arcane knowledge: friction shifters
Tom Kunich
Do not lubricate shifters. They should be clean and dry.
Henry_Barta <hba...@enteract.com> wrote in message
news:8o1stu$18si$1...@news.enteract.com...
>
> I have an older Bianchi Brava that has Suntour downtube friction
> shifters. I'm having problems with these, particularly in the
> rain. Unless I really crank down on the fastener (with the
> little metal loop) they tend to slip, being pulled by the rather
> stout spring in the derailler itself. In fact, I have to use
> a key or something similar to tighten it enough to hold when
> it is wet. Then when it is dry, it becomes too stiff to shift
> easily. It seems to require a delicate balance to hold and yet
> be reasonable easy to move. But this balance does not even seem
> to last through a single ride.
>
> How should these be serviced? Should the 'friction' parts be
> lubricated, and if so, with what?
>
> (I already check that font of knowledge at Sheldon "He's
> forgotten more than I'll likely ever learn" Brown's site and
> did not find anything.)
>
> thanks,
> hank
>
> --
> Hank Barta White Oak Software Inc.
> hba...@enteract.com Predictable Systems by Design.(tm)
> Beautiful Sunny Winfield, Illinois
>
Bruce Matthews
the stack. It could be that yours have lost their springiness and need
to be replaced. Check with a bearing supply place for something
suitable. These are often used to preload ball bearings to avoid
chatter or end float but allow for temperature growth. If you cannot
get exactly what you want in terms of strength be aware that they can be
stacked to increase their spring rate. Other than this go looking at
the used bike parts places. Hope this helps.
Bruce Matthews
Henry_Barta
NotOutRiding
do you have model names for the levers?
Friction levers will not hold at all if lubricated. It may be possible that
either the friction surfaces are too worn to hold, or if they are a sprung
model, that the springs have failed.
Max.
Lawrence Fieman
do decide to change the shifters, I have had very good results from bar end
friction shifters (shimano). I hear that rivendell makes a bar end converter
for any friction shifter. These are readily available used, since the
industry has shifted away from friction towards index. Good luck. Larry
"Tom Kunich" <atku...@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:w20p5.93$4m.1...@news.pacbell.net...
> You can get new shifters I believe at http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/
>
> Do not lubricate shifters. They should be clean and dry.
>
> Henry_Barta <hba...@enteract.com> wrote in message
> news:8o1stu$18si$1...@news.enteract.com...
> >
Henry_Barta
> I have an older Bianchi Brava [...]
Thanks all for the responses. I'll clean these up and check
for spring washers. If I can't get these working properly,
I'll probably look at bar end shifters.
That leads to another question (that I'll discover as soon as
I get them apart...) These shifters are mounted on 'braze ons'.
Will that leave behind something that looks like a water bottle
boss, or will there be a little post sticking out of my down
tube? That might affect my ability to migrate to bar end
shifters.
Gene Floyd
> That leads to another question (that I'll discover as soon as
> I get them apart...) These shifters are mounted on 'braze ons'.
> Will that leave behind something that looks like a water bottle
> boss, or will there be a little post sticking out of my down
> tube? That might affect my ability to migrate to bar end
> shifters.
>
> Hank Barta White Oak Software Inc.
> hba...@enteract.com Predictable Systems by Design.(tm)
> Beautiful Sunny Winfield, Illinois
When you get your downtubes, either htey'll come with or you can obtain
cable stops that mount in place of the shifters and give you a place to
go from cable housing to open cable.
Gene Floyd
Tim McNamara
<hba...@enteract.com> wrote:
> Thanks all for the responses. I'll clean these up and check
> for spring washers. If I can't get these working properly,
> I'll probably look at bar end shifters.
>
> That leads to another question (that I'll discover as soon as
> I get them apart...) These shifters are mounted on 'braze ons'.
> Will that leave behind something that looks like a water bottle
> boss, or will there be a little post sticking out of my down
> tube? That might affect my ability to migrate to bar end
> shifters.
You will have two posts sticking out of the down tube. This will not
adversely affect your ability to use bar-end shifters (BES), in fact
they are important to your ability to use BESs. You will need to mount
a pair of cable stops to them- the cable housing from the BESs goes
from the shifters to cable stops mounted on the down tube. These often
come as a set with the BES. STI/Ergo shifters use the same things.
Mike Lackey
also. Differently from yours, they would not hold at all. I took a regular
flat washer and added it to the washer stack and was able to get it to work
pretty well.
Mike Lackey
Bruce Matthews wrote:
> IIRC the last set of Suntour's I disassembled had spring cup washers in
> the stack. It could be that yours have lost their springiness and need
> to be replaced. Check with a bearing supply place for something
> suitable. These are often used to preload ball bearings to avoid
> chatter or end float but allow for temperature growth. If you cannot
> get exactly what you want in terms of strength be aware that they can be
> stacked to increase their spring rate. Other than this go looking at
> the used bike parts places. Hope this helps.
>
> Bruce Matthews
>
> Henry_Barta wrote:
> >
A Muzi
clean surfaces moves easily and stays put.
Henry_Barta wrote:
--
Yellow Jersey, Ltd
http://www.yellowjersey.org
http://www.execpc.com/yellowje
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
jeffslotkin
good clamping, hence some slippage. They can be filed, but if newer,
less worn friction pieces can be found for your shifters, that will
accomplish the same thing. A little post-filing will affect you not at
all when the time comes for a change.
--
Jeff Slotkin
The Local Spoke
TheLoc...@bigfoot.com
"Tim McNamara" <tim...@mr.net> wrote in message
news:240820000915499632%tim...@mr.net...
Snoopy
>
> I have an older Bianchi Brava that has Suntour downtube friction
> shifters. I'm having problems with these, particularly in the
> rain. Unless I really crank down on the fastener (with the
> little metal loop) they tend to slip, being pulled by the rather
> stout spring in the derailler itself.
>
> How should these be serviced?
>
Hank, I had similar problems 2-3 years back. It was with my Suntour
shifter with a ratchet mechanism. I started by screwing down the
lever casing. That worked for a while before the gears started
jumping again. Then I noticed some of the teeth on the ratchet
mechanism appeared worn. Some I simply rotated the disk with the
teeth by about 120 degrees. In seems that through normal operation
the ratchet disk only uses about one third of its teeth anyway, so
doing this restored the mechanism to 'new' condition. That worked
too, -for a while.
Then I tried a new chain and cluster. My old one were worn, but that
didn't fix the problem. Finally I bit the bullet and installed a new
derailleur. I had bought the old derailleur new about 5 years
previously, so I never suspected that. But the new derailleur fixed
all the problems. After 5 years my old derailleur was all 'slopped
out' with enough slack in it to allow the shift lever to jump. HTH
SNOOPY
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