Ultegra brake hood adjustment after fall

nongene

Hi. Had my first fall from my road bike a few days ago. I'm bruised but still have all pieces intact!

The right brake hood (Ultegra 6800) took the brunt of the fall and is now pointing about 20 degrees inwards from the normal 'straight' position.

What's the best method/process to straighten it up?

Thanks in advance.

redvee

On the outside edge of the STI unit there is a slight indentation, pull the hood back and put a 5mm allen key down the hole and loosen the shifter then move and retighten.

Matthewfalle

Yup. - be sure to get a good fit into the bolt as they can be tight.

Don't undo it too far or it will come out in your hand causing hassle.

Straighten, tighten up, job jobbed.

A long Allen key is best for this, not one of those 2 inch long ones from Poundworld/multitool. Decent quality so you don't round off the recessed bolt.

Alternatively, grip front wheel in both your legs and hit/push with all your might. You can also get a mate to hold the 'bars/wheel while you kick the lever straight (this used to work on my old Peugeot Premiere so can't see why it won't work on your nam by pamby modern bike).

rolf_f

Matthewfalle wrote:

Alternatively, grip front wheel in both your legs and hit/push with all your might. You can also get a mate to hold the 'bars/wheel while you kick the lever straight (this used to work on my old Peugeot Premiere so can't see why it won't work on your nam by pamby modern bike).

Slightly excessive perhaps but force is still viable. I've pushed someones shifters back into line after a fall by bracing my elbow against the opposite side of the bars and pushing the offending one with my hand. Probably a bit dependent on arm length vs bar width but I was able to ease the shifter back into line without any hitting! Maybe not an approach for carbon bars.....

Matthewfalle

If you can't get your leg up high enough to kick it, you can always use a hammer (lump or sledge, not claw for obvious reasons) or a car - we did this once in Somalia and it worked quite well, but admittedly that was a checkpoint gate and not a brake lever unit and we used an armoured bulldozer not a car, but the principle is the same.

gozzy

As some have said, just give it a push. You'll probably find it's not that difficult.

k-dog

^and it shouldn't be. They should only be so tight as to not move - but in event of an accident you want then to move rather than snap off a lever.

crankycrank

If out on the road and no tools available, as mentioned, just knock it back in place. I think it's better to loosen the clamp nut and reposition if possible.http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 866221.pdf #6 allen head nut.

devhads

Ultegra 6800 clamps differently to other Shimano STIs I've used before. The bolt is on the top if you lift up the hood from the back, not through the indentation at the side as mentioned above. For some reason, probably this difference, I've found it hard to get them tight on my bars. I've even replaced the clamp from the old STIs that clamped perfectly but still it won't tighten enough. I've had to put all sorts of bits of inner tube and tape under there to get it to tighten properly and even then it's not really, really tight.

on-yer-bike

Should really change your handle bars or at least check for damage. Especially carbon bars.

Matthewfalle

Naaaaah unless it was a proper crash like.