# Front Derailleur/Shifter Problem



## dinosaurs (Nov 29, 2011)

I have a Surly Cross Check with Tiagra STI shifters that I picked up on eBay over the summer. My roommate helped me installed them and they have worked great, up until recently. 

On Friday I went out for a short ride and I was having trouble getting it to shift down onto the smaller front chain ring. Being stuck in the 48T front gear sucked for some of the hills on the back roads around here (Blue Ridge Mountain area), so I tried adjust the front derailleur cable. I was able to get it to shift down fine, but when I went for a ride Saturday, I was unable to get it to get the bike to shift back onto the larger chain ring. The uphill portions were a breeze in the smaller front chain ring, but I couldn't pedal at all going downhill. 

Yesterday I tried adjust it again, however I noticed that no matter what I did to the cable (loosening/tightening), the front shifter would not click when I tried to shift down. I'm a complete noob when it comes to bike maintenance, but I'd assume that even with no tension on the cables, there should be some sort of feedback/response when pressing the levers (the SRAM Rival shifters on the non-yet-completely assembled Cannondale that I have do this). Is the Tiagra front shifter that I have busted, or am I missing something here?


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

first step...undo the cable anchor bolt. hold cable in your fingers w/ some tension on it. move the shift levers. does the cable move? if yes, you're adjusting it incorrectly. do a search, find directions. 
if no, something is not right w/ the shifter. try to remove the cable from the shifter and see if it's frayed or broken. search is your friend...there are lots of good videos on youtube that cover anything you might need to do to maintain/adjust/service your bike.


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## dinosaurs (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. That is pretty much what I tried yesterday. The result was that when pressing the brake lever in, the cable would move, but when pressing the rear lever to downshift, the cable would not move.


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## rlb81 (Feb 2, 2010)

Check the Park Tool website, they have a great guide to adjusting derailleurs, front and rear.


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## dinosaurs (Nov 29, 2011)

The shifter should make some noise when pressing the inner lever though, correct?

The Tiagras have the shift indicator on them. Its all the way to the left and does not move to the right at all. 

This sounds the most like what I was experiencing on Friday (from a BikeRadar thread):



> We've seen a few 105 front levers broken- it's usually when the cable starts getting a little slack and (on a double chainring setup) the rider isn't getting the shift up to the big ring on a single click. They then shove the lever again, and because all current 105 levers are all triple enabled, but being used as a double (saving on stock items I guess), the lever goes another click at massive cable tension, breaking the ratchet.
> 
> The levers now come with a warning not to push them beyond the second click on a double installation.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Solvent flush*



dinosaurs said:


> Thanks for the reply. That is pretty much what I tried yesterday. The result was that when pressing the brake lever in, the cable would move, but when pressing the rear lever to downshift, the cable would not move.


In addition to the other suggestions, you may just have a gunked up shifter. If you flush it with WD-40, TriFlow, etc. while working through the gears, this may sort it out. If the cable is not frayed inside the shifter and the solvent flush doesn't work, you may be in the market for new shifters.


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## onespeedbiker (May 28, 2007)

Shimano shifters have a limited life, some more than others. It is typical that your shifter has either worn out or has become gunked up. Because Shimano uses such a light touch to shift, the springs are somewhat weak. Over time the OEM lubricant gets gunked and the shifter won't catch or move the cable. The typical remedy is what Kerry Irons recommends. 



> flush it with WD-40, TriFlow, etc. while working through the gears, this may sort it out. If the cable is not frayed inside the shifter and the solvent flush doesn't work, you may be in the market for new shifters.


This happened with my 9 speed Ulterga shifters and a flush worked; but it never shifted the same and I replaced them with a Shimergo setup. Good luck on your flush..


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## dinosaurs (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks guys. I just took a look real quick and the cable doesn't look like its frayed. I don't think my roommates and our security deposit would appreciate the WD-40 flush on the living room carpet so I might bring it by the local shop. The two mechanics there are really cool and they have really reasonable rates. 

I still have the bar end shifters that came with the bike, so switching the front derailleur to a bar end would be a quick fix for now if the shifter is toast, with a set of downtube shifters possibly in the future. I need to get my CAAD9 on the road first though.


