# RSX Shifter Issue



## The M.T. Bike (Dec 20, 2008)

So I just acquired a 1999 Cannondale R500 (complete Shimano RSX drive train), and the left STI shifter (for the front derailleur) only downshifts about every one out of ten or twelve times, and it's getting worse. When you push the little paddle (the one that makes it downshift) most of the time nothing happens - the lever moves freely, but doesn't seem to catch on anything. If you fiddle around with it, pushing the paddle up or down as well as sideways, it will sometimes catch and shift for you. (To clarify, 'sideways' is the direction it's supposed to move, but there is a tiny bit of play moving it towards or away from the rider. This is really awkward, because you have to get your fingernails in there to make it move 'up' or 'down' while moving sideways at the same time. I'm not sure that doing this is helping the situation at all, but it's the only way to downshift now.) It shifts up fine, it's only the smaller downshifting paddle that's not working.

Is there any way to fix this? 

I did some research in a good book on bike maintenance, and it says that STI shifters are not made to service, so when they wear out you just buy new ones. Is this always the case??? 

I found a left STI lever on ebay - "Shimano ST-6603 Ultegra Shifters Left Side STI Triple" for $75. So if this can't be fixed, will such a replacement be a good one?


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

before you buy anything, try this. it seems that after a few years the assembly grease in shimano shifters gets a bit sticky, and the ratchet doesn't release (at that's what we think is happening...since we've never opened one up), so the small paddle just moves and does nothing. spray some wd-40 or some light spray lube into the inside of the shifter, thru the cable port, and wherever else you can shop rag in hand, as it will drip all over the place). paddle the shifter a bunch of times, and the majority of times it will come back to life. while you're paying close attention to your shifters, make sure the cables are at the point where they're fraying inside the shifters, and getting close to ruining a ride in your near future.


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## The M.T. Bike (Dec 20, 2008)

cxwrench said:


> while you're paying close attention to your shifters, make sure the cables are at the point where they're fraying inside the shifters, and getting close to ruining a ride in your near future.


??? I don't understand what you mean in this last sentence.

I'll try the WD-40 tomorrow. I'm glad that someone else has seen this before, and that it's fixable!


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

The M.T. Bike said:


> ??? I don't understand what you mean in this last sentence.
> 
> I'll try the WD-40 tomorrow. I'm glad that someone else has seen this before, and that it's fixable!



The WD40 trick worked for me too with RSX shifters


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## Slow Eddie (Jun 28, 2004)

cxwrench said:


> ...while you're paying close attention to your shifters, make sure the cables are *not *at the point where they're fraying inside the shifters, and getting close to ruining a ride in your near future.


I think this is what he was trying to get at. Good advice for a ten-year-old shifter that may not recently have been serviced. Better still, spring for new cables and housing all around. Couldn't make things worse.

I would still definitely lube the shifter while the cable's out, though.


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## The M.T. Bike (Dec 20, 2008)

Slow Eddie said:


> I think this is what he was trying to get at.


That's kinda what I figured. Now the question is, how do you check to see if the cables are frayed? Do you need to take the shifter off of the handlebars and everything? Or is there an easier way to peek inside of there?

And I just tried the WD-40 - it worked like a charm! I sprayed it copiously into every crevice of the shifter that I could find, and after a couple minutes of spraying and playing with the paddle it slowly came back to life. Now it engages every time! I'm so grateful for the advice guys!

I LOVE THIS SITE!!!


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## Slow Eddie (Jun 28, 2004)

Search around (on RBR or teh interwebz in general) on how to replace cables on an STI shifter; that'll give you some basics on anatomy and physiology of the mechanism.

Then, you can do one of several things:

1.) observe what you can without really taking things apart - peel up the hood, check out what you can see of the cable without undoing any bolts while you shift up and down the range of the shifter.

2.) Shift up to the biggest ring or cog, then shift down to the smallest ring or cog _without pedaling_; this will create some slack in the cable so you can wiggle the anchor out of its seat in the shifter and inspect some of the cable you couldn't originally see.

3.) Shift to the smallest ring/cog, loosen the cable fixing bolt on the derailleur, and push the cable out of the shifter until you are satisfied you have inspected enough of it to be sure there is no fraying. This will require a little more skill on your part to be able to reattach the cable and adjust the derailleur correctly so that it shifts well (again, Google will be your friend here).

Good Hunting.


