Common Shimano Failures, AKA POS STI Levers.

rant My Dura Ace (7700) right brifter just decided to stop upshifting
last Friday on the commute home. From what I'm seeing this is a very
common failure on shimano STI's. It seems that if you hold the brake
lever it will shift, but if you don't, it doesn't seem to engage. Upon
disassembly, nothing looked terribly wrong inside. There was a little
bit of wear on the inner lever, which I suspect coupled with the
movement on the main lever keeps it from engaging. Anyway, after
googling I find this is common, and that my lever may have been under
warantee (so much for trying to fix it myself). Right now I'm looking
at 2 other sets of STI and wondering how long they'll last now. One is
Ultegra on my daughters/wife's bike (daughter pretty much owns it now),
and the other is Sora 8 speed on the other daughters Terry.
In the mean time I've ordered a Jtek shiftmate which I hear is the
"bomb", and a pair of Campy Chorus (aluminum levers) 10 speed brifters.
The bike is in the stand, and I'm waiting for parts. Right now I'm
really irritated about the situation, as I've never dropped the bike,
ridden it in the rain, and yes, it gets wiped down with a towel and
washed regularly. I'm kicking myself for not going Campy on the build,
since that's how Schwinn would've done it. (Waterford Paramount) I
think with the jtek I'll have the best of both worlds. Campy
rebuildable levers, with wheel and cassette selection of Shimano and 3rd
party. Plus I can throw a Triple on it for next years Death Ride. I'm
curious as to if anyone has found a cure for the dead brifter. The way
I look at it, it has cost me 220 miles over the last week. Not to
mention $15 in gas while the bike is down. /rant


--
Mark Wolfe Lakeside, ca http://www.wolfenet.org
gpg fingerprint = 42B6 EFEB 5414 AA18 01B7 64AC EF46 F7E6 82F6 8C71
"World domination. Fast."
(By Linus Torvalds)

Mark Wolfe wrote in message news:ZiN6d.267763$4o.8765@fed1read01...
rant My Dura Ace (7700) right brifter just decided to stop upshifting
last Friday on the commute home. From what I'm seeing this is a very
common failure on shimano STI's. It seems that if you hold the brake
lever it will shift, but if you don't, it doesn't seem to engage. Upon
disassembly, nothing looked terribly wrong inside. There was a little
bit of wear on the inner lever, which I suspect coupled with the
movement on the main lever keeps it from engaging. Anyway, after
googling I find this is common, and that my lever may have been under
warantee (so much for trying to fix it myself). Right now I'm looking
at 2 other sets of STI and wondering how long they'll last now. One is
Ultegra on my daughters/wife's bike (daughter pretty much owns it now),
and the other is Sora 8 speed on the other daughters Terry.
In the mean time I've ordered a Jtek shiftmate which I hear is the
"bomb", and a pair of Campy Chorus (aluminum levers) 10 speed brifters.
The bike is in the stand, and I'm waiting for parts. Right now I'm
really irritated about the situation, as I've never dropped the bike,
ridden it in the rain, and yes, it gets wiped down with a towel and
washed regularly. I'm kicking myself for not going Campy on the build,
since that's how Schwinn would've done it. (Waterford Paramount) I
think with the jtek I'll have the best of both worlds. Campy
rebuildable levers, with wheel and cassette selection of Shimano and 3rd
party. Plus I can throw a Triple on it for next years Death Ride. I'm
curious as to if anyone has found a cure for the dead brifter. The way
I look at it, it has cost me 220 miles over the last week. Not to
mention $15 in gas while the bike is down. /rant

You may wish to consult your doctor about a morphine drip.
$15 in gas last week. Thats a real bummer. You could pick up a tiagra
shifter for about a $120 at any bike shop on your way home from work.

