Campagnolo 11 Chorus left shifter sticky on first click

skyblue337

Hi,

It seems that the left shifter of my 2012 Chorus ergos has developed a stickiness or feeling of indistinctness on the first click to trim when moving to the small end of the cassette. I'm finding it difficult to set the cable tension such that the derailleur moves a useful amount for trim without having the tension so high that the derailleur sits off the low limit screw. After the first click everything is fine and the derailleur shifts onto the big ring easily. Is this a sign of impending failure? I understand that individual spares are not really available any more so is it worth disassembling the lever and "servicing" it?

Thanks

pinno

Do some checks. If the cable is a fraction tight at the mechs lowest position, it can feel indistinctive and doesn't give you a clear 'click'. Check that the cable isn't being restricted around the BB guide. Check that there isn't dirt in the front mech. Check for cable wear around the BB guide - if the part of the frayed cable goes past a sticking point, then it feels ok after that.

Undo cable clamp bolt at the levers lowest position with the downtube adjuster screw 2-3 turns out. Check cable for wear at the lever end. Remount cable with the least slack possible so that the first click of the lever creates movement, even if it is only small. If it is small, adjust with the downtube mount screw but you don't need much movement on the fist click anyway.
If you haven't got downtube adjusters, get some; they are inavluable for trimming as cable do stretch over time and the indexing on 11 is so precise, it has to be spot on and very clean.

When you think about it, the number of clicks that the front mech does compared with the rear and especially in that position, I doubt it is wear and tear.
I found with my Record 11 that I trim the front mech much more often with 11 gears at the back but they are good for thousands of miles.

skyblue337

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. The bike is CAAD10 so no downtube adjusters and the shape of the cable stops probably precludes adding them. I have inline adjusters which aren't great but are usable. I think a new inner is a good idea along with swapping to the real Campagnolo outer (currently using the Jagwire that came with bike since it was cut to size and brand new). Just playing with pulling the cable and something felt a bit grainy so I'm wondering if it is the cable guide or some grit in the derailleur. I have a spare Athena derailleur so I'll swap it in with a new cable to see if it cures the problem. Cheers again.

skyblue337

Thought I'd update this in case anyone else comes across it. During the renewal of the left shifter cabling I removed the lever from the bar and discovered that the bolt securing the disc that presses against the ratchet was a little loose. I think that this was allowing the ratchet to slip and the was only overcome once the cable had a significant amount of tension on it. Hence the first click was very muted but everything seemed to function OK from the second click onward.

davegandt

skyblue337 wrote:

Thought I'd update this in case anyone else comes across it. During the renewal of the left shifter cabling I removed the lever from the bar and discovered that the bolt securing the disc that presses against the ratchet was a little loose. I think that this was allowing the ratchet to slip and the was only overcome once the cable had a significant amount of tension on it. Hence the first click was very muted but everything seemed to function OK from the second click onward.

I have a similar but different issue.
Have just had a bike built up with a second hand Chorus 11 speed groupset. After a few minutes the chain seems to move a bit on the chainring and I need to click the left shifter one click, then repeat again shortly afterwards.
Is this a worn ratchet? The guy I bought the groupset from said it was bought Feb 2015 and it looks almost new so it can't have had too much use.
Thanks to anyone who can help!
Dave

pinno

The ratchet will need investigating. Is there anything obstructing the front mech - i'e: is there anything stopping it move across and staying there? Frayed cable around the BB shell or somewhere else?