# Shift paddle feels 'soft'



## mauric6943 (Apr 15, 2008)

I'm in the process of building up a new bike for my girlfriend. I won't bore you with all the details but here is a link detailing the build thus far: Xpost: Components and Wrenching. Everything is going together pretty well but the rear shifting feels 'soft' in the workstand. I'm trying a Shimano/Campy mix but I do not think the issue I'm having right now is related.

The shifters are '07/08 Campagnolo Record 10 that I found on eBay. The shifters had been modified. This is the description from the auction:_
modified by Bill Holland the frame builder so that the reach could be adjusted for smaller hands. See the detail photos. If this is not important to you the adjustable stops can be removed and they will function just like any other shifter. They also have brand new "RED" G springs in the right shifter for that pro level shift quality. 
_​When I shift the rear, the lever shifter doesn't immediately spring back into place and feels soft. The paddle feel is the same regardless of whether the cable is connected to the RD or not. Right now, the cables -Yokozuna Reaction - have been left long because I don't know final stem length or height. 








Could the lever feel be due to the extra long cabling and some excess friction? Or is it more likely that the mechanism in the shifters is worn? According to the seller, who I meet in person, the shifters were on his wife's bike and used accordingly.

Any thoughts?
TIA


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## mauric6943 (Apr 15, 2008)

Here is a pic of the cable routing:

View attachment 225077


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## ultraman6970 (Aug 1, 2010)

u are the 1st person I see using both cables at the front. Red should not feel softer, do you know how to check out for a problem in the carrier??

It could be too much friction, if the cables are too long you get the shifting messed up. I advice you to run the shifter cable at the back not at the front because you are creating a "clog" using it at the front of the shifter, that could be the main problem.

The only piece that usually dies in those shifters is the carrier, the model u have comes in carbon but later they came up with the red edition that was a stronger carbon version, if that is ready to go you might feel the shifting acting weird.

Change the cable routing 1st and see if that fix it, if you do not know the lenght of the cables, just use old casing meanwhile and see how it behaves. If you continue having issues i would suspect a worn out carrier inside of the shifter, if you go with a new carrrier get the aluminum one, a few extra grams wont kill your g/f, it last longer also.

Good luck.


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## wheel_suker (Feb 3, 2005)

Possibly the person who rebuilt the shifters did not wind the return spring correctly. There is a video on youtube you can reference to do it properly.


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## Nielly (Sep 21, 2009)

ultraman6970 said:


> u are the 1st person I see using both cables at the front.


All of my bikes have the cables on the front. Hate them on the back and have never had a problem with shifting. My bars do have a nice gradual bend which probably helps.


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## Juanmoretime (Nov 24, 2001)

You're housing look all too long. There is a happy medium but at the length you're running, especially with those cables wrapped with bar tape, I can see were you would have cable friction.


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## Vientomas (Jul 18, 2007)

I looked at your cross-post. In one of the images you have the shifter cables crossing each other under the down tube. This is incorrect. The cables should not cross each other.


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## rm -rf (Feb 27, 2006)

How are you doing a Campagnolo/Shimano mix? The cassette spacings are different, and it won't center the chain on every cog of a Shimano cassette.

Yeah, don't cross cables on the downtube. Then you'll need to shorten the housing quite a lot. Both cables on the front works for me. 

My first idea was a broken G spring (labeled EC-RE209). That makes very mushy shifting, but since they were replaced recently, they probably are ok.

The other piece that commonly breaks is the G spring carrier. It's labeled EC-RE111 in this diagram. It cracks, allowing the ring to expand, affecting the shifting feel. The rest of the parts should be OK. 









Disassembling and rebuilding the shifter isn't "too" difficult, but it took me hours to figure out how to reassemble it correctly. I can do it in 15 minutes now.

https://www.campyonly.com/howto/images/ergo_parts.jpg


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## tommyturbo (Jan 24, 2002)

FWIW, I started crossing the shifter cables on the downtube about seven years ago at the suggestion of a mechanic known as a Campy Guru. Since then I have accumulated tens of thousands of miles on five bikes, first with 10s, and 11s since it came out.

My shifting has always worked perfectly.


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## FrenchNago (Jan 1, 2011)

I always run my housings in front too and never had a glitch; you're cables/housings are too long......cut them down about an inch, check that all the ferrules are well placed and securely pushed up to the housing, cross or no cross is not an issue, take out all slack in the cables before setting up the derailleurs (double check that) and finish the setup/adjusting......only then will you know if you have a shifter problem:wink:

Oh and a PS: campagnolo cables are what work best with their shifters (the 10S variety here) I've tried many other brands but none work as smoothly with their shifter........(FYI: dura-ace(ok), nokon(ok), gore (horrible), jagwire (even worse)............)


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## mauric6943 (Apr 15, 2008)

Just a quick update. Since I posted the above pic I did shorten the cables slightly but kept everything else the same. During final installation I wrapped almost the entire upper bend with electrical tape to keep everything snug. 

So far so good. My gf loves the bike and other than the occasional noise coming from the rear in a certain gear combination, she finds the shifting spot on. At some point I will probably get a shiftmate b/c even with centering the RD before beginning adjust, I can't get rid of the occasional noise I referenced. I don't even think she notices but as the designated household mechanic, I can't leave well enough alone.

Thanks for the suggestions on the Campy carrier. If things start to degrade, I will research further.

maurice


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