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Campy shifter cleaning/maintenance?
 

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

7/19/13 6:47 PM

Campy shifter cleaning/maintenance?

Given I'm changing the cable housing and un-taped the handle bar, I'm at a point I can take the shifter off easilly. That is, if there's a reason for doing so...

So the question for those of you who've had campy ergo shifter in long service cycles, do you do any cleaning/maintenance on the shifter involveing taking it off the handlebar?

My shifter is REALLY old. But it still works surprisingly well. So I hadn't had any need to do much maintenance up to this point. The other side of the coin being, it's a PITA to get to the inners of the shifter so I just kept my fingers cross the shifters keep on working.

But if there's any work I can do that can help ensure the shifter work well for the next 10 years regardless of my fingers, conviniently while the shifter is free of cables and bar tapes, this will be the time for me to do it.

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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area

7/20/13 7:10 AM

i'd leave it on and...

...spray the heck out of the innards from whatever angles you can access them. start by flooding liberally with WD40 just to clean things up and get any gunk out, then finish with a light teflon-based spray lube like tri-flow or the like.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

7/20/13 7:36 AM

Taking it off is no problem...

...and there's a removable cover on the bottom-rear of the lever that gives you some access to the internals. Taking it apart and reassembling it is a major pain, so I wouldn't suggest it, especially if it's working OK. Flushing and lubing as Walter suggested should work, but taking it off first will allow you to do a better job of it.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

7/20/13 8:58 AM

Thanks.

It's amazing when I realize the shifter came on a bike in 97! It's now 15 years old!!!

(it did receive a through cleaning when I moved it over to the new bike round 2005)

Granted, I only ride about ~3000 mile a year. And the last few years I have a second bike so probably a little less. Still, my preferred terrain is roller and mountains. So the shifter gets almost as much workout as my leg muscles! That's A LOT of clicks with mimimal attention...

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

7/20/13 9:56 AM

Flush & Lube

That's likely the best way to take care of things. I have used that approach to fix STI shifters (occasionally much to the displeasure of the owner, who now has no justification to take to their spouse for new parts).

Just work over a bucket, so you can really just flush the heck out of the thing without making a mess.

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greglepore
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1724
Location: SE Pa, USA

7/20/13 3:13 PM

I'm really surprised you've not needed g springs- usually 15 k miles or so.
I wouldn't flush them. There is grease in the g spring ratchet area and bearings inside that doesn't like solvent. You can flush Shimano shifters and spray lube them but Not Campy.

Related content- I 've rebuilt dozens of Ergos but in the last month have had TWO pair of older ergos with impossibly seized rear mechanism shaft/bolts.


Last edited by greglepore on 7/22/13 6:10 AM; edited 1 time in total

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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3234
Location: Midland, MI

7/20/13 7:05 PM

Grease

You'll note that the shifters are greased from the factory, so I'm going to assume that Campy knows what they are doing.

What I have always done is to remove the plastic plate that goes against the handlebars, wipe out all the old grease I can reach anywhere I can get a rag, to put a gob of grease on my finger tip, and just push the grease anywhere I can into the mechanism. I do the same thing with the mechanism in the forward part of the shifter (operated by the paddle). Then I dribble in some oil to thin the grease a bit, and work the shifters back and forth a dozen times to spread everything around. I do this once a year and have not had problems.

I have replaced broken G springs and the shifters are not that hard to get apart, but it is not needed in my experience.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

7/21/13 9:16 PM

Getting them apart is no problem.

Getting them back together correctly is a pain in the ass. If done on a regular basis, I'm sure one can become adept at it, but as a one-off repair, I think most people will find the job quite frustrating. I've rebuilt a few, but I really don't like doing it. Before tackling it, make sure you have good instructions.

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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real

7/22/13 4:59 AM

Campy put grease there but grease does get gummy with age. The trick is to flush the out then re-grease the works with the correct compound.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

7/22/13 11:37 AM

Agree grease, else you will be lubing the shifters nearly as often as your chain with the Tri-Flo. Which is what I do, just got 5 bottles for 1.98 each too. ;)

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JohnC
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Glastonbury, Ct

7/22/13 12:40 PM

My Athena shifters are about the same age as April's. But they've been overhauled 3 times -- once to convert from 8 to 9 speeds, then 2 g-spring replacements. I've got the disassembly/reassembly routine down pretty well now. If anything but the springs goes, they're probably done for, as you can't find the other parts to fit the old pointy-style bodies. But they're working fine for now.

And yes, grease. Not a huge amount of it. I've never seen Phil Wood grease get gummy, Erik. But maybe I've never left it long enough. Is 10 years long enough for a valid test?

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greglepore
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1724
Location: SE Pa, USA

7/22/13 12:54 PM

The parts issue is a drag, but many of them are interchangeable. I've taken to buying rashed ones on ebay when I can, which is rarer these days.

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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3234
Location: Midland, MI

7/22/13 6:43 PM

Gummout


quote:
I've never seen Phil Wood grease get gummy


It's not an issue of the grease degrading chemically or coming apart. It is the grease getting significantly contaminated. The end effect (gummy) might look the same but the cause is different. The fix is the same (flush & re-grease).

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JohnC
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Glastonbury, Ct

7/23/13 8:15 AM

gumminess

Understood. My point could have been better expressed. When I've torn apart my Campy shifters to replace the springs, the grease inside has always appeared to be virtually new - not contaminated, broken down, gummy or degraded in any other way. Those innards are pretty well enclosed, and don't appear to be very exposed to the slings and arrows of life on the road, unlike the grease in hubs, for example. There, I certainly see evidence of the contamination. One reason I like Phil grease is that translucent green color. It makes contamination very evident when the grease turns opaque and dark.

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