Forum menu
I was riding to work this morning down a rather steep hill approaching a T-junction.
I was flicking down the gears prior to braking as I usually do so I had a lower gear to start off in once I'd reached the junction.
As I was doing this the lever got stuck and did not return to its resting position, making it pretty difficult to apply the front brake! Fortunately after initial mild panic I regained composure and pushed it back to allow the brake to be pulled.
So, I'm guessing I need to be doing something along the lines of maintenance to ensure smooth and free operation of the levers - can anyone tell me what it is? Just whack a load of GT85 in there? Or is that bad?
That's the first thing I would try. It's also worth checking the gear cable isn't frayed somewhere inside the shifter as this can cause similar problems.
I would check the cable before using a spray, I seem to recall reading that it wasn't best to squirt oil into the sti's as it cleans out all the factory fitted lubricant - that may be an old wife's tale though. Also the gear cable may not be frayed but just sticking or kinked
I've got Sora shifter and had a similar issue. Its cause was a small nut on the underside of the brake lever which had come loose and was catching on the lever body - check for signs of the plastic wearing, and a nut moving around as you move the shifter.
Areyou aware that Shimano offer a three year warranty on all higher end shifters? I'm not sure if Sora is above or below the cutoff for this but maybe worth checking with your local shop before pulling it to bits yourself. Road bike shifters are MUCH harder to put back together than MTB ones.