Mark Wolfe wrote in message news:ZiN6d.267763$4o.8765@fed1read01...
rant My Dura Ace (7700) right brifter just decided to stop upshifting
last Friday on the commute home. From what I'm seeing this is a very
common failure on shimano STI's. It seems that if you hold the brake
lever it will shift, but if you don't, it doesn't seem to engage. Upon
disassembly, nothing looked terribly wrong inside. There was a little
bit of wear on the inner lever, which I suspect coupled with the
movement on the main lever keeps it from engaging. Anyway, after
googling I find this is common, and that my lever may have been under
warantee (so much for trying to fix it myself). Right now I'm looking
at 2 other sets of STI and wondering how long they'll last now. One is
Ultegra on my daughters/wife's bike (daughter pretty much owns it now),
and the other is Sora 8 speed on the other daughters Terry.
In the mean time I've ordered a Jtek shiftmate which I hear is the
"bomb", and a pair of Campy Chorus (aluminum levers) 10 speed brifters.
The bike is in the stand, and I'm waiting for parts. Right now I'm
really irritated about the situation, as I've never dropped the bike,
ridden it in the rain, and yes, it gets wiped down with a towel and
washed regularly. I'm kicking myself for not going Campy on the build,
since that's how Schwinn would've done it. (Waterford Paramount) I
think with the jtek I'll have the best of both worlds. Campy
rebuildable levers, with wheel and cassette selection of Shimano and 3rd
party. Plus I can throw a Triple on it for next years Death Ride. I'm
curious as to if anyone has found a cure for the dead brifter. The way
I look at it, it has cost me 220 miles over the last week. Not to
mention $15 in gas while the bike is down. /rant

You may wish to consult your doctor about a morphine drip.
$15 in gas last week. Thats a real bummer. You could pick up a tiagra
shifter for about a $120 at any bike shop on your way home from work.

markw- rant My Dura Ace (7700) right brifter just decided to stop
upshifting
last Friday on the commute home. From what I'm seeing this is a very
common failure on shimano STI's. It seems that if you hold the brake
lever it will shift, but if you don't, it doesn't seem to engage. BRBR

Very common, particualrly in 9s/flitedeck ultegra and DA. DA 3 year warranty,
ultegra 2 year warranty.

markw- Right now I'm
really irritated about the situation, as I've never dropped the bike,
ridden it in the rain, and yes, it gets wiped down with a towel and
washed regularly BRBR

We have had an alarming number fail outta the box...

Remember you can use a Campagnolo 9 or 10s ERGO, any Campagnolo rear der and a
shimano 9s wheel/cogset w/o problem. A lowish end Campagnolo rear
der(completely compatible with any ETGO) is about the same as the shift mate
thingy.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

markw- rant My Dura Ace (7700) right brifter just decided to stop
upshifting
last Friday on the commute home. From what I'm seeing this is a very
common failure on shimano STI's. It seems that if you hold the brake
lever it will shift, but if you don't, it doesn't seem to engage. BRBR

Very common, particualrly in 9s/flitedeck ultegra and DA. DA 3 year warranty,
ultegra 2 year warranty.

markw- Right now I'm
really irritated about the situation, as I've never dropped the bike,
ridden it in the rain, and yes, it gets wiped down with a towel and
washed regularly BRBR

We have had an alarming number fail outta the box...

Remember you can use a Campagnolo 9 or 10s ERGO, any Campagnolo rear der and a
shimano 9s wheel/cogset w/o problem. A lowish end Campagnolo rear
der(completely compatible with any ETGO) is about the same as the shift mate
thingy.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

gevans- You could pick up a tiagra
shifter for about a $120 at any bike shop on your way home from work.
BRBR

Or a SET of Campagnolo shifters for the same price.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

gevans- You could pick up a tiagra
shifter for about a $120 at any bike shop on your way home from work.
BRBR

Or a SET of Campagnolo shifters for the same price.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
markw- rant My Dura Ace (7700) right brifter just decided to stop
upshifting
last Friday on the commute home. From what I'm seeing this is a very
common failure on shimano STI's. It seems that if you hold the brake
lever it will shift, but if you don't, it doesn't seem to engage. BRBR

Very common, particualrly in 9s/flitedeck ultegra and DA. DA 3 year warranty,
ultegra 2 year warranty.

markw- Right now I'm
really irritated about the situation, as I've never dropped the bike,
ridden it in the rain, and yes, it gets wiped down with a towel and
washed regularly BRBR

We have had an alarming number fail outta the box...

Remember you can use a Campagnolo 9 or 10s ERGO, any Campagnolo rear der and a
shimano 9s wheel/cogset w/o problem. A lowish end Campagnolo rear
der(completely compatible with any ETGO) is about the same as the shift mate
thingy.

