I'm hoping that someone here is knowledgable on road bikes. I have a Shimano 600 shift brake lever that won't engage to release and shift from small to large gears on my Specialized Allez from 1994. I suspect it's worn, which is a dissapointment. If anyone has any suggestions for how to repair, it would be appreciated. I've been told these shift/brake levers are not servicable. But I'm pretty good with my hands and if I can tinker it back to work, I'll give it a try. Another suggestion I was told was to spray some lube in it and it get's it going again. I'll try that. Thanks! Nelson
The Park Tool Repair Guide is indexed and will lead you to Rear Derailleur Adjustmenet which will lead you step by step as to what to do. The shimano europe site is fantastic as well but for your model it only has an exploded parts list. For many it has all the full service manuals. Shimano USA site sucks BTW. There are no non-adjustable bike parts I cannot diagnose without more info but really that isn't necessary. Just follow the Park guide. Basically, regardless of the issues with a derailleur you follow the same setup process to make things right again. You should prolly check the motion of all your cabling as well. Best Luck!
I'd forgotten they sold STI on the 600 gruppo before its name was changed to Ultegra. I recall a Bicycling article where they disassembled some STI levers as far as they could, and weren't able to accomplish much, IIRC. The moral of the story was that STI levers were pretty much disposable. Even Loose Screws doesn't offer much in the way of STI parts. Their name always comes up when a search is on for small bicycle parts. If you've got an old-time LBS (local bike shop) they may well have a spare lever left from an upgrade which they might sell on the cheap. If all else fails, email me. I have a used pair of early Ultegra STI levers which may work with your components. They are well-used, scuffed and the badges are gone, but they still worked decently when I upgraded my gruppo.
I'm not sure that Loose Screws is still in business??? I thought they went under about a year ago. [edit- Aha, yeah, their website is active. I was probably thinking of the Third Hand, which they seems to have dropped the name and just because Loose Screws] Shimano is well-known in the bike industry to almost force people to upgrade but there are a few really handy folks who have managed to put together guides for STI shifters, but I don't know much about the older Shimano groups. Campagnola has always had a much better history of making parts available and maintainable. Try to post a question over here: http://www.cyclingforum.com/forums/Main.cfm?CFApp=2 These guys are very knowledgeable and it's 95% a roadie forum. Also check this out: http://www.cyclingforum.com/features/findex.htm Specifically look at the STI disassembly/assembly WINWORD document, that might help you but it does seem to be based on the 105 group, which is a newer lower end line of the STI technology from Shimano. Whether it's worth it, who knows, you can sometimes find lots of parts on r.b.m or roadbikereview.com or on Ebay. Jay
Try sending an email to Sheldon Brown ([email protected]). He also has a website here. He's pretty much acknowledged as the guru of bike mechanics and if anyone can answer your question, he can. I emailed him with a question about compatibility between 7, 8, and 9 speed Shimano parts once and he responded very quickly and was very helpful.
Thanks for all the input guys. I'll follow up on all your leads and see what I turn up! It's appreciated. Nelson