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## tsujinai (Jan 17, 2012)

Thought I'd give my experience tuning that shifter. Although it's more of tuning derailer to fit a larger tooth gear in my case.
Place the bike upside down so you can hand pedal and change gears.
- I basically downshift to the smallest ring while rear cassette is at largest ring
- Undo the cable on the fd and retighten as much as possible (Make sure the shifter is at lowest gear when retightening as undoing the fd will bring the fd to lowest setting).
- Try to shift upward and see if the fd will move and if shifter clicks. If it doesn't click and fd does show signs of movement, you may need to adjust the derailer using the tuning screws on the derailer. If it doesn't move at all, the cable may need to be tightened more or you are shifter may not be at the lowest gear setting when tightening. (of course another possibility of troubles in this step can relate to a dying shifter)
- If it does move and only have trouble getting up to the next ring, then you'll need to adjust the screws on the derailer, you should have two screws which may be labeled H and L. One screw is to adjust the lowest gear derailer position and the other is the highest gear.
- Adjust the lowest position first, tighten or loosen screw until the chain is at center of derailer. This is basically to set the lowest downshift or inward most position of fd.
- Then shift to the next gear until you are on the largest front ring, if it has trouble switching to the larger ring, adjust the high gear screw which would move the derailer outward to push the chain to the higher gear. Once at the top gear, adjust so the chain is center of derailer using the high gear screw.
- This is where it may become tricky, if the derailer moves too far outward and the screw adjustment can't get it inward enough to center the derailer, you will need to loosen the screw just enough that the fd moves inward a tad, but not as much as to lose tension completely, retighten afterwards. You will also do this if you have a hard time shifting the chain to the lower gear.
- At this point it should be shifting for the most part, shift back down to the lowest gears and recheck the positioning following the same steps again to make sure the high gear adjustment didn't affect the low gear position.
- Finally make sure the chain after switching gears is not running on the sides of the derailer, this can also mean the need to reposition the derailer angle if adjustment screws cannot solve it. In this case untighten the fd from the tube just a tiny bit at a time until you can wiggle the fd left and right without letting it slide upward losing; adjust accordingly.
- And supposedly that should be it as long as my memory serves.

About tension, the tighter the cable is, the easier it becomes to shift to a larger gear (harder to downshift) while a lower tension will make it easier to downshift (harder to upshift), so the goal is to get it in between.

Hope this may be helpful knowledge even if you decide to send to the shop.


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## dinosaurs (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks for the thorough writeup. The only problem is that the shifter is stuck in the highest gear (indicator all the way to the left) and won't shift down from there. It doesn't click and there is no feedback/feeling like something is actuating within the shifter when I try to shift it down.

The shop is on my way to work/school, so I'll probably just swing by there tomorrow with it.


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## tsujinai (Jan 17, 2012)

Sounds like as others have mentioned, gunk keeping the small ratchet mech from engaging, or a piece of the mech decided to give. Hopefully it is the former. However, I advise against using wd40; it will dissolve gunk, but also dry up the shifter and cause problems like rust making it a temporarily fix that will eventually kill the shifter if it cannot be properly lubricated again. Actual cleaning will involve taking it apart and cleaning using something like synthetic white lithium. There is a group on facebook called Shimano STI Shifter Repair that may answer questions or point you to the problem, doesn't hurt to shoot a comment there too if things don't work out.

Sorry, did not end up being much help. Hope the shop will take care of it though, good luck.


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## dinosaurs (Nov 29, 2011)

I'll check out that Facebook group. My other bike should be together by this weekend, so I'm going to look into doing the shifter for the Surly myself. Thanks for the help again.


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## onespeedbiker (May 28, 2007)

tsujinai said:


> Sounds like as others have mentioned, gunk keeping the small ratchet mech from engaging, or a piece of the mech decided to give. Hopefully it is the former. However, I advise against using wd40; it will dissolve gunk, but also dry up the shifter and cause problems like rust making it a temporarily fix that will eventually kill the shifter if it cannot be properly lubricated again. Actual cleaning will involve taking it apart and cleaning using something like synthetic white lithium. There is a group on facebook called Shimano STI Shifter Repair that may answer questions or point you to the problem, doesn't hurt to shoot a comment there too if things don't work out.
> 
> Sorry, did not end up being much help. Hope the shop will take care of it though, good luck.


Forgot to add that after the flush you want to use a lightweight teflon lubricating spray; TF2 is quite popular but any will really do.


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