Originally Posted by
bloodfont
I have to push it pretty hard and then, after 2 loud 'clanks' shifting occurs. Even pulling by hand on the cable, from the brifter's side (so no cable housing involved) I can still feel the rough shifting. I sprayed the inside of the brifter with some wet chain lube but still no improvement. The main lever is working fine (I guess) but I do have to push on it firmly, I feel as if I'm pulling the cable by hand to shift the FD. Is this common with Sora brifters and will it loosen up in time? Is the Sora FD the one causing this issue? The right brifter doesn't have any issues at all and rear shifting is smooth.
It is hard to tell...The Sora front shifter does not micro-shift through its range, there is is only a couple of ratchet stops in it. The amount of force necessary to mover the mechanism may feel greater when holding the shifter in your hand and/or pulling the cable from the shifter as you explained as compared to how the shifter would operate with the shifter and cable properly installed due to the lower mechanical advantage your hands have in this situation.
My recommendation is to mount and tune properly then test it out. You may be surprised to find that it works good despite how it felt when playing with it prior to install. If it still feels problematic you will have ruled out that it was not due to not having it installed on the bars.
-j