gradually, I think. It happened once last year on a metric century, then again this past weekend. Can't shift up to the big ring when it happens. Bike is an '89 waterford paramount w/ 8 spd. dura ace, sti shifters. There is a cable tension ferrule thing at the front d. braze on boss, turning it solves the mystery slack, and shifting works fine. But what is causing it? Bottom attachment point at the front d. is tight.

It has to be slipping at the lower attachment point. Screw may be tight without clamping the cable sufficiently. Or the cable is fraying and slips when a clamped strand breaks.


If you re-set the cable, remember to re-set the tension adjuster. If it bottoms out it won't do you any good.

If you've got that many miles, you might want to replace the cable. A lot of times in the STI road shifters, the cable starts to fray out inside the lever. If that breaks inside the lever, getting the head out of the lever is tricky and impossible in some cases without disassembling the shifter. It is somewhat odd for a ferrule to self adjust, but not impossible. Air on the safe side and replace the cable.

s/Air/Err

To air is human.

To air is human, avoiding the splat at the bottom, divine.