Before we get to today’s photo-splosion, a brief if not somewhat frantic reminder from Defeet Product Manager Sandy Emmanuel (her words):
“Hello all you good people. This is Sandy and when I’m not busy worrying about my Schnauzers or returning cardigans to QVC on a bi-daily basis (don’t judge me, nothing gives you that right), I’m reminding as many safety conscious cyclists about, wait for it, wait for it, Defeet’s new HI VIZ line of socks, gloves, booties and arm warmers. These are really bright and if you don’t think so, I’ll come to your shop and throw my beloved Spanky on your face. Then, there’s no amount of HI VIZ that can rescue you from the tornado of Schnauzer teeth that’ll turn your face into ground beef. OK, gotta run, my Lentil Hot Pocket is ready! Nummers!”
OK Sandy, I posted the Defeet HI VIZ reminder, put the hand-trebuchet down and climb off Jose’s shoulders. Whew, anyhoo, sometimes Campy shifters stop working correctly. It happens people. Sweat, rain, dirt, bugs and whatever else can get inside the shifters and wreak havoc on the tiny bits inside. Luckily, Campy shifters can be pried open and completely overhauled. It’s the tiny parts and somewhat idiosyncratic arrangement of said parts that can make this a daunting task (even with the ever helpful “Zinn and The Art of Bike Maintenance” (BOOK1150). This week, the Blog’s right Record shifter crapped out and thus a rebuild was in order. Part 1 of this riveting 3 part series, DECONSTRUCTION!!! Patrick Augustine said he loves (he made sarcastic air quotes when he said this) servicing Campy shifters so he was kind enough to let us photo the various steps and parts. Theres lots of good old fashioned oxidation and crud built up over almost two years of use, which will hopefully motivate all of my fellow Campy owners to take a long hard look at their poor, neglected, Campy shifters and consider an overhaul. This is not a guilt trip!
The offending shifter…
Removing the pivot pin…
Popped the plastic cover off revealing gnarly innards of the shifter!
Removing the bolt holding the washer, which reveals…
… the flat “compensation spring”. This spring is yanked out with a pair of needle nose pliers or pried out with a screwdriver.
After a bushing is removed, the dirt and corrosion covering the thumb lever, return spring and index gear is plainly evident and scowled at!
The finger lever is removed. More nasty corrosion surrounds the pivot post nut and washers! Yuck! Inside the lever body, the G spring carrier is CLEARLY VISIBLE!!! (pointless enthusiasm)
Pivot post nut is removed, disengaging the ratchet ring and corresponding washers.
Back to the lever body, we finally remove the crud-covered G spring carrier complete with bedded G-springs. The G-springs take the brunt of the work during shifting and will need to be replaced, with extreme prejudice. Once again, a pair of needle nose pliers is used to gently remove the carrier. A good lashing of Clean Streak will be used to clean the carrier off and burn off my fingerprints in the process.
Well, here is my right hand shifter, in all its piece meal glory. Taking the shifter apart is the easy bit, on Thursday, we’ll put it back together again, underwater.
