Broken Cable End Inside Shimano Shifter

Often when a bicycle derailleur cable breaks, what happens is you wind up with the cable end stuck inside shifter lever. This is especially true of the rear derailleur cable. A lot of home mechanics and even shops struggle with problem. Shimano shifters have a screw under the handle to so open up the mechanism for quick bike repair. Remove the screw and the broken cable end. For older Shimano shifters, SRAM and others, we show you how to make a simple homemade tool to remove the cable stuck inside lever .
What you need:
Velcro ties used to wrap extension cords, cost pennies for a dozen or more.
An old spoke (your shop may have one they'll give you or you can buy a couple of any size or less then a buck). Obtain a 2.0 / 1.8 / 2.0 mm double butted spoke. Cut the spoke toward the middle where its 1.8 mm in thickness. Sharpen the cut end with a file. You can also ben. the other end into a nice handle if desired.
Removal of the broken cable piece:
Using the velcro ties, hold back the shift/brake handle
Using your modified spoke, push it through from outside to inside (the spoke will just fit through). Viola - now your ready cable installation on your bike and go cycling.
Be sure to check your bike cables during routine maintenance or repair looking for frayed cable endings and worn or cracked cable housing.

[@richardarmstrong3547]

Thank you very much Tony for suggestion on the cable end stuck inside the shifter - I wasn't finding any help anywhere on this one until I found your site. Cheated a bit, used a piece of coat hanger wire to push it out as I didn't have the spoke size you suggested.

[@tony10speed]

Great thinking. Glad it worked. Regards, Tony

[@michaelschmunk965]

I am new to GRX shifters and didn't know about the screw and bottom panel access, thanks so much!

[@tony10speed]

I wish all shifters had such a panel. Things get tough when working on older 1st generation shifter. Also visit our KZbin home site at: kzbin.info Regards and safe cycling, Tony

[@duncanmcgregor7312]

Thank you for pointing out the new screw hatch in the beginning - saved me a lot of work

[@tony10speed]

The upgrade to allow access has made the job easier then the bike I was working on in the video. Regards and safe cycling, Toy

[@chuckb4375]

Great idea using spoke, if a gentle nudge with end of new cable isn’t enough to push it through. Another thing to help remove it and/or remaining fragments is a shot of compressed air.

[@tony10speed]

Will have to give that a try. Thanks for the tip. Regards and safe cycling, Tony

[@danijelvrhovec]

You helped me sir and i thank you. Very much so. You saved me money and time and a lot of aggravation.

[@tony10speed]

Thanks youSimple tricks can be helpful. I use old spokes as tools for a variety of purpose (good idea for another video).Also visit our KZbin home site at: kzbin.info Regards and safe cycling, Tony

[@riyadshauk2432]

Awesome tip - thanks. I used a screw driver to move the cable a bit to where I could pull it (after first being able to get it in sight), then used the nose of a wire stripper to pull that portion of the cable out from my shifter. While pulling the cable, I clicked the shifter to the smaller-ring direction to get the shifter to rotate out to the correct direction and release the end portion of the cable, allowing me to get it all out.

[@tony10speed]

I usually click the shifter to the smallest cog first, or you can't get any of the cable out. But thanks for your tip on broken cable end. Regards, Tony

[@cnbell1984]

Thank you so much for this. Everything now fixed up.

[@tony10speed]

You're Welcome. Also visit our KZbin home site at: kzbin.info Regards and safe cycling, Tony

[@fintanb]

Thanks for your tip at the beginning about the small screw, I was able to get it out by that way

[@tony10speed]

Glad I could help. Regards, Tony

[@tekisutoesl3660]

If one can get to the smallest gear position, the thing on the end is in just the right position to be poked out of the outside of the brake/gear assembly (by using the spoke or in my case an awl pushed from the cable inlet) as described in this video. The problem for me was that that shifting to the smallest cog by pushing on the smaller lever, is as far as I am now aware, facilitated by the spring on the rear dérailleur which pulls on the gear wire, so if you can't pull on the gear wire (because is broken short inside the mechanism) it can be difficult to shift to the smallest cog position -- it does not click with no pull on the wire. An Ifixit website article described creating a wire hook to pull on the mechanism so as to allow the shifting to the required position, but I did not understand the article instructions, because they used the word "downshift" to shift *up* to the highest gear, which is admittedly further "down" away from the shifter. Thanks to this video creator who used the phrase shift down to the smallest gear which made it plain. (Is that called downshifting? "Downshifting" makes intuitive sense but it is at the same time the highest gear, for going fastest) When I took the gear off the bike I somehow managed to shift to the highest gear and then pushing the thing-on-the-end out of the outside of the brifter by poking something into the gear shift cable hole was really easy. But then removing the brifter from the bike requires rethreading the brake wire too, which was a bit troublesome.

