Campagnolo Thumb shifter sticking

Jon_1976

I've recently fitted some Campag Veloce Ergo shifters and they have been working fine for the last couple of weeks. I noticed, today, that some of the changes on the cassette (going to smaller gears) were a bit clunky. Got home and noticed that when on the biggest sprocket (27T) and changing to the 25, the thumb just hangs in the down position and needs to pushed up manually to make the shift. After that it works normally, but occasionally doing the same mid cassette. Paddle lever works fine. Any help appreciated

Ben6899

Check that the rubber hood isn't fouling the lever arm of the button.

Also, it's possible to inadvertently jam an Ergopower shifter, by accidentally resting your thumb on the thumb-shifter while using the brake lever paddle.

centimani

Ben6899 wrote:

Check that the rubber hood isn't fouling the lever arm of the button.

Also, it's possible to inadvertently jam an Ergopower shifter, by accidentally resting your thumb on the thumb-shifter while using the brake lever paddle.

Interesting, I have the same problem occasionally, not often and not in specific gears.

That'll give me something to look at.

Jon_1976

Typically Italian I went out for a ride yesterday and it worked perfectly. Seems to be ok now.
Thanks for the replies.

g00se

centimani wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Check that the rubber hood isn't fouling the lever arm of the button.

Also, it's possible to inadvertently jam an Ergopower shifter, by accidentally resting your thumb on the thumb-shifter while using the brake lever paddle.

Interesting, I have the same problem occasionally, not often and not in specific gears.

That'll give me something to look at.

Same here. It happens very occasionally in some ultrashift centaur levers. First few times I ended up down-shifting to get use of the thumb lever back. Next time, I realised I could put my thumb under the thumb lever and a put of upward pressure would fix it (even though I didn't feel any movement). Didn't know what caused it but I am guilty of riding with my thumbs on the levers.

drlodge

I've had this problem too on my spanking new Super Record 11s shifters. Doesn't happen very often - happened 2 or 3 times on Weds night during a 10 mile TT, but didn't happen at all over the weekend when I covered 160 miles.

I just have to shift down one gear before it shifting up.

gfk_velo

As others have mentioned it can be the Campag hoods fouling the return action of the thumb lever. They shouldn't do but sometimes the way the bars are taped doesn't allow the various lugs on the hoods to locate into their spots in the lever body, so the hood doesn't sit quite right on the lever. The hoods can also be softened and stretch if a lot of lubricant is applied to the lever internal - it seeps out and can damage the elasticity of the hoods.

More common are third party hoods fouling the mechanism.

Other things to look for are lever 2 (the one behind the brake lever) getting trapped against the rubber button on the back of the brake lever - this sometimes happens if the return action on the brake isn't as strong as it could be (corroded cable - inner or outer, kinked inner cable, tired spring at the brake, corroded brake pivots being the main culprits) and sometimes lever 2 not sitting in it's correct place "behind" the brake lever (this is adjustable but not a job for the consumer).

Early generation UltraShifts (2009 and 2010) sometimes stick as there was a small dimensional tolerance issue inside the body which Campag fixed by some custom shimming inside the lever, but if the internals get dirty (and they do ...) then the shims can get sticky.

A really dirty lever will stick, too, as will levers that have been flooded (as a good many we see have been) with WD40 ...

I should mention that another cause can be consumers stripping and reassembling their own UltraShift levers - the spring that returns the thumb lever can be overstretched and thereby waekened (it isn't the easiest spring in the world to relocate if you don't have the tools / do it all the time) and we see a few back that are victims of this.

HTH
Graeme - Velotech Cycling Ltd (Campagnolo Main UK Service Centre).

champson

Great info, nice to see people able to fix this stuff properly.