• So just finished my first build yesterday, but I've run into some trouble with the shifters. Initially it was just the left shifter but now has happened on both sides.

    Essentially the thumb-shifter isn't catching the little divots in the index ring, meaning that it doesn't click whenever I try to shift.

    I've already put some oil in there to see if that would improve the situation but hasn't done anything. It seems like the problem is that the index ring just hasn't fully rebounded to the right position or something, but not really sure if that makes sense as I've no experience trying to overhaul shifters.

    I realise it's probably unlikely that this problem can be fixed without requiring an overhaul of the shifters, which is really annoying because I literally just put the cabling through! But, said I'd post on here anyway in case anyone has seen this before and knows of a way to sort it out short of a full overhaul.


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  • In the shimano world you can flush shifters with gt85 or wd40 which softens any old tried oil/grease etc. Not sure if it will work here but sounds like a similar issue if you remove the hoods you don't have a lot to lose.

  • I've tried putting a bit of grease in there but doesn't seem to have done anything, though maybe I'm not putting grease in the right place. Will certainly give it another go later on.

  • If its the same issue that often happens in shimano then grease on top of old grease will not work only flushing with a solvent based lubricant will work and then new oil etc

  • Ah, appreciate that. Will need to pick up some bits then I guess!

  • The levers look from the image as if they are UltraShift.

    It's hard to be sure from the pic, but it looks as if the shifters (if both are the same) have been over-rotated, that is to say, have been forced beyond the lowest gear (biggest sprocket) position in the case of the RH, and the bigger chainring, in the case of the LH.

    There is a stop inside the lever body that should prevent that but if you are forceful enough, it can be broken off.

    Short-term fix is to carefully "yank" on the exposed portion of the cable below the frame stops (but be uber-careful as I have seen stops rip off the frame, depending on what it is / frame material / how the stops are held on) Campag lever mechanisms use an un-gated ratchet & can be forced "backwards" and this will drag the mechanism back into a position where the drive pawl can engage the drive ring.

    Then, reset the gears up and do it so that you don't need to over-rotate the inner to get the big ring and / or the biggest sprocket. Cable tension and correct FD set-up is important on Campag - only the 1st 3 clicks on the LH lever should be used in adouble system & if these are UltraShift, they were never designed to work with a triple system ...

    The levers will always be prone to this happening from now on (the stop, once broken, is broken ...) but we can rebuild the internals into new lever body shells (we have the spares to do it) or we can install a metal stop in your existing lever bodies. Neither process is cheap but it's worth doing as 10s UltraShifts are no longer being made, and 10s PowerShift will have reduced life working with a rear mech specced to work with UltraShift (return spring tensions are around 25% higher on UltraShift Rds than on PowerShift).

    General comment - don't spray lube willy-nilly into Campag shifters. They neither need it, nor will it fix any of the common issues with them and can, in some cases, damage parts of the internal irreparably.

  • This is extremely helpful info, and thanks so much for taking the time to type it all out! I had figured as much about the shifters being over-rotated when I took a closer look myself. Found that the cable end was definitely where it shouldn't be so I'd say this diagnosis sounds spot on.

    It has actually happened on both shifters pretty much in the first day of riding and I definitely didn't hear anything snap or see anything fall out when it happened, so I think I may have been sold a dud, or at least it seems like the stops were broken by the previous owner!

    Will take your advice on setting up the cable tension and FD correctly for now, may eventually want to also take you up on the offer to have new stops installed a bit further down the line but I'm a bit cash strapped right now so may have to wait a couple of weeks and see how the short term solution holds up.

    Appreciate the help and expert knowledge!

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Campag 10sp shifter problem, is there a quick fix?

Posted by Avatar for Enda @Enda

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