Shim. Sora internal mis-aligment?

[Matt Grey]

Hello all.

Could anyone help with the following?

My Giant Defy 3 (circa 2009 ish) has Shimano Sora shifters.

The front shifter has always been stiff when changing down. The little lever needs a lot of force to move. Changing up is fine.

Recently whilst feeding in new cables I realized that the internals were out of alignment. When feeding the cable into my rear shifter there is a clear route through with no obstructions. However on the front shifter I can see that the hole the cable enters into is partly obstructed by something inside. I assume this is connected to the problem I have shifting down and made feeding the cable very tricky. In the end I had to put a bend in the end of my new cable and feed it through at an odd angle.

So, to get to the point....is there anyway of adjusting the internal levers and cogs on these or is it a case of replace it?

Thanks all.

[puddings]

Unfortunately shimano shifters are not particularly user serviceable. The tech drawings are here and while limited in use, will show you if your mystery piece should be there.

[Pete Appleby 3]

My thought are did you change down far enough to get the holes lined up?

[phil tregear 2]

My guess is the ratchet spring is displaced, causing the stiffness and misalignment.
i have sora shifters and the front one broke, having been very stiff and then unreliable for months. Following some research, it seemed the only thing that could have gone wrong was the ratchet mechanism becoming dislodged. I dismantled the shifter ( easy, basically a screw at the front and remove the " ribbon" that is presumably part of the manufacturing process but serves no function). To reassemble I needed a special tool ( £2 from SJS cycles I think) to hold the spring in place whilst putting the lever back together. ( the tool is a very small metal sleeve, IMO you need it, I tried without using thread etc and failed ). It is fairly obvious where the spring needs to be, it is held at a point at the top of the levers. ( you may be able to see this on the diagrams someone else has referred to). All this was a bit fiddly but not difficult. after a few goes it all went together fine. Theoretically you could do this job in situ. I took the lever off. With good light it would possibly be easier in situ as the handlebars provide stability for this fiddly operation. Dont worry that the whole thing will disintegrate when you dismantle it . it wont. but have good light and proceed carefully having first got yourself the tool. To finish I used a teflon coated cable to ensure as little friction as possible, making the levers job as easy as poss. If you cant do this job , a decent LBS should for about a tenner, alot cheaper than a new lever. The mend on mine has lasted over a year. I have 2 bikes with sora levers. IMO they are highly reliable. On my main bike they havent gone wrong atall for 6 years riding thousands of miles in all weathers and several accidents. good luck.

Phil

[phil tregear 2]

PS This is probably not a good DIY proposition unless you are experienced with bike mechanics ( or similar) . You will need a decent set of hand tools, good light,a container for the parts and somewhere indoors to do the job.

[chris bagust]

As far as I can recall, the wire passes through a keyhole-shaped slot on its way out of the shifter unit. Is it possible that the wire is down in the narrow part of that slot?

Also, pardon my asking, but you do have a gear cable (thin), not a brake cable (thick) in there, don't you?

Chris