tiagra Shifters Service

magnetdoggs

I have some Tiagra shifters which are a bit battered.
I want to strip them down and re-build, degrease them etc.

However they dont appear to be service friendly, does anyone have any instructions on how to stip the shifters down?

there seems to be a pivot pin which holds it all together, is there a method for removing it?

Thanks

Lagavulin

This of any use?

magnetdoggs

ah yes very helpful thanks.

pitty it doesnt have the strip-down/rebuild steps.

Lagavulin

magnetdoggs wrote:

pitty it doesnt have the strip-down/rebuild steps.

They want you to sling them and order a new pair.

gkerr4

i wouldn't even attempt it - I didn't think STI levers were serviceable at all?

good luck though and let us know how you get on

richa

When you've stripped them down & rebuilt them... how many little scres/bits will be left sitting on the table :?:

dazzawazza

Don't do it!!! :x
I made the mistake of removing the screw under the front cap so that I could remove the lever on the left shifter to remove grit. There is a strong spring underneath that is almost impossible to position back after being released. It returns the lever after shifting. Unless there is a special tool that you know about and have used to do the job, you will regret your actions.
I spent an entire evening last weekend trying to get the spring back in to place. I had to take many calm-down breaks. I finally managed to do it after developing a technique with two pairs of needle-nose pliers a small flat head screwdriver and help from my wife (it almost ended up in a divorce). I’m sure the spring must have been damaged, but luckily the shifter still works ok.
I dread to think how many more springs are within the mechanism.

magnetdoggs

Ill have a go, should be a laugh! :shock:

gkerr4

are they not working at the moment?

I'd try (and I know this is a bodge) filling them full of WD-40 and see what comes out - keep moving them as you squirt the WD in - wait until it dries and then spray some teflon lube in to keep them lubricated.

If this doesn't work then I guess it might be worth trying to strip them - but I would start t budget for replacement to be honest!

dazzawazza

magnetdoggs wrote:

Ill have a go, should be a laugh! :shock:

It absolutely will not be a laugh!!! Halfway through my attempt of getting the spring back in I was on the Internet looking to buy new shifters. However the cost was going to increase my upgrade costs too much so I persevered.
When I finally got the spring back in and the shifter back together I still had the grit problem. So I blasted the shifter with loads of GT85 and the grinding sound disappeared.

I’m currently sanding down the very scratched caps of the shifters to repaint them in red.

Monty Dog

Don't even go there! apart from the WD40/GT85 spray, that's about the extent of servicing shifters. Shimano will sell you a spare 'module' for about the same price of a shifter.

dazzawazza

After making a huge mistake the way I look at it is:

If the shifters are easy enough to take apart and reassemble, why weren't they invented (or available on a mass market) some time earlier than the 90s?

magnetdoggs

well i had a look last night, once the shifters were removed form the bars, i could get to the internals.

they work ok, so i just de-greased them and cleaned them up.

a special tool is required to re-insert the spring which is why its a b1tch.

Conclusion - take out all the cables and remove from bars, then clean thoroughly and if they are broke them replace with dura-ace!.

JoeBH

dazzawazza wrote:

Don't do it!!! :x
I made the mistake of removing the screw under the front cap so that I could remove the lever on the left shifter to remove grit. There is a strong spring underneath that is almost impossible to position back after being released. It returns the lever after shifting. Unless there is a special tool that you know about and have used to do the job, you will regret your actions.
I spent an entire evening last weekend trying to get the spring back in to place. I had to take many calm-down breaks. I finally managed to do it after developing a technique with two pairs of needle-nose pliers a small flat head screwdriver and help from my wife (it almost ended up in a divorce). I’m sure the spring must have been damaged, but luckily the shifter still works ok.
I dread to think how many more springs are within the mechanism.

I also made this mistake. I gave up, after many stressful hours, and bought new shifters though!

dazzawazza

My upgrade consists of discounted 9 speed Ultegra Octalink components and some £20 Tiagra shifters I purchased second hand off Thegumtree, which has kept the costs down considerably and made it affordable.
However, during my madness I was very tempted by the very nice Dura Ace 9 speed shifters reduced to £159.99 at Chain Reaction Cycles. Luckily for my next mortgage payment they were out of stock (the Ultegra shifters too). So I continued the quest to re-install the spring and several hours later was successful.

synchronicity

This is why some people prefer campagnolo.

Ste_S

Aye, because the shifters have identical innards from Xenon all the way up to Centaur.

Oh, wait...

dazzawazza

Are Campagnolo shifters easy to service? Or is there something here I'm missing? :shock:

Ste_S

In theory Campag shifters are serviceable. There isn't at the moment though a UK service centre, so getting bits might be difficult

fast as fupp

mercian cycles service ergos- and source parts

robbarker

It is theoretically possible, but you'll have lots of entertaining pingfuckit moments along the way, and unless you're a jeweller you won't get them back together again. You can get the inner guts as a spare if you're a bike shop, so make friends with your lbs!