Ultegra gears

dinkdankdo10

Hi all.

I have had an ongoing issue with my gears for a year and my bike has now seen 3 separate bike mechanics who all come back telling me its weird and they can't figure out what is going off. So I'm at a loss where to turn next.

Group set is ultegra 6700 and the issue is with the rear gears.

The issue is the following.
My right shifter appears to have one too many clicks e.g. It needs two clicks to get off the bottom cog. When going from low to high it does some smooth others not. It jumps two gear and at times it seems to struggle to get into gear but once its in the gear it's fine.

As I say its been to 3 bike mechanics and the most recent today who has stripped everything down and still can not identify the issue.

Has anyone had this or any ideas ?

One thought now is the right shifters rachet have worn. Anyone ever had that and what happened ?

thefd

Is it 10 speed or 11?

declan1

That just sounds like there's not enough cable tension.

dinkdankdo10

Thanks for the responses.

Its a 10 speed.

Mechanic has spent the last hour looking at the tension. Works top and bottom of the range but mid range it jumps or won't go into gear easily. He has tried all sorts. Even had the cable out in case that was jammed anywhere and greased that down.

Really strange.

declan1

Have you crashed recently? It could be the rear mech cage is bent. Also could be something sticking in the shifter - try spraying a load of GT85 into it and see what happens. You'll need to re-grease it afterwards.

pinarellokid

my money is on the internals of the shifter..

if the cable has been greased and 3 bike mechanics look at it they would have picked up any other issues im sure.. especially the setting up..

got to be inside the shifter

fosst

It will be cable and or chain tension...trust me I have been here many times with this groupset.
Set it up with the maximum amount of chain you can run in small/small, probably only a tooth or two worth but it makes a difference. Back off the rear mech tension and add only enough cable tension to make it work.
It will work, and work very well, but it is fussy about tension.
Good chains, DA or KMC, are worthwhile but it will run on 105 and Ultegra. Cables in good condition are a must but any decent cable will be fine.
Never had this with 105 shifters running ultegra mechs, running 57/6700 shifters with 6600 mechs is close to impossible.
Can't explain it but this is what I have seen.

crankycrank

Hmmm, Not likely that three mechanics would miss any of the basic causes and all the suggestions above are good but I'll mention some possibilities to double check just in case. Also would agree with fosst and 6700 need to have the cable routing under the bar tape done just right to prevent too much cable drag.
1. Make sure the shifter was ratcheted all the way down to the lowest gear before tightening the cable clamp and adjust from there.
2. Has the B-tension screw been adjusted?
3. Frayed cable end at the shifter.
4. Gunked up jockey wheels.

dee4life2005

I've had this a couple of times with mine. Once was caused by a slightly bent derailleur hanger (1mm out of line) despite never having fallen off. The other time was caused by the PTFE coating on the Gore Ride-On shifter cable peeling off and binding inside the shifter and cable outer.

The first time replacing the derailleur hanger sorted it, the 2nd a replacement gear cable sorted it.

They can be sensitive to cable tension though, and I do find myself having to give the barrel adjusters a tweak now and again - or an extra little push after the shifter "click" to get it up to the next cog.

francis666

Hi,
had similar problems.
All the above advice is true and bike mechanics will pick up the obvious, so here's to the weird.
have you checked that you have gear outer cables and not brake outers? they obviously look similar but the gear outers have less movement/flex and therefor the indexing is less effected. Gear outer cables look line many strands of wire where brake are made of a curling single wire. This may sound obvious, but i've seen this problem before.

desweller

Check for bumps or debris between the hanger and the frame. I had a bit of overmould on my PX frame that had me scratching my head for months. If there's nothing there try fitting a length of gear housing for the rear derailleur loop that's 1" longer than the one you've got on there.

martinperry

My mate bought a bike off ebay that had an ultegra 9 speed cassette and 10 speed rear mech and shifters
Took quite some indexing before we figured it out!!
LBS didnt spot it either!

onbike 1939

The symptoms do sound as if the hanger is out of alignment but one would have thought that this would have been already checked by the mechanics using the appropriate tool.
If all else fails then starting from the beginning and checking each possible cause in a logical progression may eventually find the answer.....boring though.

If you lived anywhere near Fife I'd be prepared to have a look if that would help.

chris_bass

I'd agree with all the above but also one very simple thing to check is if the outer cables have the plastic caps on the end (i'm sure they probably have a proper name but I dont know it!) if not the outer casing can become damanged at the ends and its not always easy to spot.

keef66

Chris Bass wrote:

I'd agree with all the above but also one very simple thing to check is if the outer cables have the plastic caps on the end (i'm sure they probably have a proper name but I dont know it!) if not the outer casing can become damanged at the ends and its not always easy to spot.

Ferrules

elbowloh

I have exactly the same issue as the OP on my bike. All the (6700) shifters, derailleurs and cables (inner and outer are new).

I've not taken it to a mechanic as I normally do all my maintenance myself, but i've been playing around with it for about 3 months and can't figure out what's causing it.

At the moment I'm often having to give a second click of the lever to get it to properly engage the gear.

chris_bass

keef66 wrote:

Chris Bass wrote:

I'd agree with all the above but also one very simple thing to check is if the outer cables have the plastic caps on the end (i'm sure they probably have a proper name but I dont know it!) if not the outer casing can become damanged at the ends and its not always easy to spot.

Ferrules

thats the one

ricky1980

sounds like a shifter issue then if multiple people reporting the same. can try get a replacement from shimano

matt-h

Mine does this on my 105 Grouset.

Its the middle gear on rear cassette.
been like it for months, i just give an extra nudge on the shifter, not ideal but seems to be ok

matt

dinkdankdo10

Thanks everyone for the replies. Think I will be stuck in the garage this wend trying to tick off some of your suggestions

It does sound like this is not just my bike and a regularly issue with ultegra.

Been looking on eBay for a new shifter as cables etc have all been changed.

Keep the suggestions coming :-)

itsnotarace

Sounds like a kink in the cable somewhere, probably at handlebar end. Ultegra shifts much much better if you route the cable backwards and under the bar rather than exiting the shifter on the alternate position and going over and under

ovi

i had a similar problem with my 5700 so I loosened the B tension screw off a good few turns and it has been ok since.