hazelnutracer

the sti shifter on my roadbike which controls my front derailler had a much fainter click when shifting down than my rear shifter did. then it started shifting intermittently, and now won't go down to the small chainring at all. do these shifters have repairable internals that i can puchase and work on? or does this shifter need to be replaced like the one on my old mountainbike when it quit working. thanks.

Al1943

Generally considered non-repairable.
Try flushing out the shifters with WD40, this often loosens up dried grease and helps remove dirt.

Al

markw

And when the flush doesn't work, consider Campy Ergo's as a replacement, along with one of these:
https://www.jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.htm

My DA's had the same death, now all my bikes are Campy/Shimano mix.

Junkdad

Spray some strong solvent (carburator cleaner, etc.) into the shifter while pressing the downshift button. Get it flushed out real good. As it gets clean, it should start working again. I've done it a few times and it has always worked. You may have to do it more than once. Once it's working good, hit it with teflon lubricant to keep it working well.

Al1943

Another possibility is excess friction in the cable housing.

capwater

Yup, try new cables first before hauling out the credit card for new shifters. Agreed, once STI's are trashed, they can't be repaired.

roccobike

I've used the solvent followed by teflon chain lube successfully on 4 out of 6 shifters. Since the OPs were working and gradually faded away, as opposed to a sudden malfunction, I'd be surprized if he can't bring it back to working condition just by cleaning. The two units that I could not save either had broken parts or were frozen from sitting unused for many years.

kmart

I've always heard STIs can't be repaired, but somehow I can't believe it unless I take one apart and see for myself. Anybody at least tried to do repairs on them, other than soaking the things in WD-40?

guruguhan

So are Ergo levers user serviceable (unlike STI)? I am planning on getting bar-ends (for two reasons: serviceable, and have both friction/indexed shifting), but if Ergo levers are unlike STI in so much that they are serviceable, I might reconsider (AGAIN!). To do this, I'll have to use the shiftmate (XT RD, XT 9sp cassette). Is it worth it?

hazelnutracer

thanks for the help! fix time : 30 seconds! put about 3 good squirts of carb cleaner in the shifter and started shifting. in about 5 trys it was clicking better than the rear shifter. gave the other one some squirts and now it's better! they're both better! yabadabado!
$100 saved on new shifters = $100 spent on new beer
that shiftmate does look pretty kickass though. i could have used that on my previous frankenbike. i'll look into it as i'm trying to uprade some components. thanks again for all input.

hazelnutracer

thanks for the help! fix time : 30 seconds! put about 3 good squirts of carb cleaner in the shifter and started shifting. in about 5 trys it was clicking better than the rear shifter. gave the other one some squirts and now it's better! they're both better! yabadabado!
$100 saved on new shifters = $100 spent on new beer
that shiftmate does look pretty kickass though. i could have used that on my previous frankenbike. i'll look into it as i'm trying to uprade some components. thanks again for all input.

masiman

Someone on here did try a few months back. IIRC, it took more than a couple hours, was a major pain in the rear and I think they found that they could not replace the piece that was worn/broken but my memory is fuzzy on this. I think the conclusion they came to was that it was not worth it, because they could not do it or the fix was much less than 100%.

Apparently they are. I say apparently because I have never done it but there are a few here who have. The majority have not needed to mess with theirs. I run a Chorus 10 with a Shimano 8 cluster on one of my bikes and it shifts ok. I have some 'tweeners on some of the gearing but it is not that bad at all. I hear a 9 will shift better but I have not had the time to buy and install yet. Wether it is worth it is up to you. Some people prefer Shimano, some Campy. If you don't have a preference and you think serviceability is important, then it very well could be worth it. You'll likely have to go through more work to get it all working correctly but it is doable.

HillRider

Ergo levers can be rebuilt and replacement parts are available from a couple of mail-order dealers. Branford Bike (alas, now gone) used to do the rebuild for about $25 plus parts.

The CampyOnly! web site has the rebuild instructions and can give you sources for both the parts and rebuild service.

San Rensho 

Google shimano and you will find a schematic for the shifters. Many, many little parts. Everything is fixable, but it looks like shifter is in the domain of a clockmaker as far as repairs go.

Steev

They can be taken apart and re-assembled with a lot of care and patience, I've done it. There are no parts available so the only thing you could do is clean and re-lube, which is possible without dismantling so there's really no point in doing so.
That said, a guy in my club has promised me two identical dead shifters the same model as my troublesome one so I think I may try to make three dead ones into one good one.