This is very strange. I changed the shift/brake cables in my 8spd Shimano Sora right brifter, and now the shifting has a definite friction/semi-friction feel to it. This is only when downshifting (moving to larger cog, with the brake lever pushed to the left). The small thumb upshifter is definitely still indexed as it should be.

I made sure that the shift cable is well tensioned (could it be too tense?) Is there a chance the cable simply isn't seated right? I had to take the little plastic front/top cap off to replace the cables, so perhaps it was not lined up perfectly when I put it back in?

I started a new thread because from searches I could not find any similar complaints. Has anyone heard of this before?

The bike in question is a 2003 Fuji Finest, with either 3303 or 3304 Sora.

In what way is it friction shifting ? If you mean that there is no distinct click on each gear position.

Maybe there is some old grease that clogs up the ratchet mechanism. Shift the gear to the smallest cogs and remove the gear cables, and using the little tube that comes with the WD-40, squirt the insides of the shifters to dilute the old grease, followed by a few blasts of compressed air that will clear the gunk that is sticking in there. You should be able to get positive clicks from each gear shifts.

The usual suspect here is you didn't thread the cable through the shifter properly or the shifter wasn't shifted to the right position prior to installing the cable. I would start over and remove the cable and re-install it. The common mistake is not shifting to the most relaxed wire position, ie the highest gear prior to threading the cable.

+1 onespeedbiker. You can likely just detatch the cable casing from the chain stay stop and see how the lever action feels when pulling the inner by hand. Still the need to reinstall the cable is probably going to be the case anyway. Andy.

Thank you guys. The shifter was acting in a somewhat ratcheting friction action, as you, TiBikeGuy, better expressed as not clicking into each position.

I did insert the cable while in a middle gear because of the required bending of the cable at the highest gear; the insert hole required more finesse if I were to insert the cable at the proper gear. I'll be sure to try cleaning up the shifter/reinserting the cable the proper way. I expect these two strategies will solve my problem. Sorry that this thread was a bit elementary; I'm not very familiar with brifters at this point.

Thanks again for your advice guys!

It's now time to ride!

I agree!

I loosened the shift cable so I could liberally lube all the housings, and opened the shifter cover and shifted to the smallest cog, checking to make sure the cable was seated correctly. It is now shifting perfectly as it should! I've never had issues like this before, but lesson learned. Once again, thanks for inspiring the confidence to look it over one more time before taking it in to the shop!