Our recently acquired co-mo primera co-pilot is equipped with Shimano 105 (5700). I found the front triple very difficult to shift from larger to smaller chainrings. I replaced the cable and housing but that did not solve it so I bought a new brifter and the new one is just as hard to shift than the older one. Shifting from smaller to larger rings is like butter and flawless, shifting down is another story. From big to middle is hard and from middle to small requires me to get off the bike and use 2 hands. When I put all my strength into it and it finally shifts, it snaps very loudly. When I break the cable at the cable splitter the brifter mechanism shifts up and down just fine. If I pull on the cable and try to shift I get the same behavior - easy shifts to larger ring positions and hard to impossible shifts to smaller ring positions.

I have read online that some have experienced hard shifting with this family.

So so I am somewhat at a loss here. I see two options: replace the derailleur with one that has much less spring tension or find another brifter. I do have a new Ultegra 6703 front derailleur which claims to have a lighter spring, however,I believe it is the brifter design at fault. Changing to a different brifter is challenging as well. The market is moving away from triples. I have Ultegra 6700 series on my other co-mo and it shifts very well. Unfortunately I cannot find a new Ultegra triple brifter for less than a kings ransom. That basically leaves Shimano Tiagra and I am hesitant to shift down (pun intended) in grade, but if it is serviceable and reliable I could go there, but what is to say I won’t have a similar issue?

So any suggestions? Anyone have experience with the 105 triple and how did you solve it? Is the Tiagra a good solution? Is the 105 derailleur the problem. Are there any other triple brifter on the market or still available?

TIA.

I had this exact problem on my triple road bike. When putting new housing and cable on this spring my front shifting wound up the way you described. So the shifting became much worse than it was even with the old housing/inner wire. This led me to really examine the Shimano front derailleur set up procedure. Normally I would say to follow the directions exactly and in the correct sequence. In the case of the triple brifter (Mine is a Dura Ace 7703) combined with a compatible front derailleur (in my case an Ultegra 6603 with an Ultegra 6603 Triple crank) following the set up brochure for the 6603 FD leads to a cable that is TOO TIGHT! That early step after setting the low and high stops, where you shift into the “granny ring” then pull the slop out of the cable is where I believe the set up gets messed up. Why this is the case I cannot tell you.

I honestly thought I irreparably broke my 7703 triple front shifter. The super hard shifts and having to settle for not using the big ring was the same symptom I was experiencing. Very lousy to be on a group ride where you have as much fitness as any other rider out there yet get dropped multiple times during terrain changes while you fuss around and pray that the gear you are seeking to be in will cooperate.

Another downside to this “too tight” cable setup: trim clicks are not there any more or just barely there.

Here’s how I got them back: the whole procedure took like 5 seconds to do (if I recall correctly) - shift your brifter into the middle ring. While in the middle ring loosen the FD cable pinch bolt slightly. Let the FD cage start to slip toward the granny side but not completely, then tighten the cable again. Now check your shifting. You should now have EASY clicks going middle to big and back down to middle. Same with middle to granny and back up again. When you get it right, you’ll know. Why Shimano doesn’t explain this better is a mystery to me.

You will still need to play around with adjuster barrel while in the middle ring to eliminate rub in your biggest rear cog (or in my case I settled for 2nd biggest - not rubbing).

When in the granny ring you may now have a cable that is ever so slightly slack. My advice here is to resist the temptation to loosen the cable in order to remove the slack. In this case it is needed for some reason. My theory is that my “loosening the cable” on the fly dynamic adjustment is that it may somehow relax the built in trim mechanisms to make them functional. Also, resist the temptation to take up slack in the cable using your adjuster barrel - this will only mess up the setting for any “trim” ability built into your front shifter.

i hope you find this helpful. I suspect that your front shifter is not broken at all - I will return-visit this thread to see if my little tweak works for you.

One final observation that occurred with me which made shifting effort higher - the bottom bracket nylon cable guide was worn out. Putting a new one on helped reduce the shifting effort even further.

The older Campagnolo left brifters were not indexed, and instead used micro shifts that allowed for trimming. I have not used them with Shimano front derailleurs, but I have used them with non-indexed FDs of various sorts. The combinations work well, and would work fine for Shimano stuff as well, I would expect.

You might look at my fix in #4 answer about how to restore normal (not tight) cable tension.

Also, +1 to responses #6 and #9 . It is important that the cable be on the outside of the anchor bolt, as stated.

Also, I’m curious if the LBS is struggling to get the adjustment right because they are out of practice on the proper ways to set up a triple front brifter. It is possible that they are following the SOP for Shimano doubles and are skipping the tiny extra steps for the triple that makes their setup so tricky.