Problems moving to higher gears.

[Chap sur le velo]

End of last year I bought a Willier Triestino Motirolo off eBay on the recommendation of a friend. It's a fabulous bike and I'm truly thrilled riding it but...

The gears are Campagnolo Athena and they are mostly as crisp and slick as I could wish for. However...going to the smallest cog (highest gear right?) sometimes doesn't happen. Usually two or three clicks will shift it, but often you have to twitch the bigger lever to free it and make it "release" in the way you want.

I've had two shops give it a service and it seems ok for a day or so but its getting worse again about 3 weeks after last one tried. As the bike is over 10 years old and I've no idea how it was treated or maintained (there are a few scratches on the rear derailleur arm) I encouraged them to change bearings and "whatever was needed". They replaced the inner cables but not the outer ones, which would need the handlebar tapes to come off/be replaced and I did say they were new.

Why should it stick one way? (I realise the lever is much smaller)

What could I try? (I'm putting together a Bike toolkit and want to do as much as possible myself in future)

Ideas welcome...otherwise its back to the shop next week.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Upshift is accomplished by a release of tension and the mech spring pulls the cable back as it releases and changes up a gear.
Knee reaction is to say sticking cables. You can replace the outer (or the most important bit) without disturbing the tape. Just cut it soon after it emerges from the tape. It is unlikely to cause a problem that high up. Fit new outer using a connector, or preferably an inline cable tensioner to help with future micro adjustments. LBS should know this but maybe they CBA.

 

[Ajax Bay]

The section of outer with the smallest radius bend (and therefore higher friction, especially as it wears) is the bit from the chain stay to the RD. Very easy (and worthwhile) to replace that short bit. I replace that at least twice as often as the outer under the bars (which as the OP says, is a pain). Edit (after Darius' post): Only applies if there is a cable stop on the chain stay (of course) which I think this bike has.
A good squirt into the Ergos through every available orifice is a good idea. May let the thumb release (to go to a higher sprocket) operate that tiny bit more smoothly.
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/wilier-mortirolo-review/

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

If you are running full length outers then fitting Middleburn Oilers might help.

 

[Ajax Bay]

 

[Big John]

I've never worked on Campag but for the sake of trying to help I'll assume the basic mechanics of gear changing on Campag is the same as Shimano i.e. if you remove the gear cable from the rear mech the jockey wheels will automatically go beneath the smallest sprocket. It helps if you have a workstand to check this but just turn your bike upside down and make sure the jockey wheels are in line with the smallest sprocket with the gear cable removed. If they are then you don't need to adjust the limit screws. If they're not then turning the 'High' screw anti clockwise will allow the RM to move further outwards and clockwise to bring it inwards a touch.

If something worked well before and it doesn't now, and your inner cable has been changed by your lbs, then the cable isn't releasing as it should. The outer, in the perfect world, should be replaced, bar tape or not, but to avoid that job you can remove the inner cable and squirt a shed load of GT85 down the outer cable. Just hold the end of the outer cable up in the air a bit to let the GT85 run down inside the cable. That might solve the problem.

As Ajax said it's worth squirting some lubricant into the shifter. That may take a bit of waggling but these levers do get their knickers in a twist sometimes. We had one at work that had seized completely. We stuck it in a digital ultrasonic cleaner and not only did it come out spotless but the thing actually worked again.

Good luck 👍

 

[Chap sur le velo]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I have spoken to the latest shop and they are going to have another look at it.

Still aiming to get up to speed to DIY! It helps to have more understanding.