Just wrapped up tonight’s ride, everything hunky-dory. As I roll into the driveway I try to downshift to the small ring… no bueno. Shifter is stuck in the big ring. My problem is similar to what is described here:
When I unbolt the cable from the FD I can click the shifter through all the stops with just hand tension on the cable. Tried removing and re-seating the cable. Hook everything back up, it’ll shift to the big ring once, and stay stuck there. I can get it to drop to the trim position, but no further than that. Swing the small paddle and nothing happens. It’s a 5600 series shifter, ~ circa 2009, probably about 6k miles of use.
Try spraying a good bike degreaser directly into the internal gears. They can get gummed up over time. if that doesn’t work you may be in the market for a new shifter
Just wrapped up tonight’s ride, everything hunky-dory. As I roll into the driveway I try to downshift to the small ring… no bueno. Shifter is stuck in the big ring. My problem is similar to what is described here:
When I unbolt the cable from the FD I can click the shifter through all the stops with just hand tension on the cable. Tried removing and re-seating the cable. Hook everything back up, it’ll shift to the big ring once, and stay stuck there. I can get it to drop to the trim position, but no further than that. Swing the small paddle and nothing happens. It’s a 5600 series shifter, ~ circa 2009, probably about 6k miles of use.
Any thoughts? Is this thing toast?
If it is truely like the description on bikeforums you linked the problem is your FD, not your shifter. Common problem. Clean the FD and you should be fine.
To be sure, flip the bike upside down and shift to the small ring. The cable at the FD should go slack. If it does you have a FD problem. If it doesn’t, tap the FD with the palm of your hand. If it moves to the correct position you have a cable problem. If it won’t move with a tap of the hand you either have a very badly messed up FD or shift cable or your shifter is bad.
Around 2009 Shimano “fixed” the shifter problem supposedly on the 105 series. If you have the black version there is a good chance you have the “new” design. The old style would fail when people tried to shift them to a position that didn’t exist. They would fail internally, and when that happened they would not shift either direction. The lever just went slack. That doesn’t sound like your problem.
Had the same problem a month ago and was about to get a new one but it’s easy to get it fixed. Just takes 10-20 min. Shift to the smaller chainring so the cable has slack. Then add some lube (dry for the best but wet is ok too) to the parts that move. Take your thumb and push the derailleur manually to the big chain ring. Repeat MAAANY times. Apply lube again use hands to move derailleur. Repeat many times until it become easier. DONT USE DEGREASER!!! It will make it work for a little while but removes the lube from the internals and you’ll have it worse in 1-2 weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened because u used degreaser before.
So just be patient and apply lots of lube and move the shifter with ur hands.
I believe I have the ‘old’ style 105 levers. Cable doesn’t go slack when I hit the shift paddle. No click inside the shifter, just silence. I have a spare FD in stock I can swap out and see if it makes a difference. I’ll have a go at that tonight.
If the cable doesnt go slack then its the shifter not the front derailleur. Common issue with the Shimano 105 shifters as noted. You used to be able to buy just the shifter/brake lever and not the whole assembly. Have your LBS check with Shimano.
I have experienced this many times on repairs. The pivot bushings have become corroded, and the spring can’t overcome the friction–like mentioned above-don’t use degreaser-there is no lube left in the pivots.
Here is one method to loosen it up.
back out the 2 adjustment screws so the derailleur has full range to cycle through.
spray with a penetrating oil (WD-40), work the derailleur mechanism up and down many times, keep spraying the spring and pivots while doing this.
when it is moving freely apply Tri-flow to the pivots and springs so you are flushing out the penetrating oil, repeat above mechanical movement of derailleur
re-adjust the range settings with the adjustment screws.
In severe cases I have removed derailleurs and soaked them overnight, submerged in a small container of WD-40. Also if energy drink from a seat tube bottle is leaking onto the mechanism you will have to use boiling water and Dawn dish soap to dissolve the left behind residue before you attempt the above.
Most degreasers will not breakdown energy drink residue–dish soap with hot water is the trick.
You used to be able to buy just the shifter/brake lever and not the whole assembly. Have your LBS check with Shimano.
Thanks for the tip. I’ll investigate with them, though it may be cheaper to try and just find a used shifter somewhere, or just change the whole thing over to Rival, which I’ve been wanting to do for awhile anyways.
Replace it! The same thing happened to me…I got it “fixed” at my LBS and then it happened again 2 weeks later during a race…not so great on a hilly course. However, I did have a new excuse to add to bag of tricks…so all was not lost.
I believe I have the ‘old’ style 105 levers. Cable doesn’t go slack when I hit the shift paddle. No click inside the shifter, just silence. I have a spare FD in stock I can swap out and see if it makes a difference. I’ll have a go at that tonight.
If it turns out to be the brifter (and it certainly sounds like it is) then look on ebay for an Ultegra brifter. If I remember correctly, 105 brifters of that era were dual purpose (double and triple). If you have a dual purpose shifter on a double you will see a big difference with an ultegra double brifter.