Shimano r7000 front shifter sticking / missing shifts

bobones
bobones Posts: 1,215
edited October 2019 in Workshop
On a couple of different bikes I've had problems getting R7000 front shifting working as smoothly as it should. After following the Shimano setup guide exactly, I find that the shift lever seems totally jammed and doesn't want to move the derailleur up to the big ring. After lessening the tension a little (guide marks not aligned on FD) then it begins to shift properly, but even then, sometimes the lever feels like it's catching a little and other times the lever moves all the way inboard without moving the cable or cage at all. My own bike has a band on derailleur so no fixing bolt on this one and new cables are being used. Any tips?

Comments

  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    bobones wrote:
    On a couple of different bikes I've had problems getting R7000 front shifting working as smoothly as it should. After following the Shimano setup guide exactly, I find that the shift lever seems totally jammed and doesn't want to move the derailleur up to the big ring. After lessening the tension a little (guide marks not aligned on FD) then it begins to shift properly, but even then, sometimes the lever feels like it's catching a little and other times the lever moves all the way inboard without moving the cable or cage at all. My own bike has a band on derailleur so no fixing bolt on this one and new cables are being used. Any tips?

    Is the inner cable seated/ routed correctly? Worth checking. Also, if you remove the cable from the derailleur end and just pull on it gently whilst operating the shifter does it pull the inner correctly then? Does the front derailleur move freely as you push it against its spring with the cable off?

    It can only be one of three things - the shifter internals (rachet, cam, cable guides), the cable inner and/ outer (seating, routing, damage (such as kinks in the inner), end caps, clamps), or the derailleur itself (positioning, end stops, freedom of movement, setup (cable tension, adjustment etc)).

    PP
  • bobones
    bobones Posts: 1,215
    pilot_pete said:



    bobones wrote:

    On a couple of different bikes I've had problems getting R7000 front shifting working as smoothly as it should. After following the Shimano setup guide exactly, I find that the shift lever seems totally jammed and doesn't want to move the derailleur up to the big ring. After lessening the tension a little (guide marks not aligned on FD) then it begins to shift properly, but even then, sometimes the lever feels like it's catching a little and other times the lever moves all the way inboard without moving the cable or cage at all. My own bike has a band on derailleur so no fixing bolt on this one and new cables are being used. Any tips?


    Is the inner cable seated/ routed correctly? Worth checking. Also, if you remove the cable from the derailleur end and just pull on it gently whilst operating the shifter does it pull the inner correctly then? Does the front derailleur move freely as you push it against its spring with the cable off?



    It can only be one of three things - the shifter internals (rachet, cam, cable guides), the cable inner and/ outer (seating, routing, damage (such as kinks in the inner), end caps, clamps), or the derailleur itself (positioning, end stops, freedom of movement, setup (cable tension, adjustment etc)).



    PP


    I think I must have damaged my shifter by forcing it when jammed. The behaviour is quite predictable: if I shift from big ring to small then back up to big ring, everything is fine. However, if I am already in the small ring and click the small lever to go into low trim position, the next throw of the big lever does nothing to the FD and it's as if something is not catching in the lever. The next push of the big lever will move the FD as expected. So as long as I don't click the small lever when already in the small ring, everything works perfectly. No amount of tweaking cable tension or limit screws changes this behaviour so I guess I am stuck with it.

Categories