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

*Just an add-on.*

The trouble with fraying shifter cables inside the shifters is not so much that they leave you with only one gear if they break, but that the broken-off pieces jam themselves into the shifter and often are impossible to get out.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

The only downside to the WD-40 treatment is that now you've washed all the grease out of the shifter, and you'll get increased wear. Depending on how much you ride, you may get two to three years before the shifter's internals are worn out. All in all, it's not a bad trade off though.
If I remember correctly, RSX was a 7 speed system. When your shifters go, you might want to replace them with a new complete bike. (of you could just replace the system with something like Tiagra)


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Re-grease*



MR_GRUMPY said:


> The only downside to the WD-40 treatment is that now you've washed all the grease out of the shifter, and you'll get increased wear.


This can be addressed pretty easily by just pushing some gobs of grease into the shifter with the tip of your finger. After shifting a few times, the grease will get reasonably well distributed throughout the shifter mechanism.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

If you read that article about rebuilding your Shimano STI's, you'd see that the only way to get grease into the needed spots is to disassemble the STI, grease, and assemble again. The only way it might work is to heat a pot of grease to 250 degrees and immerse the STI in it for ten minutes. Then, spend 45 minutes cleaning the excess grease off.


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## Slow Eddie (Jun 28, 2004)

Well, if I didn't have a good enough reason to deep-fry the Thanksgiving bird before...


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## The M.T. Bike (Dec 20, 2008)

Slow Eddie said:


> Well, if I didn't have a good enough reason to deep-fry the Thanksgiving bird before...


hahaha 
Hell, why wait for Thanksgiving when you could just take 'em to the fryilators at Mickey D's tomorrow?
:lol:

A couple of questions:
I don't know, but would lubing it up with WD40 on a regular basis provide some sort of grease-like action and thus reduce the wear to the mechanism?

And is there any chance that putting grease in the shifter in the way Kerry mentioned might be counterproductive (i.e. muck up the proper function of the parts in some way)?

And do you know where the article about rebuilding STIs is located?


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

WD40 is so thin, it's almost worthless.You'd want something thick, like 90 wt gear oil.
Can't remember where I saw that article (with pictures), but you needed another STI to salvage parts from, since you can't buy replacement parts from Shimano.


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## frdfandc (Nov 27, 2007)

Don't use WD40. 

Use a good cleaner like White Lightning Degreaser. Then use either a teflon based lube or Tri-flow. Then you only need to apply occasionally to keep the levers lubricated.


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## Sirveyir (Apr 5, 2008)

I have had the same experience with ageing RSX shifters and also on the front shifter. The mechanic at the "Pro" LBS said dead is dead and offered to sell me a replacement shifter for $110. No thanks. The mechanic at the grunge LBS educated me all about the hardened grease problem and proceeded to flush out my shifter with solvent and relube. Cost...$10. I got about another year out of the shifter until it finally died. I agree with flushing, flooding and soaking with a good solvent to melt out the grease. Lube should be with Brake-free or Tri-flow. Grease or gear oil is not necessary. Lubing and/or replacing cables will eliminate that as a possible source of problems. There should be lots of used front shifters available on Ebay at very reasonable prices. Usually it is the rear shifter that fails. The replacement need not be RSX.


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## Timbuctoo (Apr 23, 2009)

Same problem for me. I have a Raceline Peleton with the RSX shifters and the same left shifter stopped working. I pulled the front off it tonight to reveal a spring and a little seal, put it back together and it still won't work. Is it possible to put a pair of different shifters on there? What other options are there once these shifters die because I like the bike.


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## ARP (Mar 7, 2002)

*Sure, you can put different shifters on*



Timbuctoo said:


> Same problem for me. I have a Raceline Peleton with the RSX shifters and the same left shifter stopped working. I pulled the front off it tonight to reveal a spring and a little seal, put it back together and it still won't work. Is it possible to put a pair of different shifters on there? What other options are there once these shifters die because I like the bike.


They just need to be the same gear moving # like RSX and later on Sora were for 7 speed. I think 105 even came in 7 speed at one time. So shop for a new shifter on ebay and swap them out. But did you do the flush and lube first?


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## The M.T. Bike (Dec 20, 2008)

ARP said:


> But did you do the flush and lube first?


Make sure you flush out the shifter and then lube it before you do anything else. Flushing with WD40 brought it back to life in a couple of minutes for me.


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## rickhotrod (Apr 16, 2009)

MR_GRUMPY said:


> If you read that article about rebuilding your Shimano STI's, you'd see that the only way to get grease into the needed spots is to disassemble the STI, grease, and assemble again.


