Sora Shifter

SCR Pedro

Hey there,

Can anybody tell me why my right Sora shifter won't return to a a fully closed position on the top? It shifts fine and everything, but there is always a gap on the top of the shifter. I can pull the shifter fully back into place, so there's nothing blocking it.

Could it be a spring or something? Any ideas? I can post a picture later if anybody doesn't know what I'm on about.

Cheers
Pedro

PS: Any comments about Sora being crap aren't welcome. Keep them to yourself.

redvee

Do you mean the brake lever action? Might be some brake cable issue rather than shifter issue.

Hugh A

Sounds a bit like the brake cables are sticking - the return spring is fairly strong.

SCR Pedro

Hey there,

I'm probably not explaining it well enough.

What I mean is, there is a gap in the top of the shifter infront of the hood and between the plastic section on top of the shifter.



I'll check the cables, but I think it was doing this before I replaced the cable.

Cheers
Pedro

redvee

Sora brake levers have reach adjustment with the plastic screw in the top of the hood. I ditched mine as with the screws flush they pushed the brake lever too close to the bar for my liking.

Where's the gap? A or B?

SCR Pedro

Hey mate,

I did check the reach adjustment. I don't think the lever returns far enough to touch the reach adjuster.

Do you think the return spring has packed in? I have to admit, I can't even see the spring inside.

Cheers

redvee

Might be the return spring but does this occur when the brake cable isn't attached to the calliper? Try without the cable in the brake lever.

SCR Pedro

Oh, sorry. To answer your question, the gap is in A. it's about 1 centimetre, but because of this, there is also a gap in B.

I'll go out to the garage to try as you suggested. I'll report back in a bit!

cheers
Pedro

SCR Pedro

Ok, I've just had a look. I'll try to explain.

On Sora levers, there is a little bit of play as you pull the levers. That is to say, the lever travels about a centimetre before it starts to pull on the brake cable.

Now, when you do this the top of the lever will move up to a centimetre from the hood. That is the neutral position of my lever, and I also get the additional centimetre play before it pulls the cable. It feels like it could be one of two things.

A) The housing of the lever isn't sitting properly against the hood housing, so it isn't returning to a 'normal' position. But then again, I am able to pull it almost fully closed.

Some spring isn't working. Or it isn't strong enough.

I don't think the reach adjuster screw has anything to do with this, although it may seem like it should.

Pedro

Monty Dog

Sounds like the brake cable isn't fully seated - release the cable at the caliper end and see if there's some slack you can pull through - it's the return spring in the caliper that takes up the slack in the cable. Otherwise, your inner cables could be dragging in the outers, either through muck / corrosion or a kinked/damaged outer. When you release the inner cable does it slide easily back and forth? Replace the outer if damaged or kinked or at least try lubing the inner to see if it helps.

andy_wrx

If I remember rightly, there is no brake return spring in a Sora lever itself, it relies on the one in the brake caliper (higher-level Shimano levers incorporate a spring in the lever too).


When I used Sora, I don't remember a 1cm play before the lever started to pull the brake cable.
If it's not the reach adjuster screw on the back of the lever (which should move the lever closer to the bars, for riders with smaller hands, rather than introduce 1cm of play...), then I wonder if the cable is not installed properly, either inner or outer ?

The outer should be snug into the back of the lever body, so that there's no take-up when the lever is pulled.

The 'plum' on the end inner should be snug into what Shimano call a 'cable hook' inside the shifter, which doesn't look like a hook at all, it's a bar with a hole drilled in it, the cable passes through it and the 'plum' then locates into a drilled recess in the hook/bar. The hook/bar is then located at each end into claws on the top of the brake lever arm itself, with a couple of polythene washers as bearings.
- part number 4 on this diag http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/media/techd ... 637997.pdf

It kind of sounds like the inner isn't installed properly.
- is the cable plum correctly seated into the 'cable hook' ?
- is the 'cable hook' correctly seated into the claws on both ends of the lever ?

If you disconnect the cable from the brake and pull taut, can you move the lever this initial 1cm before the cable is pulled ?

SCR Pedro

Holy Crap! I've fixed it.

Thanks for the replies. I released the gear & brake cables. The brake cable plum wasn't flush, the plum does stick out a bit from part 4, but thats the same as my other lever, which works fine. I took part 2 off (almost the same as the diagram. The diagram is a newer shifter, I think. But it's the same idea). I think it was this that wasn't sitting right, so I took it off and checked everything was sitting properly. Then I had a heart-attack moment when a small piece of plastic came out, but it was easy enough to put back in place.

Well anyway, in conclusion part 2 wasn't sitting correctly. I put it back on, thenI tightened up the brake & gear levers, re-indexed and all that. It sits a lot better now, but it's still not perfect. I think that's just because it's done a lot of distance and suffered a million gear changes in dreadful weather. There is still the play, but I don't mind that. I'm happier now.

Cheers!
Pedro

redvee

Part 6 is listed as a return spring in the PDF but cabling is my suggestion again.

tonyw43

Pedro, if they deteriorate again, let me know. I practically took the Sora shifters off my Carrera straight away as I upgraded to Tiagra pretty quickly. Think they have about 150 miles on them, so if you need to replace, give me a shout. Don't want much for them. (and apologies for turning your thread into an advert).
Tony

SCR Pedro

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks mate!

I've just had the bike up on the Turbo Trainer for an hour and the shifter feels a lot tighter. More like it should feel..

Pedro

SCR Pedro

Lousy double post...