Gear cable anchor potentially in the shifter?

letap73

I started to experience poor shifting on the derailleur, unfortunely I didn't appreciate that the gear cable was responsible for this. The gear cable snapped at the entry hole of the brifter (Shimano 105 5600 series (non internal cabling)). The shifter now only clicks up one gear and down one gear -I assume this is due to the old gear cable being stuck in the brifter. I am assuming the brifter is now useless? If this is true what RH shifter can I buy to replace the old one - I assuming a like for like or the Tiagra 4600 but not the internally cabled 105 5700 series (due to greater internal friction thus requiring the 5700 rear mech?). I have noticed the right shifter marked as a double - I would have thought the 10 shifts would be the same on a triple and that a triple/double would have identical rh shifters - this appears not to be the case?
Any thoughts would be helpful.

sungod

i'd think you should be able to extract it, may be a bit fiddly though

taking the shifter off the bars will simplify this

ElectronShepherd

I had exactly this with an Ultegra 6600. Cable broke, leaving the nipple and about 5mm of cable in the mechanism. Like yours, the cable exits from the side, not running under the bar tape. What I did was pull back the hood, remove the decorative plate at the front, then the two small screws holding the plastic mechanism cover in place, and then undo the 8mm nut at the front (you need to bend back the three tabs that stop the nut from rotating first). Once I'd done all that, I was then able to remove the plastic cover, and with much wiggling, waggling and a fair amount of woggling, get a pair of tweezers in and get the cable end out.

I left the shifter on the bars - I couldn't see how taking it off would make the access any easier.

letap73

Thanks chaps,
Have managed to get the cover off the front however, I cannot see the remains of any cable - I can only do one shift - up then down - it appears stuck possibly due to frayed cable.
I will have to look for a shimano 105 5600 rh brifter.

sungod

which i why i suggested you remove it

then you can try various taps etc. at different angles to see if any bits drop out

have a look at the exploded diagram to get an idea of how the thing is structured, might give clues as to where the end could be stuck

letap73

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19716152#p19716152]sungod[/url] wrote:

which i why i suggested you remove it

then you can try various taps etc. at different angles to see if any bits drop out

have a look at the exploded diagram to get an idea of how the thing is structured, might give clues as to where the end could be stuck

I have it off the bike and given it a good shake - looking for an exploded view is a good idea. Meanwhile I have spotted a part Tiagra groupset for not much - I have tiagra on another bike so spares are useful, are the tiagra 4600 brifters fully compatible with the 5600 series?

wishitwasallflat

Worth pushing a new cable in the exit hole to see if that pushes old bits out?

sungod

^this

for the 5600 shifters, this has the exploded view...

http://si.shimano.com/php/download.php?file=pdf/ev/EV-ST-5600-2441A.pdf

from memory you need to be careful taking them apart as some bits are hard to get back in place, worth doing a search with google for any online guides/advice


btw i've got tiagra shifters and 105 mechs on my commute bike, most older shimano road stuff is compatible

term1te

I had the same problem with some Ultegra 6600 shifters recently. Ended up holding the bike upside down, on a work stand, and gently shifting the gears up and down until I could see the end of the broken cable. I then managed to pull it out with some needle point pliers, whilst pushing it as far as it would go as if changing up a gear. I would caution against taking the shifter too much apart, unless it is a last resort, as it is very difficult to put them back together again. No problem with the face plate, etc., but I wouldn't go much further than that.

Good luck.

letap73

Thanks again chaps,
I have dismantled the shifter as far as I could go - unfortunately, I believe the anchor bolt is stuck in the bottom part of the barrel which I cannot get to - unless of course I drill a pilot hole and then try to remove the anchor bolt. Just bought a Shimano 6600 shifter - so I'll see how it goes.

clogg

Take the brake cable and holder out and have the brake lever pushed full in, this lets you have some access to the cable retaining assembly. Use a sharp tool to try and get some purchase on the rotating collar which holds the cable while attempting to shift the lever. Once you have gained a few clicks you should be able to use a screwdriver to move it back all the way and take out the stuck cable end.

A bit fiddly but will work with patience,