Friction shifter squeal, fix?

hmmmm doahn see mine but see evidence of a subculture...

the ones I have are surfaced with a floral pattern of vines...looks like a handle of an Edwardian rotisserie with a dial in the center over the shaft


https://goo.gl/rmcC5e

On Monday, September 7, 2015 at 12:55:55 PM UTC-7, Ian Field wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, September 7, 2015 at 11:48:22 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
Folks,

Lately my old Shimano 600 friction shifter levers let off an annoying
squeal when moving them. Shifting is ok but it's embarrassing when other
road bikers are around.

A drop of oil didn't help. Can I use some sort of lube on their inner
surfaces? LiquiMoly LM48 maybe? Some other trick? Wanted to ask here
before I do something where they'll never work right anymore and someone
will say "Oh, you shouldn't have done that".

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

I've never seen this before but I can imagine after all these years that
bearing surface is probably dried out with caked dirt and grease. Set the
levers parallel with the downtube and rotate the wheels so that the
derailleurs go to their neutral positions (small cog and smallest ring).
This should give enough slack to unscrew and remove the levers. Remember
that you can get some slack by rotating the derailleurs a little.

Using WD40 or some such to cut through the sludge clean the bearing
surfaces including inside of the levers. Make sure there is nothing
remaining of any junk. Inspect closely for any cracks in the downtube
mounts and in the lever bodies.


GT85 is the new WD40 - its Teflon fortified.

If grease is required - Finish-Line Teflon fortified bicycle grease is hard
to beat.

DO NOT use this on downtube shifters. It will embed itself on the bushing surfaces and you will have a VERY hard time getting enough pressure on the friction locks to keep them from slowly sliding back to the all-the-way forward position.

I only use WD-40 for penetration to break the levers loose without scratching the bushing surfaces all to hell.

When you grease these surfaces you only put enough on there so that the levers slide on and off without excessive pressure. You make sure that the SIDE that is the friction surface for the locknut is un-lubricated but very clean.

You have none of these problems with brake/shifter levers since they use ratchets.

Since I maintain my bikes at least reasonably well I never see failures like this and it is interesting that they could get to that state.

On 2015-10-02 4:49 PM, wrote:
On Monday, September 7, 2015 at 12:55:55 PM UTC-7, Ian Field wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, September 7, 2015 at 11:48:22 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
Folks,

Lately my old Shimano 600 friction shifter levers let off an
annoying squeal when moving them. Shifting is ok but it's
embarrassing when other road bikers are around.

A drop of oil didn't help. Can I use some sort of lube on their
inner surfaces? LiquiMoly LM48 maybe? Some other trick? Wanted
to ask here before I do something where they'll never work
right anymore and someone will say "Oh, you shouldn't have done
that".

-- Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

I've never seen this before but I can imagine after all these
years that bearing surface is probably dried out with caked dirt
and grease. Set the levers parallel with the downtube and rotate
the wheels so that the derailleurs go to their neutral positions
(small cog and smallest ring). This should give enough slack to
unscrew and remove the levers. Remember that you can get some
slack by rotating the derailleurs a little.

Using WD40 or some such to cut through the sludge clean the
bearing surfaces including inside of the levers. Make sure there
is nothing remaining of any junk. Inspect closely for any cracks
in the downtube mounts and in the lever bodies.


GT85 is the new WD40 - its Teflon fortified.

If grease is required - Finish-Line Teflon fortified bicycle grease
is hard to beat.

DO NOT use this on downtube shifters. It will embed itself on the
bushing surfaces and you will have a VERY hard time getting enough
pressure on the friction locks to keep them from slowly sliding back
to the all-the-way forward position.

I only use WD-40 for penetration to break the levers loose without
scratching the bushing surfaces all to hell.

When you grease these surfaces you only put enough on there so that
the levers slide on and off without excessive pressure. You make sure
that the SIDE that is the friction surface for the locknut is
un-lubricated but very clean.

You have none of these problems with brake/shifter levers since they
use ratchets.


Sure but some of us ride road bikes from the days of Methusaleh back
when Tour de France riders still passed around cigarettes.

Ratchet shifters aren't that great either. It took me a while to get the
Shimano Altus shifters on my old MTB going again. The ^*&#!! orginal
grease in there was all gunked up and they would not downshift anymore.


Since I maintain my bikes at least reasonably well I never see
failures like this and it is interesting that they could get to that
state.


I used ball bearing grease as per recommendation here in the thread. It
made them shift like new. Best of all the embarrassing screeching noise
whenever I shifted is gone. It became so bad that riders turned their heads.

Now about that old redneck truck rattle on my new MTB ...

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at 12:27:47 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2015-10-02 4:49 PM, wrote:
On Monday, September 7, 2015 at 12:55:55 PM UTC-7, Ian Field wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Monday, September 7, 2015 at 11:48:22 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
Folks,

Lately my old Shimano 600 friction shifter levers let off an
annoying squeal when moving them. Shifting is ok but it's
embarrassing when other road bikers are around.

A drop of oil didn't help. Can I use some sort of lube on their
inner surfaces? LiquiMoly LM48 maybe? Some other trick? Wanted
to ask here before I do something where they'll never work
right anymore and someone will say "Oh, you shouldn't have done
that".

-- Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

I've never seen this before but I can imagine after all these
years that bearing surface is probably dried out with caked dirt
and grease. Set the levers parallel with the downtube and rotate
the wheels so that the derailleurs go to their neutral positions
(small cog and smallest ring). This should give enough slack to
unscrew and remove the levers. Remember that you can get some
slack by rotating the derailleurs a little.

Using WD40 or some such to cut through the sludge clean the
bearing surfaces including inside of the levers. Make sure there
is nothing remaining of any junk. Inspect closely for any cracks
in the downtube mounts and in the lever bodies.


GT85 is the new WD40 - its Teflon fortified.

If grease is required - Finish-Line Teflon fortified bicycle grease
is hard to beat.

DO NOT use this on downtube shifters. It will embed itself on the
bushing surfaces and you will have a VERY hard time getting enough
pressure on the friction locks to keep them from slowly sliding back
to the all-the-way forward position.

I only use WD-40 for penetration to break the levers loose without
scratching the bushing surfaces all to hell.

When you grease these surfaces you only put enough on there so that
the levers slide on and off without excessive pressure. You make sure
that the SIDE that is the friction surface for the locknut is
un-lubricated but very clean.

You have none of these problems with brake/shifter levers since they
use ratchets.


Sure but some of us ride road bikes from the days of Methusaleh back
when Tour de France riders still passed around cigarettes.

Ratchet shifters aren't that great either. It took me a while to get the
Shimano Altus shifters on my old MTB going again. The ^*&#!! orginal
grease in there was all gunked up and they would not downshift anymore.


Since I maintain my bikes at least reasonably well I never see
failures like this and it is interesting that they could get to that
state.


I used ball bearing grease as per recommendation here in the thread. It
made them shift like new. Best of all the embarrassing screeching noise
whenever I shifted is gone. It became so bad that riders turned their heads.

Now about that old redneck truck rattle on my new MTB ...

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

I've got a Colnago Dream and you should hear it when I hit a bump and all the various cables strike the aluminum main triangle. It's a good think I'm hard of hearing now.