Broken left 105 STI shifter on new bike

droadie

Hello, A couple of weeks ago I purchased a decent bike(over a grand) from my LBS, with Shimano 105 groupset, 50/34 compact. I not had a modern bike in about 20 years. Before that i had been using the shop for several months buying bits and pieces for my old bike.

I did a little ride of 5 miles and another of 50 miles on the new bike. On the return journey, the Shimano 105 left shifter, outer lever didn't click, it was slack, no tension when clicking right. I first thought the cable had snapped. Consequently it didn't change to the big ring, so i was forced to use the small ring.

Soon after, I took the bike back to the LBS and they confirmed it was a broken shifter, left it with them to sort out under the warranty. A week went by. I popped in to see, if it any nearer to completion. They said it be a further 2-3 weeks and will contact me when ready. So that would be a total of 4 weeks. I accepted the repair, i didn't realise it take this long. I thought ok, i use my old bike while the new one is repaired.

A day later i thought better of it and realised this isn't good enough. I spent over a grand, had the bike 2 days and now denied it for 4 weeks, through no fault of my own.

I won't go into exact details but soon after revisiting the LBS, with the help of a family member, it was only through extreme difficulty and persuasion(not to mention the incovenience and stress) talking with the sales staff and shop manager that they grudgingly replaced the faulty shifter with a new one. In the end i got a replacement new shifter fitted later that day.

Question: Do you think it is acceptable, after paying a good sum of money and only having the bike 2 days to wait 4 weeks for a replacement part? because the LBS definitely think so.

Call me strange, would you not thought that, it be in there interest to maintain a good level of customer service and sort me out amicably on the spot? but they instead let me come unstuck and turn it all sour.

STEFANOS4784

Shocking service, iwouldn't expect it that bad even frtom Halfords



Especially as you were a fairly regular customer...

droadie

Ok i did accept repair. But I should of spoke up there and then, it is not acceptable, when i later returned to see if it was fixed. I was partly in shock when they said it be another 2-3 weeks. Though returned the following day about it.

weapons

Had the same problem with a left 105 shifter from the faulty Shimano batch. Took it to Pearson Cycles in Sutton, who sent them back to Madison for a replacement set. A week later, the new shifters had arrived and been fitted. That's good service!

cheesebeanie

Disgusting service. They should be ashamed. They should have offered a replacement to begin with if they thought that it was going to take that long to fix!
My LBS is really good and i have never had any arguments over that kind of thing. You were right to go back and demand some service!
:x

droadie

They said "We don't stock those 105 shifter spare parts."

I quite understand they don't stock spare parts. But was surprised from the large amount of bikes, they had in stock and the size of the shop. Possibly some kind of alternative service, arrangement offer could of been provided.

They said "We will have to take it off a new bike." After the dispute, that's what they finally did.

To top it off, they laid a guilt trip. They said "You left us with a bike we can't sell now."

STEFANOS4784

What a bunch of knobs :evil: Name and shame, it's the only way they'll learn...

droadie

I didn't use the shifter arms agressively or use them both together, nothing like that. The outer just went.

droadie

I thought a big shop would cover itself for certain eventualities and carry certain spare parts. Seems not.

droadie

Update.

Ok i not told you the latest yet. I now done about 200 miles with the new shifter. I been extra careful with it.

Yesterday i was out on a 30 mile ride, on approaching a hill 10 miles in, i proceeded to change to the smaller ring. Only the inner lever on the new shifter was suddenly resistant to move. Fear of thinking it would break, i didn't move or force it at all. Instead, I got off the bike and felt the wire cable under the frame. It was super tight. Thinking the derailleur might be the cause. I put the chain on the smaller ring manually and went up the hill.

Later on i shifted with the outer lever and it changed fine, eventually i went to shift the inner lever. I forced it slightly, it was stiff but it went over but with no result. It didn't work after that. I got home and later on tried to move it gently. It felt stiff to move. I have read you can get them going again with WD40 if they not broken. So going to try that. But i fear this 2nd new shifter is broke as well .

droadie

Today i done some research on 105 shifters and it is far from encouraging.

