too seriously.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 1,989
Bikes: ‘87 Marinoni SLX Sports Tourer, ‘79 Miyata 912 by Gugificazione
Mentioned: 166 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 500 Post(s)
Liked 466 Times
in
256 Posts
One of the great benefits of Campagnolo brifters is their rebuild-ability. My several 8-spd sets have only needed a few rebuilds in the almost 20 years that my wife and I have been using them. The job is easy with the right instructions, and parts have been inexpensive, although some are no longer being made for 8-psd.
#7
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,502
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
Liked 2,465 Times
in
1,433 Posts
One of the great benefits of Campagnolo brifters is their rebuild-ability. My several 8-spd sets have only needed a few rebuilds in the almost 20 years that my wife and I have been using them. The job is easy with the right instructions, and parts have been inexpensive, although some are no longer being made for 8-psd.
There is a guy here on BF who has written instructions on servicing a few model brifters. They are excellent, but there is variation among the models, so I doubt he has covered all models. It's not as nice as having Campagnolo in the first place, but sometimes you have to deal with what you have on hand.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,504
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 586 Post(s)
Liked 612 Times
in
447 Posts
Personally, for many people, Sora is quite good enough. I've talked with experienced mechanics who say the biggest difference in levels is weight and appearance. Not necessarily shifting performance. I've used Dura Ace, RSX100 and Tiagra brifters, and had good luck with all of them.
There will always be those who just have to have the best. They will turn their nose up at Sora, and even 105. Whatever helps them sleep at night...
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Gateway to the West
Posts: 811
Bikes: You mean this week?
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 29 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 29 Times
in
20 Posts
If you're buying used stuff, avoid 9 speed dura ace. They had little pawls that wore to failure much earlier than anticipated. The last I heard they are not rebuildable. (If I'm wrong someone please tell me, I have a patient.) The 9 speed ultegra I have are much better. I can't comment on any other DA or ultegra version.
#10
Senior Member
If you're buying used stuff, avoid 9 speed dura ace. They had little pawls that wore to failure much earlier than anticipated. The last I heard they are not rebuildable. (If I'm wrong someone please tell me, I have a patient.) The 9 speed ultegra I have are much better. I can't comment on any other DA or ultegra version.
also:
Stripping Shimano Dura-Ace 9-Speed STI Levers
#11
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Not wanting to put words in the OPs mouth, but I think he wanted feedback from others to help in future buying decisions. In other words, if the consensus was that higher end brifters lasted a lot longer or were functionally superior, it might affect decisions down the road.
Personally, for many people, Sora is quite good enough. I've talked with experienced mechanics who say the biggest difference in levels is weight and appearance. Not necessarily shifting performance. I've used Dura Ace, RSX100 and Tiagra brifters, and had good luck with all of them.
There will always be those who just have to have the best. They will turn their nose up at Sora, and even 105. Whatever helps them sleep at night...
Personally, for many people, Sora is quite good enough. I've talked with experienced mechanics who say the biggest difference in levels is weight and appearance. Not necessarily shifting performance. I've used Dura Ace, RSX100 and Tiagra brifters, and had good luck with all of them.
There will always be those who just have to have the best. They will turn their nose up at Sora, and even 105. Whatever helps them sleep at night...
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Gateway to the West
Posts: 811
Bikes: You mean this week?
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 29 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 29 Times
in
20 Posts
Good info, I read that one of those little internal pointy parts wears and causes hard shifting until it fails completely. Mine feel "very worn". What did you flush your levers with?
#13
Senior Member
Removed hoods
Flushed with "White Lightning Clean Streak"
Worked the shifting without cables attached
Allowed it to dry
Flooded with Boeshield t-9
Worked the shifting without cables
Allowed the lube to dry
reinstalled hoods and cables
Flushed with "White Lightning Clean Streak"
Worked the shifting without cables attached
Allowed it to dry
Flooded with Boeshield t-9
Worked the shifting without cables
Allowed the lube to dry
reinstalled hoods and cables
#14
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,502
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
Liked 2,465 Times
in
1,433 Posts
I used WD-40 sometimes and ATF at other times. I like ATF for general bike use.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#15
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 12,904
Bikes: (2) ti TiCycles, 2007 w/ triple and 2011 fixed, 1979 Peter Mooney, ~1983 Trek 420 now fixed and ~1973 Raleigh Carlton Competition gravel grinder
Mentioned: 129 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4806 Post(s)
Liked 3,928 Times
in
2,553 Posts
A second question on durability: is there a difference in likelihood of surviving a "routine" slide? The old aluminum levers pre-index almost always survived crashes (at least if you weren't concerned with looks). The newer levers (like Tektro) do far less well. Are there brifters that have better or worse survivability? (I'm thinking a heavier model like Sora might be considerably better.)
