Recommended grease for inside shifters / brifters

[KneesUp]

Following on from my shifter repair thread it occurs to me that as I have (or will have) both shifters in bits, I might as well re lubricate them at the same time. Especially as a rudimentary search suggests that replacement springs are relatively hard to come by now.

I've never done this before, so I was just wondering if the gathered expertise has a recommended lubricant for inside shifters?

The stuff in there already seems a lot thinner than the grease I use for wheel bearings etc. and I would guess is lithium based? To be honest it seemed pretty well lubricted in the left hand anyway but most of it seems to have come off on my hands while I was trying to get it back together :-) I've not done the RHS yet.

 

[fossyant]

I'd be careful TBH. I only ever squirt mine with GT85 - they need a little lube, but not enough to cause dirt to cling to it.

Maybe just drp a little 'wet' chain lube on the parts.

Good luck getting it together. You'll be able to repair Swiss watches after this exercise.

 

[KneesUp]

Cheers - I have this video pinned. The bits are all in a Tupperware in the shed ...

 

[88robb]

Just use a lightweight machine oil, not thick grease. Something like Finish Line or Tri-Flow works perfect. Grease will gum them up over time. Put a few drops on the moving parts and work it in. The original stuff is thin for a reason.

 

[Big John]

I hope I'm wrong but having had a few goes over the years to disassemble and reassemble an STI lever it rarely ends well. There's fettling and then there's rocket science fettling and this falls into the latter bracket. Lube is definitely the least of your worries when faced with a plethora of strangely animated small parts. I ended up chucking the old levers I'd used as an experiment just as I ended up chucking an old motor mower many years ago after I'd very successfully taken it apart. Shame I wasn't as successful in putting it back together.

 

[T4tomo]

I don't think it matters as you'll be unlikely to every reassemble the shifter 🤣

Will be mighty impressed if you do.

At least you have a fighting chance with Campag.

 

[KneesUp]

Ahem ….

Its all back together, as shown below with the stub of the broken shifter.

Obviously I don’t know that it works properly yet because I can’t blooming well find where I’ve put the spare gear cable I haven’t fitted it back on the bike yet. But it feels right with nothing attached to it...

EDIT I used muc off wet weather lube in it. I already had some and it says “ideal for chains, cables, shifters, derailleurs, pedals and cleats” on it.

 

[MichaelW2]

My Mirage 8spd were lubed from the factory with a light grease. I may have dabbed a bit on any exposed ratchet parts but never had a deep clean. Solvent/lubes may flush out the grease.

 

[KneesUp]

My Mirage 8spd were lubed from the factory with a light grease. I may have dabbed a bit on any exposed ratchet parts but never had a deep clean. Solvent/lubes may flush out the grease.

Yes these had factory grease but most of it ended up on my hands when I took them apart. And was quite old. I know the oil isn’t going to last as long so I will either just keep on top of it or order in some specialist grease (internet suggests you can’t but the Campagnolo stuff from them anymore but you can get the same stuff under a different label) and then take them apart again at some point.

Even my trusted lbs just said “squirt some gt85 in” but to be fair I don’t know if I made it clear I’d stripped it down to the washers.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Ahem ….

Its all back together, as shown below with the stub of the broken shifter.

Obviously I don’t know that it works properly yet because I can’t blooming well find where I’ve put the spare gear cable I haven’t fitted it back on the bike yet. But it feels right with nothing attached to it...

EDIT I used muc off wet weather lube in it. I already had some and it says “ideal for chains, cables, shifters, derailleurs, pedals and cleats” on it.

View attachment 801968

Where did the part sitting separately come from?

 

[KneesUp]

Where did the part sitting separately come from?

It’s the snapped off shifter lever I replaced. Just noticed I’ve oriented the wrong way in the photo. It should be 90 degrees anti clockwise.