It appears 105 left shifter breakages are common going back a few years. Reading customer reviews on the 105 groupset, It is good but letdown by the LEFT STI SHIFTER.

So if i get another 105 shifter, it will probably break again.

Should i upgrade to Ultegra left shifter instead on my own? Will it match my black one?

So this is a warning to all about the 105 LEFT STI SHIFTER. It's rubbish! In fact if i were you, i seriously avoid this groupset altogether.

STEFANOS4784

Chill Winston 8)

Post a request in the 'workshop' section, i'm sure i remember there is a remedy. Something to do with the wire that is used to connect the shifters to a flightdeck computer. Remove it and it may be ok. I've got 105 on my Cannondale and never had a problem, really bad luck to have 2 duds in a row in my opinion

droadie

In fact the day before i cleaned and oiled all the moving parts my front derailleur so i know it's not that.

I read something. There could be an issue when the cable is very tight already, the lever is then already tight, it's too much for a 105 shifter and breaks. I not sure.

STEFANOS4784

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... 05+shifter

STEFANOS4784

If the cable was to tight you'd know about it straight away, it wouldn't suddenly stop shifting after it had been working, did you feel anything breaking? Did you force it very hard?

rrsodl

droadie wrote:

Update.

Ok i not told you the latest yet. I now done about 200 miles with the new shifter. I been extra careful with it.

Yesterday i was out on a 30 mile ride, on approaching a hill 10 miles in, i proceeded to change to the smaller ring. Only the inner lever on the new shifter was suddenly resistant to move. Fear of thinking it would break, i didn't move or force it at all. Instead, I got off the bike and felt the wire cable under the frame. It was super tight. Thinking the derailleur might be the cause. I put the chain on the smaller ring manually and went up the hill.

Later on i shifted with the outer lever and it changed fine, eventually i went to shift the inner lever. I forced it slightly, it was stiff but it went over but with no result. It didn't work after that. I got home and later on tried to move it gently. It felt stiff to move. I have read you can get them going again with WD40 if they not broken. So going to try that. But i fear this 2nd new shifter is broke again .

Shimano are having lots of problems with the 105 shifters. I bought a brand new pair of 105 shifters and the left shifter broke while I was adjusting the FD. I did some reading on it and went back to my LBS well informed about these shifters..... I was told that they had exchanged under warranty lots of shifters over the last 12 months and not only the 105 BUT the left shifter on the 105 was a well known problem that Shimano knew about it. So I got my money back and I said, "no thank you" to a replacement.

You should really named and shamed your LBS, by doing so you are contributing to save other people from being treated like you have so far, I bet you would have appreciated a warning!!! I'm sure they know about this problem and they are just playing ignorance. If I were you I would tell them to fix the bike again and let them know if the problem occurs again you will be demanding your money back as de bike is not fit to purpose.

With all the information there is about this fault you have an excellent chance to win your case.

droadie

When did the Shimano 105 5600 come out? or has it been a continual model that they keep upgrading without a song and a dance.

Read these reviews
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/drive ... px#reviews

What do 99% have in common?

......

left shifter

STEFANOS4784

Hmmmm, take it back. As RRSODLB says, it's not fit for purpose. Demand they exchange the shifters for some that work or get a refund and buy online, you must know your size now and will gert a lot more bang for buck than a local bike shop.

STEFANOS4784

2010 is 5601. They slightly upgrade every year.

droadie

Thanks for your useful comments, taken aboard.

If i was running a bike shop, this is what i would of done...

Apologise to the customer and get a replacement on there nifty. I wouldn't even had let the customer have to bother going to the warranty stage. I would done a quick swap as he bought the bike so soon and kept everything sweet.

What happened to the unwritten law of good sweet service for 7-14 days.

