broken 2008 campag centaur left gear lever

petejuk

So, this morning I got up early for the morning commute, birds singing, sun shining, lovely. I make a couple of small adjustments to the to the upper limit screw on my front mech and push the gear paddle to move the chain to the big ring.. Snap! It breaks off in my hand.
After cursing loudly, I retire inside and start search the interweb for a replacement part and then I find that apparently its not replaceable on a 2008 lever.
This makes me mad. The thing is a little flimsy piece of plastic that is clearly cheaply made. It strikes me that this is just a ploy to ensure you replace with a brand new set of levers when damage inevitably occurs.
My question is, have I got it wrong? is it replaceable and, if so does anyone know where I can get a new paddle.

ps. I've already tried calling Mercian cycles and they state its not possible.

2alexcoo

I've not taken a 2nd generation Ergopower shifter apart, only the new 3rd gen, but I don't see why it can't be replaced.

If you download the relevant part of the spares catalogue here (4mb file) it shows the shift paddle is the same part number for Chorus all the way down to Xenon. Record has a different part number, but presumably only because it's carbon rather than plastic.

There's a Record one for sale here and a Chorus one here although it doesn't say if it's for the left or right shifter.

I'd be inclined to bite the bullet and go for some pre-2007 Centaur, Daytona or Veloce shifters. These have the better shift mechanism (multiple up and down shifts) and aluminium brake lever blades / upshift paddles, so less likely to break. They seem to go for £60-70 in good used condition on ebay.

petejuk

Thanks for the reply and for the links. I had a look at it and thought that it should have been replaceable and, clearly they are.
funny you should mention the 2007 ones- I had some in the shed from an old bike which I've put on. Its been so long since I used them, I'd forgotten how good they are. I was hoping to use them on another build but I think I'll keep them on my current bike and search ebay for some others.

Thanks again.