How to get a broken shifter cable out of an ultegra shifter?

Hi,

I snapped the gear cable on my road bike yesterday.

When I went to replace it it has snapped inside the shifter. While faffing about trying to get it out I’ve moved it further round the shifter.

Any suggestions as to how to get it out?

The head of the cable is inside the shifter with 1cm ( think) of frayed gear wire stopping the shifter returning to highest gear.

Also it’s internal routing. When I pulled the cable out I assumed there would be cables or guide tubes or something inside the frame. It seems like it’s empty space.

I assume after getting the cable out the shifter getting the cable routed inside the frame will also be painful.

Any suggestions as to how to get the shifter cable re routed?

I thought this would be irritating when I bought a well used carbon road bike. It’s been fine for two years : )

My old 105s were terrible for this – there was cover plate underneath the shifter that gave slightly more access to the Internals, then with lots of wiggling and some needle nosed pliers it’d eventually come out. I’ve now got Di2!

Yeah it’s easy- there is a cap over where the bend is, (on the stem side) pop that off then pull the brake a little otherwise it doesn’t line up- then poke through there.

I had similar on my last Defy, spent ages fiddling with it, eventually took to LBS who is a Giant dealer, they stripped it down and got the old bit out and recabled with the clever magnet thing for drawing cables through the frame.

I also now have Di2 🙂

Make sure you shift to the lowest gear (press the smaller lever) – may not turn back as the cable is snapped, but get some needle nose pliers to help get the ratchet back to the bottom gear. It’s a faff.

I managed to dislodge the cable end on a grx shifter recently causing it to get stuck and jam the shift mechanism. To free it needed to wiggle end via the access plate on the other side and manipulate via the cable head hole using a small screwdriver until it came free.

Make sure you shift to the lowest gear (press the smaller lever)

That’s highest gear in my book!

I did the same as thepurist. Lots of patience required.

If its well and truly stuck !  Pull back the rubber hood from the back of the shifter then on the underside of the shifter you’ll see a plastic cover with a small phillips screw, undo said screw then you will find that the plastic cover will pull off giving you full access to the shifter assembly reverse the process  to put it back together, Job done !

That’s highest gear in my book!

In anyones book.

Thanks!

Sounds like it’s is going to be as fiddly and annoying as I thought.

Quick price of a wireless group set and noticed they are flat mount and my frame is not. And a group set at RRP is twice what I paid for the bike.

Best set my faffy expectations to several hours of irritation

Had the same. Cable frayed inside the shifter too and jammed it up. Shift to highest gear – smallest sprocket (if you can) to move the cam around, then remove the small plate on the inside of the front of the shifter (don’t lose the screw) and fish the parts of the cable out. It worked for me. It was fiddly though.

I saw online advice to sharpen and shape an old spoke to fit down the hole and push the old bit of cable out

Well worth the time and effort on the spoke, which wasn’t much

I managed to dislodge the cable end on a grx shifter recently causing it to get stuck and jam the shift mechanism. To free it needed to wiggle end via the access plate on the other side and manipulate via the cable head hole using a small screwdriver until it came free.

Yes, did mine at the weekend for the second time. I’m an inveterate parker of bikes in the smallest ring/smallest sprocket (this will start a discussion 🙂 ) If you just knock the small lever without pedalling (because you’re in the shed and forgot), the cable nipple gets free and jams the lever.

The bottom line, only change gear while pedalling. I’ve never had this with either 105 or Ultegra though

It’s recommended to change inner cables approx annually to avoid this happening. Not that I follow that advice unless there is something else wrong with the shifting already.

I’ve done a couple now. Usually about 10mm of very frayed cable left on the nipple. Lots of patience and tiny tiny pliers. Immense sense of achievement and joy once done though so worth persevering.

It’s recommended to change inner cables approx annually

I’ve had it for a few years and the shifting was pretty much perfect, until it broke.

Every other bike has had its cabling changed due crappy shifting with dirt in the housing after this much time.

I’ve had it for a few years and the shifting was pretty much perfect, until it broke.

The current crop of Shimano shifters are apparently quite notorious for snapping cables right inside the mechanism, something to do with the last 1-2cm of routing which can snag on a piece of the shifter and wear away gradually. Everything remains fine until it snaps. It’s almost invariably the RH shifter which fails cos it obviously sees far more shifts than the LH.

A magnet to guide the replacement cable through the frame is very useful. Sharpened spoke or similar for prying out all the bits of frayed/snapped cable from the inside of the shifter.

If you’ve done it before you’ll know, but when you get to threading the cable through the downtube,  make sure you find any inner cable guides flopping around inside the frame. These help stop cables rattling in the frame, and also sawing through things when they go round the bottom bracket. Saw some pics the other day of a sawn through ht2 crank axle that had been cheesewired

Saw some pics the other day of a sawn through ht2 crank axle that had been cheesewired

By a cable outer?

I mean, I’m all for making sure you get moneys worth out of all components, cables included, but to manage that means the outer cable and BB must have been in there many, many miles..

Hence the suggestion to find the inner cable guides….

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^ wow!

Does the slate run outers inside the frame? If its inner only via guides then the above seems more likely.