Where do you find the article on rebuilding Shimano STI's? Is it on RoadBikeReview?


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## zigurate (Mar 3, 2009)

You can flush and lube it, that may be a temporary solution but try it out first instead of buying a shifter now.


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## Timbuctoo (Apr 23, 2009)

Thanks for the help peoples, I've got some spare time so I'll go give it a try and report my findings!!

Tim H


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## ARP (Mar 7, 2002)

*Should any of you be interested I might have a set of RSX shifters to part with*

PM me and we'll discuss if you can not correct the problem with the mentioned fixes.


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## Timbuctoo (Apr 23, 2009)

All fixed. Lubed it up and played with the front derailer which was a bit out of sink. Works like a dream now. WD40 is like windex isn't it!! Fixes everything.


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## Arby (Apr 29, 2004)

*Excellent!*



cxwrench said:


> before you buy anything, try this. it seems that after a few years the assembly grease in shimano shifters gets a bit sticky, and the ratchet doesn't release (at that's what we think is happening...since we've never opened one up), so the small paddle just moves and does nothing. spray some wd-40 or some light spray lube into the inside of the shifter, thru the cable port, and wherever else you can shop rag in hand, as it will drip all over the place). paddle the shifter a bunch of times, and the majority of times it will come back to life. while you're paying close attention to your shifters, make sure the cables are at the point where they're fraying inside the shifters, and getting close to ruining a ride in your near future.


Excellent advise! My wife's bike was exhibiting the same poochy shifter performance. I gave it a blast of WD40 and it's restored to tip-top shape. 

Arby


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## brblue (Jan 28, 2003)

*-> taking 'em apart*



Timbuctoo said:


> Same problem for me. I have a Raceline Peleton with the RSX shifters and the same left shifter stopped working. I pulled the front off it tonight to reveal a spring and a little seal, put it back together and it still won't work. Is it possible to put a pair of different shifters on there? What other options are there once these shifters die because I like the bike.


Actually for RSX it's really easy to take them apart enough to get to the "internals" that need to get lubed.
- do the above, like Timbuctoo did
- remember how the springs/washers are mounted
- get to the scew between the small lever and the large lever(near the shifter's body). That's the one attaching the big lever to the shifer's "internals", loosen the screw, take the big lever off. It's upper part serves as a cover to shield the shifter's internals
- wipe off everything from the pads that engage the indexing wheels
- lube the pads that engage the indexing whel, with some thick lube
- put everything back together.
- take care when putting back the spring mentioned by Timbuctoo

good luck
brblue

P.S. Those shifters are like a tank - weigh a ton but are sturdy. Wouldn't replace them with soras  still regret selling my RSX some years ago..


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## Timbuctoo (Apr 23, 2009)

Just wondering, how did Shimano RSX rank as a groupset back in the 90s? Where did it sit compared to the current lineup? I'm guessing like say Tiagra?


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## brblue (Jan 28, 2003)

I think it was below 105.. 
somehow, the shifters I had gave me a better impression of "durable" that the current tiagra stuff I ride. Also a pair of RSX brakes I've seen seemed undestroyable too..


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## Timbuctoo (Apr 23, 2009)

A question for the gurus in here; Because my RSX 7 speed groupset has hardly been used and the current frame it's on is to small for me I'd like to move the RSX groupset to a new Motobecane road bike frame that fits me. The question is will I need a different BB or anything else to make this work? I'll be using the same wheels and everything on the new frame until I can afford a better groupset. If this would be an easy thing to do and a good temporary measure until I can afford the new groupset I'll do it but if it's to difficult I will hold off getting the new frame. The Motobecane frame has had a Shimano Ultegra groupset attached to it. Any clues??


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## StageHand (Dec 27, 2002)

Timbuctoo said:


> A question for the gurus in here; Because my RSX 7 speed groupset has hardly been used and the current frame it's on is to small for me I'd like to move the RSX groupset to a new Motobecane road bike frame that fits me. The question is will I need a different BB or anything else to make this work? I'll be using the same wheels and everything on the new frame until I can afford a better groupset. If this would be an easy thing to do and a good temporary measure until I can afford the new groupset I'll do it but if it's to difficult I will hold off getting the new frame. The Motobecane frame has had a Shimano Ultegra groupset attached to it. Any clues??


You can probably move everything over no problem. You might need a new headset, though, depending on the sizes/style of the old frame and fork compared to the new one. You may also have to replace your cables, as they may not be long enough for the bigger frame.


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