I have an 08 XT front shifter , when i try and shift into the largest cog the shifter sometimes locks or moves freely but doesnt pull the cable. Is it broken ( it did this from new) or is this some sort of super clever shimano clutch system piddly pop!

I think mine did this when it died last year, take the cover off and look at the plastic bits in side as that is where mine gave up.

Get new inner cable and clean everything. If that doesn’t fix it, get a new front mech.

Get new inner cable and clean everything. If that doesn’t fix it, get a new front mech.

and if that doesent work try replacing the brakes…

Get new inner cable and clean everything. If that doesn’t fix it, get a new front mech.

and if that doesent work try replacing the brakes…

failing that, check the tyre pressures really carefully.

Possibly a damaged cable jamming up the works inside, but more likely to be damage to the ratchet and pawl inside.If you hit them hard enough with your knee then you can cause this problem (not that i’ve ever done it, ever, honest, and I didn’t have a bruised knee for a week either).
One other thing to check,affects the lower priced shifters more, but it isn’t pressed up tight against the brake lever is it? If so, it can distort and jam up.

Mine’s done this from new too (08 XT). Sometimes under a forceful shift, it feels as if the ratchet slips or fails to engage. Works second time. It’s pretty rare, and hasn’t gotton any worse, so I’ve not investigated any further. It is a shifter issue though, not cable, not front mech , not tyre pressure! 😆 Don’t worry about it.

You could try taking the cover off and giving it a good spraying with WD40 in case its a bit stiff internally.
Mate had a problem with his before and went to the bother of replacing it, had a play with the old shifter and attacked it with some lube, all working again! 🙄

mine’s also done this from new, just get ready to send it off for warranty and it won’t do it (isn’t it always the case?) then it does it again and so on…….!

Thanks ,

yeah definatley a shifter problem, will have a look inside today, seems like quite a common problem, did anyone else buy theirs from merlin?