You can't get a good deal out of nobody these days...

droadie

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

Chill Winston 8)

Post a request in the 'workshop' section, i'm sure i remember there is a remedy. Something to do with the wire that is used to connect the shifters to a flightdeck computer. Remove it and it may be ok. I've got 105 on my Cannondale and never had a problem, really bad luck to have 2 duds in a row in my opinion

I try that. Was the problem bad in 2009. Could it be i have 2009 shifters?

STEFANOS4784

Not sure to be honest, think it may be an ongoing problem and a bit of luck involved as 105 is regarded as a pretty decent groupset. Post on 'workshop', some very knowledgable guys on there, also let us know how you get on.

droadie

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

If the cable was to tight you'd know about it straight away, it wouldn't suddenly stop shifting after it had been working, did you feel anything breaking? Did you force it very hard?

I didn't want to change gear, but had little choice, i had to try it to see. I didn't hear anything breaking. I gave it a gentle constant push.

No but came up against resistance but gave way. I now sprayed WD40 down inside. It now clicks again but not every time. It not like the first one where it slack, disconnected. This one feels it still connected. Still not changing ring.

droadie

Is this right? You can setup the shifters for triple, so when used with a double, potential problem. But been told by LBS that this problem don't exist with the new one's, which is mine.

When used with a double set up, it's possible to "over-shift", effectively over to the third chainring position, putting too much tension into the cable and snapping a plastic part inside the shifter.

I getting conflicting advice.

droadie

Checking out the thread you posted, thx

Found this but i not sure exactly how he means without pictures exactly.

But when shifting from the larger to smaller chainring the lever is quite stiff and shifts with a loud clunk.

Before you go replacing cables, mechs etc just check how you've routed the cable at the front mech's clamp bolt . Where the bolt screws in to the mech there is a tiny metal plate that sticks out and overlaps the bolt by about 3mm. Make sure you route the cable outside of this and not under it. If you look there is a machined groove on the mech face and on the washer. Use that as a guide. The cable should come from the bottom bracket, run behind/outside of that little plate, run over the top of the bolt and end up pointing towards you parallel to the ground.

I hope that makes sense - not easy to explain. If you can spot the little shallow groove in the mech then hopefully it should be clear.

I re-routed a cable for someone this evening who had this very same problem: very stiff up shifts and great clunking down shifts. Routed the cable correctly and it's really smooth now.

I've now seen a couple of instances of very stiff and clunky LH STis that have been easily cured by re-routing and clamping the cable correctly at the front mech. Just that tiny difference in angle has made all the difference between near impossible shifting and really smooth shifting you'd associate with an STi. I'm concerned that people, unaware of this problem, have persevered until the STi finally gives up.

That's not to say there aren't duff STis out there but I just think checking cable routing at the front mech should be the first port of call.

droadie

I will take it back...

droadie

I p**ed off. Due to the damn problem with the shifter. The chain has got jammed hard between the small chainring and the frame 3x and taken a chunk of paint off the carbon. The protector that was there to protect that, sheared off. I stuck it back on.

Wappygixer

If I remember correctly within the first 28 days if something is defective you are entitled to a new model and not be fobbed off with repair.
I work in a cycle workshop and this would be completely unacceptable of my staff.

For your info your local bike shop is fobbing you off as Shimano offer no replacement parts for STI levers.When they are broken thats it, job finished and new shifter time.

rake

the limit screw must be wrong if the chains coming off.

droadie

Wappygixer wrote:

For your info your local bike shop is fobbing you off as Shimano offer no replacement parts for STI levers.When they are broken thats it, job finished and new shifter time.

Sorry, maybe i didnt make myself clear enough. I meant waiting replacement of a new shifter. I understood it from there explanation, they sending the faulty one back to Shimano, as cannot be repaired, due to swiss watch design. Shimano check it out and send out a new replacement. This is why i had the delay wait. I read on web today, it's a 4 week turnaround with Shimano. I shouldn't have to suffer that 2 days in regardless, should i?

droadie

It like the LBS is saying, well it not our problem it went wrong so early, tough!