# Shimano 105 brake/shifter losing "spring back" ability?



## mcsqueak (Apr 22, 2010)

Sorry, I'm not exactly sure how to word this. If you read my posts around here you'll realize I'm not much of a wrench but trying to learn as I go along!

My bike has Shimano 105 10-speed brake levers/shifters. On a ride last weekend when I was going over some bumpy road, I noticed that my left shifter was "clapping" back against where it is normally seated when not being squeezed.

It seems like whatever "spring" is inside of the shifter that holds it in place while not in use wasn't holding as tight, allowing the lever to sort of open and shut while going over the rough road. The movement is in the same direction as when you'd be squeezing the lever to brake. It only open and closes about a cm or less. The actual brake housing that is secured to the handlebars is not lose.

The right lever isn't having this issue and holds tight into the seated position, even when going over rough roads.

Sorry, this is somewhat hard to explain. Is there something I should be looking at to tighten this up? I looked at the Shimano tech documents but didn't see anything that seemed to help.

When I squeeze the lever it feels as if the left lever has less resistance to being squeezed as well.

And hints would be appreciated. I plan on taking it by the LBS next time I'm out, but I had plans to take my bike with me out of town this weekend...

Edit: Also should note that the bike hasn't been crashed on the left side, but when I take my bike in the back of my car on trips (a few this summer so far) I always lay it on the left side, obviously because I want the drive side up. I wonder if that has done something...


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## redlude97 (Jun 29, 2010)

First thing I would do is flush the shifter with wd-40 followed by a good lubricant.


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

redlude97 said:


> First thing I would do is flush the shifter with wd-40 followed by a good lubricant.


That's the second thing I'd do.

The first thing would be to replace the brake cable.


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## mcsqueak (Apr 22, 2010)

Ah, think the brake cable is getting worn out? That's a bummer, I only have about 2,500 miles of mostly fair weather riding on it. Guess it won't cost that much to replace it and see if that's the issue.


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## ATX29 (Mar 5, 2011)

Sounds kind of normal to me. Now if its doing it on less bumpy stuff I'd be concerned. Try the new cable.


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## agm2 (Sep 18, 2008)

mcsqueak said:


> Ah, think the brake cable is getting worn out? That's a bummer, I only have about 2,500 miles of mostly fair weather riding on it. Guess it won't cost that much to replace it and see if that's the issue.


It's not that the cable is worn out. It's because of one of two things: it's either a crimp in the housing, or crud has gotten into the cable housing. If the housing is pinched, could be from being too short, the car rack pinching it etc. Otherwise, it's probably just fine dirt particles in there that have gunked up the path of the cable. Remember, there is actually very little clearance inside the housing, so a little dirt can go a long way. 

Also, unless something has wedged itself in the shifter, which I highly doubt reading your post, it's not going to be in the shifter. There's no spring that pulls the lever back. The only reason it snaps back is because of the tension from the brake caliper.


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## mcsqueak (Apr 22, 2010)

agm2 said:


> It's not that the cable is worn out. It's because of one of two things: it's either a crimp in the housing, or crud has gotten into the cable housing. If the housing is pinched, could be from being too short, the car rack pinching it etc. Otherwise, it's probably just fine dirt particles in there that have gunked up the path of the cable. Remember, there is actually very little clearance inside the housing, so a little dirt can go a long way.
> 
> Also, unless something has wedged itself in the shifter, which I highly doubt reading your post, it's not going to be in the shifter. There's no spring that pulls the lever back. The only reason it snaps back is because of the tension from the brake caliper.


Ah, great - thank you for the explanation. I'll look up some more information on cleaning the lever and replacing the cable and see if that doesn't help. I'll also check my brake caliper and make sure everything is set OK there as well - I made some adjustments to it the other week, so perhaps the cable isn't as tight as it should be.


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## Optimus (Jun 18, 2010)

Check your caliper itself as well, release the cable, and squeeze the caliper closed, then release the tension and see if it'll spring back open. If not, lube the pivot points. 

You made some adjustments, did you happen to tighten any nuts/bolts on the caliper?


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## .40AET (Aug 8, 2008)

Definetly look at the caliper. The spring rides inside of a small black plastic shroud and slides up and down. Mine became corroded and stopped working last winter. I do ride salty roads in the winter time and it's likely what did it. The spring and the little shroud may need to be replaced. The pivot points may also have corrosion in them. Disassemble the caliper, clean it and grease the pivots. Of course, be careful with lube around the pads. 

Good luck


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## BirdLikeClimber (Aug 20, 2011)

Had same problem with my Ultegra set up, after mucking around for ages blasted the claiper with a jet washer and it was good as new!


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