105 shifter faulty?

[brit_in_oz]

Hi

My 105 5600 shifters are around ayear old and have always worked well until yesterday. My left shifter will change up to the big ring but not down. If i remove the cable tension the ratchet will spring back and release the cable as it should, but as soon as i put it on the front derailleur and tighten the cable, their is not the feel of the 'click' when the shift starts to drop the chain nto the small ring, and the shifters feels like their is no tension / resistance on it like i would expect. When i pulled the brake lever i could see the cable was still in the position of the big ring, rather than having been released back loose when you throw the lever. Has anyone experienced this, and can you fix this yourslef? Luckily i have just ordered SRAM force but i wanted to sell the groupset as a whole when i pull it off the bike as the rest are perfect.

[drubie]

The later shimano shifters seem to have acquired a reputation for abnormal wear on the gear cable at the shifter end (fraying the cable, poor shifting is the result). You'll need to open it up to have a look, but there's more than one thread here about poor shifting performance and frayed cables.

So... you should be OK once the cable has been replaced. I don't have Shimano stuff so I can't help you about opening it up to take a look.

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... 34&t=28961

[twizzle]

The 105 5600 is a triple shifter, and usually set up on low/middle instead of middle/upper. If the cable tension is too high, such as when you shift past middle to the first trim position and the derailleur is locked on the upper stop, the ratchet mechanism doesn't like this when you try and dump the cable... and breaks. I never broke my shifter, but I sure as heck got stuck in the big ring a few times, and the only solution was to release the cable tension by moving the upper stop. After that, I switched to using the middle/upper positions and never had another problem.

Try WD40 into the mech, set it up in middle/upper, and see if it works. If not... it's yet another dead 105 shifter.

[wombatK]

It's a common problem (google 105 left hand shifter), and it happened to me too - bike was a few days more than a year old. LBS was happy to replace it under warranty.

Shimano Australia provides a 2 year warranty on all its components, and even without that, something that fails in even 2 years is covered by statutory warranty as it is not merchantable quality. Take it back to the LBS you bought the bike from.

Cheers

[brit_in_oz]

Thanks for the reply. I should have said 5600 series not specifically 5600 (as pposed to 5700). I have replaced the cable but no improvement, still get the cable clicking down when not tensioned but will not when loaded ( or even when intentionally backed off) the wierd thing is most threads I have read appear to say once its gone it won't work under any condition whereas mine seems to be okwhen not under tension. Will a wd40 application help?
Can't take it back as its a imported japanese bike

[wombatK]

Can't take it back as its a imported japanese bike

Have you asked the seller what they are prepared to do e.g. if you mail the faulty shifter to them, the well-known fault should be perfectly clear to them; a more reasonable supplier might even offer to send you the replacement - really Shimano should have issued a recall on these, and most suppliers know it.

Let's suppose the seller won't help you, you should try Shimano Australia.

Let's suppose even they won't help you : can you think of any reason at all why you'd be prepared to pay money for a shimano component again ? Paying money for a new 105 shifter would be throwing good money after bad.

The shifter can not be repaired - it's a dud plastic part in them that fails. It's a well-known fault, and any respectable supplier should be prepared to make it good, as should any respectable manufacturer (Shimano).

Cheers

[brit_in_oz]

Thanks for the advice, given Japan is a long way away i emailed Shimano here - the warranty guy is on leave till the 24th but hopefully they will come good. Lucky thr day before i happened to order a SRAm force groupset - so if they send a new one i iwll have a full groupset to sell instead of a partial

[twizzle]

Thanks for the reply. I should have said 5600 series not specifically 5600 (as pposed to 5700). I have replaced the cable but no improvement, still get the cable clicking down when not tensioned but will not when loaded ( or even when intentionally backed off) the wierd thing is most threads I have read appear to say once its gone it won't work under any condition whereas mine seems to be okwhen not under tension. Will a wd40 application help?
Can't take it back as its a imported japanese bike

Is the ratchet only failing when trying to dump from the middle position, or is it stuffed for upper as well?

[brit_in_oz]

From any position - when you move the lever their is virtually no resistance when under tension connected to the derailleur, however, when out of the derailleur it will click down and release the cable.

[twizzle]

From any position - when you move the lever their is virtually no resistance when under tension connected to the derailleur, however, when out of the derailleur it will click down and release the cable.

Yep - that's really dead. WD40 is about the only thing you could try at this point, it might free it up.

[foo on patrol]

I have just had mine play up. Shifted to the biggy and when I went to change down it went crack and nothing happened, cable is still tight.