Need advice on a broken STI shifter
 

My right side 9 speed Dura Ace shifter broke yesterday. Is there any way to salvage these? The shop I took it to said forget it...you'll never find the broken piece.

My options seem to be...

Replace with a new 9 spd Tiagra lever
Buy a used 9 sp Dura Ace lever
Change to barcons or DT shifters

Changing to 10 speed would be nearly impossible because the frame is set up for a weird press bottom bracket and won't take other kinds. This means I can't upgrade to 10 sp cranks...would 10 sp chains work ok with an older 600 crank?

Check this guy out: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=100856572916&ref=ts
I bought my older 8 speed Ultegra's from him. I know he does repairs/rebuilds.

I don't think this guy does 9 speed or higher stuff. Definitely worth a contact.

Any reason you are not considering used 9 speed Ultegra? There is a fair amount of that out there on ebay.

www.chainreactioncycles.com has some tasty deals on STI stuff, including new 9 speed Ultegra.

They also have nine speed Dura Ace DT for $53 and nine speed DuraAce barcons for $66. Shipping will get you on those, but the STI will probably be enough to qualify you for free shipping.

Screamin...just sent him an email...thanks for the great suggestion!

Anytime! :) Good luck!!

Gerrrrr...he doesn't do 9 speed.

Glad to know of this! I have some trigger shifters on a mountain bike that don't ratchet any more.

Aaron, all of your options are expensive or a downgrade. Nashbar sometimes has generic shifters, but I think they cost at least $200.

See, this is why I sometimes hate Shimano. Planned obsolescence, no reparability. I guess these are the prices we pay for innovation. But I certainly didn't ask for more gears every couple of years. I still have some six speed drivetrains!

Have you tried flushing the STI out really well with WD-40 or something? I've heard of miracles happening by doing that. Or is it really truly broken?
-Gene-

Pull the cover and inspect the pawls. I'll bet they're just gummed up with old, hard grease.

I'm near 100% on reviving trigger shifters, and I've done a ton of them. I lost a left one last week when a spring snapped, but other than that - 100%

Yes - what are the symptoms?

I have a set of ultegra 9-speed brifters that I am trying to sell, pm if interested.

Yeah...it's a tough spot. So far...I'm considering going with 8 speed, since apparently those can be repaired, or trying to jimmy something up and going with 10 speed. There has to be a square taper crank with the proper bcdu for a 10sp chain somewhere. I think buying a 9sp dura ace right shifter might be my best bet and I just hope I get some life from it.

It's been a rough week for bikes...I was hit by a car yesterday on the way to buying some wheels (not as bad as I thought at first...should be fully mobile in a week or two). My Koga-Miyata has a screw broken in the cable stop...and no one can get it out. It's going to Bilenky, which will be both time intensive and expensive. My De Rosa's headset seems to have something wrong and my Merckx had a flat last week.

If your 9 speed DA will shift in one direction, but will not return without your holding the brake lever, then it's toast. 9 speed DA and Ultegra are known for wearing out this way and no it can not be repaired. I had an expert try it with mine.
BTW 9 speed can be integrated with 105, Ultegra or Tiagra. You are not forced to replace with DA.
Try cleaning it out, but I doubt it will help with a 9 speed.

It doesn't do anything in either direction.

My roommate has successfully fixed a jammed set of 600 Ultegras and an older set of 105s, so it is possible, i'll ask him how he did it in detail and try to get back to you.

I don't think these are jammed...they move freely. Something that provides resistance must have broken.

If that's the case, then the pawl is probably sticky; it gets gummed up and will stick in the up position. The spring that push the pawl down could be broken, but that's not as likely. If Shimano had used a higher tension spring, or redundant pawls, or better leverage on the pawl, or all of the above, we wouldn't be having this conversation. If someone could find a way to retrofit a higher tension spring into the STIs, I bet we could resurrect darn near all of them. I think its only a matter of time before someone does.

I would tend to agree.... but, he's saying this non-funcioning happened as a result of a crash. If that's the case, something may have broken on impact.

Interesting! How would I address the STI lever if you're right?

Send it to me when you are done please. I'd like to take one apart and see the innards. I also can use the black handle portion I think. My Ultegra has a cracked section of just the handle. Send me a PM if you like

I believe I sent someone, somewhere, a bunch of parts, and included in that bag was a disassembled 9-sp Ultegra STI. The part you need is likely in there, if he hasn't fixed them already.

The 9-sp stuff is interchangeable with Tiagra/105/Ultegra/DA. I've been bidding on, and losing, 9-sp Ultegra R shifters for a while now, and paid $168 shipped for a new set of Tiagra's, complete with cables and all housings, cables stops, etc, probably a month ago or so.

In your case, I'd go with new Tiagra's over a used set of others that may fail any day. New = 0 miles. Unless I know the previous owner, I'm just no longer a fan of used 9-sp STI's. As far as upgrading to 10-sp DA DT shifters, it cost a bit to get chain, shifters, cassette, but still cheaper in most cases than a R 9-sp shifter. I'm using mine with 9-sp 105 FD/RD with no problem whatsoever, no missed shifts, and I can go 2-4 cogs at once, not miss a beat.

Lots of guys have fixed sticky pawls with various penetrating oils and lubricants. I don't claim to be an authority on it, but I had some success with either ATF Liquid Wrench or Hammond oil. Some guys recommend soaking the shifter for a few days in whatever solvent you are using. I haven't tried this yet. The one to talk to about it would probably be Bikedued.

I would argue that, if your running 9s, the only different thing you need to run 10s is the chain cassette and shifters. I don't believe there is enough difference in design to need a "10 speed" crank or derailleurs. Not sure about the chain yet, but I have found that a 10 speed chain works fine with 8-10 speed.

Here are a couple of links that should help you...if you want to try it. Funny because I'm actually taking a break right now from overhauling a set of 8 speed 600 shifters. Finished the right lever and it's working like a charm. I have the left lever broken down and parts soaking in degreaser. As stated above it's almost always sticky pawls that are the issue. I haven't tried 9 or 10 speed yet though.

http://www.nitrodyno.com/Ultegra-STI/


http://www.norvil.net/pedal/service/...osti/index.php
The 'next page' link is at the bottom of the page. There is a section for Dura Ace and Ultegra.


Also, this guy has some good info and services for 7 & 8 speed stuff if you don't want to do it yourself. He doesn't fix 9 & 10 speed shifters though.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gi...6572916&ref=mf

Something is wrong with this picture! Brifters are really nice, but the expense is crazy, and the irreparability is super-insane!

Bar-ends don't suck much, and I'm about to try some thumb shifters, as an experiment. If my brifters fail, I have inexpensive options.

But yeah, Aaron, try a lot of WD-40. It's a cheap experiment. My brifters were cantankerous when I got them. (They were 10 years old.) WD-40 seems to have cleared up the problems. I think I ought to bathe them in oil now.

Oh, and indexed front shifting seems dumb, too. Whose idea was that?