The shiftmate and Chorus 10 speed ergos should be here by tomorrow.
IMHO you shouldn't hang low end components on high end frames.
Besides, other than the shifter issues, the rest of the components seem
fine. Or should I be aware of other Dura Ace failure modes??





--
Mark Wolfe Lakeside, ca http://www.wolfenet.org
gpg fingerprint = 42B6 EFEB 5414 AA18 01B7 64AC EF46 F7E6 82F6 8C71
Out eth0, through the Cat5K, Across the ATM backbone, past the firewall,
past the provider, hit the router, down the fiber, off another
router... Nothing but net.

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
markw- rant My Dura Ace (7700) right brifter just decided to stop
upshifting
last Friday on the commute home. From what I'm seeing this is a very
common failure on shimano STI's. It seems that if you hold the brake
lever it will shift, but if you don't, it doesn't seem to engage. BRBR

Very common, particualrly in 9s/flitedeck ultegra and DA. DA 3 year warranty,
ultegra 2 year warranty.

markw- Right now I'm
really irritated about the situation, as I've never dropped the bike,
ridden it in the rain, and yes, it gets wiped down with a towel and
washed regularly BRBR

We have had an alarming number fail outta the box...

Remember you can use a Campagnolo 9 or 10s ERGO, any Campagnolo rear der and a
shimano 9s wheel/cogset w/o problem. A lowish end Campagnolo rear
der(completely compatible with any ETGO) is about the same as the shift mate
thingy.

The shiftmate and Chorus 10 speed ergos should be here by tomorrow.
IMHO you shouldn't hang low end components on high end frames.
Besides, other than the shifter issues, the rest of the components seem
fine. Or should I be aware of other Dura Ace failure modes??





--
Mark Wolfe Lakeside, ca http://www.wolfenet.org
gpg fingerprint = 42B6 EFEB 5414 AA18 01B7 64AC EF46 F7E6 82F6 8C71
Out eth0, through the Cat5K, Across the ATM backbone, past the firewall,
past the provider, hit the router, down the fiber, off another
router... Nothing but net.

"Mark Wolfe" wrote in message
news:ZiN6d.267763$4o.8765@fed1read01...
rant My Dura Ace (7700) right brifter just decided to stop
upshifting
last Friday on the commute home. From what I'm seeing this is
a very
common failure on shimano STI's. It seems that if you hold the
brake
lever it will shift, but if you don't, it doesn't seem to
engage. Upon
disassembly, nothing looked terribly wrong inside. There was a
little
bit of wear on the inner lever, which I suspect coupled with
the
movement on the main lever keeps it from engaging. Anyway,
after
googling I find this is common, and that my lever may have been
under
warantee (so much for trying to fix it myself). Right now I'm
looking
at 2 other sets of STI and wondering how long they'll last now.
One is
Ultegra on my daughters/wife's bike (daughter pretty much owns
it now),
and the other is Sora 8 speed on the other daughters Terry.
In the mean time I've ordered a Jtek shiftmate which I hear is
the
"bomb", and a pair of Campy Chorus (aluminum levers) 10 speed
brifters.
The bike is in the stand, and I'm waiting for parts. Right
now I'm
really irritated about the situation, as I've never dropped the
bike,
ridden it in the rain, and yes, it gets wiped down with a towel
and
washed regularly. I'm kicking myself for not going Campy on
the build,
since that's how Schwinn would've done it. (Waterford
Paramount) I
think with the jtek I'll have the best of both worlds. Campy
rebuildable levers, with wheel and cassette selection of
Shimano and 3rd
party. Plus I can throw a Triple on it for next years Death
Ride. I'm
curious as to if anyone has found a cure for the dead brifter.
The way
I look at it, it has cost me 220 miles over the last week. Not
to
mention $15 in gas while the bike is down. /rant

I am still using 8sp STI from, what, about 1992. The only
problem I have is lack of lubrication during the rainy season and
loss of the anchor screws that hold the down shift lever to the
back of the main lever. I replaced these with a couple of screws
from the local hardware store and filed down the heads so they
clear the lever body. These levers have many thousands of miles
on them. It does not sound like you give your DA levers hard
service (no riding in the rain, dusting the bike regularly), so
they should last many years. If not, get warranty replacement --
although I know you have already bought the Campagnolo. Still get
warranty replacement and sell them cheap on e-Bay. -- Jay
Beattie.