Rear shifter not working

[Oakster88]

Hi
I've got Shimano Claris shifters. The shifter connected to the rear derailleur is not shifting back towards gear 1.

It is currently stuck on gear 8 (smallest gear) if I adjust the barrel it does shift back to 6th & 7th but no further

The leaver does not seem to engage to go back up the gears (towards 1st) but engages to go down them

Hope you can understand that. 😂😂 any help appreciated

 

[Slick]

How old is the cable?

 

[Oakster88]

How old is the cable?

Not sure. This was my 1st thought

 

[Cycleops]

Hi Oakster and to the forum.

Go back to square one. Disconnect the cable and move the derailleur across by hand and see if it is aligned under the high and low sprockets. If it doesn't adjust the Hi-Lo screws until it does.
Remove the cable and feed in a new one remembering to grease it beforehand. Put the chain onto the smallest sprocket (largest front) and tighten the cable by hand after screwing in the barrel adjuster all the way then out a couple of turns. Ensure the shifter is in high (small sprocket) gear.
Rather than explain the process it will be easier for you to follow this video.

View: https://youtu.be/WMuiiugajmE

 

[Oakster88]

Hi Oakster and to the forum.

Go back to square one. Disconnect the cable and move the derailleur across by hand and see if it is aligned under the high and low sprockets. If it doesn't adjust the Hi-Lo screws until it does.
Remove the cable and feed in a new one remembering to grease it beforehand. Put the chain onto the smallest sprocket (largest front) and tighten the cable by hand after screwing in the barrel adjuster all the way then out a couple of turns.
Rather than explain the process it will be easier for you to follow this video.

View: https://youtu.be/WMuiiugajmE

Thank you I will watch the video & get some gear cable from Halfords asap. Hopefully this is the issue

 

[Oakster88]

One thing I have noticed between the shifter in the video & my shifter is my gear cable does not come out the left side of the shifter. I assume mine is covered by the grip tape (I hope i dont have to remove this)

 

[battered]

This is almost invariably the cable. Many years ago I actually did have a faulty rear mech, according to the LBS, so I renewed it. It was in the bits box for years. Last year I pulled it out in order to steal the adjuster. The adjuster was bent, it fouls the cable and stops it working. New adjuster, new cable, perfect. So even when you are sure it's the mech, it's the cable.

 

[Cycleops]

One thing I have noticed between the shifter in the video & my shifter is my gear cable does not come out the left side of the shifter. I assume mine is covered by the grip tape (I hope i dont have to remove this)

Sounds like your outer cable runs under the bar tape, no you won't have to remove it.

 

[boydj]

You'll maybe have to cut the inner cable where it comes out of the first length of outer as the cable is probably frayed inside the shifter. Then make sure that the shifter is as backed off to the position where the chain should be on the small cog and you should be able to push the cable and fiddle about in the shifter to get the bits of cable out.

 

[Oakster88]

You'll maybe have to cut the inner cable where it comes out of the first length of outer as the cable is probably frayed inside the shifter. Then make sure that the shifter is as backed off to the position where the chain should be on the small cog and you should be able to push the cable and fiddle about in the shifter to get the bits of cable out.

Had a closer inspection & found service cover was able to remove this & pull from there

 

[Oakster88]

Update
Have changed the cable there is still no shifting off of 8th gear. It's like the leaver is disengaged from the mechanism inside the shifter

 

[boydj]

If 8th is your smallest cog, then your cable is not tight enough.

 

[figbat]

Is the shifter set to the 8th gear position? You need to apply tension to the cable (give it a pull by hand) and shift to the highest gear position before connecting the cable to the rear mech and doing final adjustments.

 

[Oakster88]

Is the shifter set to the 8th gear position? You need to apply tension to the cable (give it a pull by hand) and shift to the highest gear position before connecting the cable to the rear mech and doing final adjustments.

Will try this in the morning. I was trying my Sora shifter earlier & even without cable in them there was resistance when using the down shift leaver. This is not the case on my Claris shifter