Issues replacing gear cable

Auraomega

From the off I'll say this is my first attempt at changing a gear cable and it's not turning out to be as easy as the youtube videos make it seem...!

My cable snapped in the middle of the gears and replacing the cable all I get is 1, maybe 2 clicks on the shifter and I'm lucky if the derailleur actually shifts at all. It's an old Sora shifter if that makes any difference.

I've just dropped it off at my LBS to get sorted, however they've today told me they may have to charge me more than I was quoted yesterday due to the 'shifter not being in the right position'. A fair whack more.

So my question is what is actually going on with my shifter; is it the 'shifter not being in the right position' that's causing the shift issues and how difficult is that to sort, or is it all just a way to squeeze more money out of me?

schlepcycling

When they say the shifter isn't in the right position I assume they mean the mech?, if so then it could be that the mech hanger is bent which could account for why it isn't shifting properly, fixing it could account for the additional charge. Why not call them back and ask them to explain what it is they need to do and why is it costing more than they quoted.

Auraomega

Definitely not the mech as that's all fine, he was on about the actual brake/shifter, something about the shifter not being in the lowest gear so the internal parts aren't in the right position for the cable. I couldn't wrap my head around it to be honest.

dgunthor

did you refit the cable when the shifter wasn't in the lowest (hardest gear)?

The shifter just moves the cable X stops - if it wasn't in it's lowest position then you'll only get a few clicks/shifts out of it.

Not a big job really - undo the cable bolt on the rear mech, click shifter into lowest gear, clamp up cable, adjust gears.

What are they charging you? It's not a big job really

zx6man

Auraomega wrote:

Definitely not the mech as that's all fine, he was on about the actual brake/shifter, something about the shifter not being in the lowest gear so the internal parts aren't in the right position for the cable. I couldn't wrap my head around it to be honest.

replacing cable he would also put it in the right position anyway...sounds abit dodgy :-)

keef66

If the cable snapped inside the shifter when in the middle of the cassette it's possible that the frayed cable strands have jammed the shifter mechanism. In which case it can prove difficult / impossible to remove the remains of the old cable and downshift all the way in order to fit a new cable.

So they may be quoting for a new shifter!

Auraomega

dgunthor wrote:

did you refit the cable when the shifter wasn't in the lowest (hardest gear)?

I thought I had; I tried shifting to the highest gear but after a couple of clicks couldn't get any more out of it, so I assumed I was in the highest gear.

£8 per cable including fitting, which I was fine with as I won't get the cables much cheaper quickly anyway. But when I dropped it off he claimed he may have to strip the shifter down to get the position correct for the cable seeing as it broke in a middle gear, which he'll be charging me £20ph for. He's going to call me if he needs to do this supposedly.

Anonymous

If he can strip a shifter down send me his contact details!

zx6man

keef66 wrote:

If the cable snapped inside the shifter when in the middle of the cassette it's possible that the frayed cable strands have jammed the shifter mechanism. In which case it can prove difficult / impossible to remove the remains of the old cable and downshift all the way in order to fit a new cable.

So they may be quoting for a new shifter!

The cable was replaced so assuming the old cable was removed ok. And as for having to replace a shifter after a cable snap, how rubbish is that.

ic.

I think he's taking the Michael

Cable in a middle gear? So what? The end result is the same.

You remove the old cable, click the shifter down to the end then insert a new cable, route it to the rear mech and tension correctly. It's not rocket science.

There's no shifter stripping required, or anything like that required

keef66

zx6man wrote:

keef66 wrote:

If the cable snapped inside the shifter when in the middle of the cassette it's possible that the frayed cable strands have jammed the shifter mechanism. In which case it can prove difficult / impossible to remove the remains of the old cable and downshift all the way in order to fit a new cable.

So they may be quoting for a new shifter!

The cable was replaced so assuming the old cable was removed ok. And as for having to replace a shifter after a cable snap, how rubbish is that.

It is indeed rubbish, but I have heard of more than one case where a Shimano shifter was effectively written off by a frayed / snapped cable. I came very close to doing exactly that on my 9 speed Tiagra LH shifter.
I too would be interested to know if the OP has an LBS that can / will strip / repair / reassemble Shimano shifters

dgunthor

yes, if there's frayed cable in the shifter that could cause some serious issues. from what i've read it's extremely hard to take the shifters apart and reassemble them - not a job i'd fancy tackling

Auraomega

Well it turns out the cable has frayed inside apparently. However his attempts to take the shifter apart weren't the greatest...!

Looks like I'll be upgrading 105 sooner than expected.

zx6man

i am amazed how shimano get away with this to be honest. Must be a design flaw....

rolf_f

zx6man wrote:

Must be a design flaw....

So naive!