Gear Cable Snapped - Stuck in Shimano STI Shifter

islwyn
islwyn Posts: 650
edited May 2015 in Workshop
Hello,

Had a rear gear cable snap on me the other day, went to take a look at replacing it today and the bloody end is stuck in the shifter, anyone got any tips on how to get it out?

I've tried shifting to what would be the lowest gear but there's no movement, I imagine the frayed cable end is stopping it from moving?

Thank you.

Comments

  • dee4life2005
    dee4life2005 Posts: 773
    roll the shifter hood back a little. and look on the left of the shifter. There should be a small hatch held in place by a small crosshead screw. If you remove this it should give you access to the cable winding mechanism and you may be able to see the head of the gear cable head which would allow you to pull it through with a pair of needle nose pliers.

    I've had success with the above before - I think in my case I had to shift the other way, as if I was shifting up to larger cogs at the back. This pulled the end of the cable further round which made it accessible through this hatch opening.

    * edit, I'm talking about an ultegra 6700 shifter here, if you groupset is different the procedure could be different. If that's the case, look for the shifter in the techdocs (http://si.shimano.com/) and it should show you how to access it, if you can.
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/307297
  • islwyn
    islwyn Posts: 650
    Fantastic, I'll give this a try.

    Thank you.
  • dee4life2005
    dee4life2005 Posts: 773
    If you can see any of the frayed ends from where the cable normally exits the shifter, then try getting a hold of them to put some tension on the cable as you use the small level to change down gears. I believe the cable needs to be under tension to move the mechanism ... If you manage to get it into the bottom gear then you should be able to push it out through the normal hole where you insert the gear cable from.

    sorry, a bit hard to explain - it's never usually terminal, but it is bloody annoying. Happened to me twice now.
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/307297
  • islwyn
    islwyn Posts: 650
    Hello,

    Sadly couldn't twist it around to come out the original hole as frayed snapped cable pieces were caught in the mechanism.

    However.

    Your explained piece above RE remove the little cap worked an absolute treat and it actually fell out rather than pulling it out at all.

    Thank you.
  • dee4life2005
    dee4life2005 Posts: 773
    cool, glad it worked.
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/307297

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