I have yet to own brifters. DTs work, are cheap, light, versatile (cog spacing and number matters zero) and I know how to use them.
Ben
I have yet to own brifters. DTs work, are cheap, light, versatile (cog spacing and number matters zero) and I know how to use them.
Ben
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 18,073
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4201 Post(s)
Liked 3,857 Times
in
2,305 Posts
That the levers pivot inward, the direction that a fall down produces, means that very little bending of the levers happen. My years of servicing bikes bears this out. I see far more fixed pivot (non brifter) levers with bent in levers then STI ones. I've seen PLENTY of scuffed up, rotated in on the bars, lost/loose end caps but very few issues with the actual internal shift or brake functions. In this respect I consider the Shimano STI to be pretty durable. They do like, as I mentioned, periodic cable replacement and as others have alluded to, lube refreshment.
Now the SRAM double tap levers are FAR more breakage prone. In the few years they have been around I've seen maybe a dozen with cracked/broken bodies. The good thing is that SRAM has a pretty liberal replacement policy. They need to for customer acceptance.
I've seen a few Campy levers with broken bodies, but very few. And Campy parts are quite available either as new replacements or from Ebayed old levers. You'll even see worn/broken Campy Ergo for sale because the seller knows that someone else can and will be able to rebuild them or use the still good parts.
Ben- Depending on how you ride and feel about things like cadence you might find brifters to be only interesting and rather involved to deal with. But if you're like the vast majority of riders I think you'll really like the ability to shift with less effort. As you increase the cog count the inclusion of indexing will have it's advantage too. Andy.
Now the SRAM double tap levers are FAR more breakage prone. In the few years they have been around I've seen maybe a dozen with cracked/broken bodies. The good thing is that SRAM has a pretty liberal replacement policy. They need to for customer acceptance.
I've seen a few Campy levers with broken bodies, but very few. And Campy parts are quite available either as new replacements or from Ebayed old levers. You'll even see worn/broken Campy Ergo for sale because the seller knows that someone else can and will be able to rebuild them or use the still good parts.
Ben- Depending on how you ride and feel about things like cadence you might find brifters to be only interesting and rather involved to deal with. But if you're like the vast majority of riders I think you'll really like the ability to shift with less effort. As you increase the cog count the inclusion of indexing will have it's advantage too. Andy.
#17
Banned
happy with Sora? fine . If and when they fail buy new ones, same sort. Shops get each-s so only need the right one thats all you get, ..
Robots assemble them in the factory , so bin them if not working well or you crashed..
(other than the old gummy grease , oft mentioned here.)
Robots assemble them in the factory , so bin them if not working well or you crashed..
(other than the old gummy grease , oft mentioned here.)
Last edited by fietsbob; 11-15-14 at 09:35 AM.
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 33,656
Bikes: '96 Litespeed Catalyst, '05 Litespeed Firenze, '06 Litespeed Tuscany, '20 Surly Midnight Special, All are 3x10. It is hilly around here!
Mentioned: 39 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2026 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,096 Times
in
742 Posts
The main knocks against Sora are 1) they have the release button in an awkward location so it's difficult to shift from the drops 2) they are usually one "speed" below the upper level groups and 3) they have little status with "serious" riders.
#20
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,502
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
Liked 2,465 Times
in
1,433 Posts
Interesting, Andy. I hadn't thought about how brifters have a built-in safety feature.
Some components were more crash-worthy than others, back in the day. Mafac levers were much better than Weinmann in crashes, because of the design.
Some components were more crash-worthy than others, back in the day. Mafac levers were much better than Weinmann in crashes, because of the design.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 9,438
Bikes: Trek 5500, Colnago C-50
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times
in
6 Posts
If you're buying used stuff, avoid 9 speed dura ace. They had little pawls that wore to failure much earlier than anticipated. The last I heard they are not rebuildable. (If I'm wrong someone please tell me, I have a patient.) The 9 speed ultegra I have are much better. I can't comment on any other DA or ultegra version.
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Mountain View, CA USA and Golden, CO USA
Posts: 6,341
Bikes: 97 Litespeed, 50-39-30x13-26 10 cogs, Campagnolo Ultrashift, retroreflective rims on SON28/PowerTap hubs
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 550 Post(s)
Liked 325 Times
in
226 Posts
They don't sell small parts for the new ones (although a replacement mechanism for $90 beats the competition), and the G-spring units needed it frequently because the springs had bad wear characteristics. I rebuilt my 1996 G-spring levers every few years until I broke a discontinued spring and moved on to 10 speed Ultrashift in 2012. If you do your own work that's not a big deal (the hardest part is taping the bars) although many people don't.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
bboy314
Bicycle Mechanics
12
07-08-11 11:54 AM