[@tony10speed]

I should have worded the video: "Shift the lever as though you were shifting to the smallest cog." That is, you don't have to be able to move the chain on the derailleur (remember that the cable is broken) but rather just get the shifter in position such that you can have access to the broken part of the cable when you pull the brake lever back. Sorry you had such difficulty. Re-cabling the shifter is not a difficult task, but indexing (adjusting) the rear derailleur does take practice. In the end, I'm glad you're all setup now. There are methods to check the cable at the shifter and I'll put that in a future video. I give you credit for you efforts in solving your problem and it was a learning experience. Safe cycling, Tony

[@davidwest4580]

Thanks for the tip. I used a small hex key to push the cable through.

[@tony10speed]

Quick thinking. Glad it worked.

[@tonystanley5337]

Mine (rear control) was stuck in first gear and the broken strands where stopping it returning to top gear. I used a small screw driver to push the strands through to allow the mechanism to rotate back to the position the cable can be removed. However after installing a new cable the main shifter is loose and doesn't return to the centre position, preventing down shifting, unless you hold it manually.

[@tony10speed]

I use an old spoke with the threaded end cut off and the end file to a point to get out the broken cable strands. If any strands are left in the shifter, they will give you the exact problem you mention. You'll need to take out the cable you put in, see if there are any cable strands still stuck in the shifter. Better yet, let your local bike shop have a look. Some shifters have a removable plate that one can remove. Sorry to hear of your trouble with the shifting.

[@cpf55]

Thanks for the tips tony!

[@tony10speed]

You're welcome. Any suggestions on what else you'd like to see in a bicycle repair or maintenance video?

[@hurtighansen1]

Ty

[@tony10speed]

You're Welcome. Also visit our KZbin home site at: kzbin.info Regards and safe cycling, Tony

[@ryant75]

Thank you Tony! Very helpful tip. Can I ask you how to remove front end cap. I can't figure it out. Thanks again

[@tony10speed]

I'm not sure what you mean by the "front end cap?" If you're talking about the cable end cap, I just snip the cable below the cap with wire cutters.

[@geoffreyveale7715]

I have a Dura Ace 7801 shifter and when the end snapped off it moved out of the normal location into another part of the housing so simply poking it out would not work. I had to remove the lever assy from the hand grip and then remove the plastic covers from the back of the shifter. Because I do not use flight deck I simply cut the electrical ribbon to expidite the disassembly. There are 2 small screws the hold the plastic covers in place. Do not remove the main nut a the front and the big plastic cover as this was not needed and can be very hard to get back together. With the two plastic covers removed I was able to manipulate the lever and expose the end of the cable inside the guts of the shifter, Some careful prodding and hooking got the cable end out of the shifter. With it open like this it is easy to do a good clean and lube of the shifter before putting back together.

[@tony10speed]

Say this post on Road Bike Review: I've been riding Dura Ace for about a decade and have enjoyed the improvements over the years. Most notable, the 7800 series - especially the crankset. I wore out the 7800 levers and got into the 7801 levers for cheap. Nice, but so was the 7800. So why the post? I break shift cables at about 3 a year, so this is serious! Once broken the head drops into the tumblers. On the 7800 I could fish it out, and back on the road rather quickly. Not the 7801 - IT HAS TO GO BACK TO SHIMANO! Scared what this will cost. I'm gonna hot glue the head in from now on and then punch it out from the inboard side from now on. Major limitation and I can think of many ways the engineers could correct this - but they didn't. Your approach will help others who still use the 7801 series. Regards, Tony

[@geoffreyveale7715]

@@tony10speed I have done many years of riding with 7800 or 7801 shifters and this is the first time I have had the bad luck to completely snap a cable. I have had cables fray in this area inside the shifter on 2 or 3 occasions and just replaced the cable as normal. Possible that in this case it snapped because I have been using a 9 speed shadow style XT rear derailleur (12-36, 10 speed cassette). Perhaps this non standard derailleur applies a greater load on the shift cable and this resulted in the cable snapping? I shall just need to check this cable more frequently. It did give warning signs of needing adjustment and missing shifts for a couple of weeks that I should have taken as an urgent warning to check the cable. I will be wiser in future.

[@Wiki7202]

This has just happened to me, took the bike to a local shop on Saturday (Monday evening as i write this), Hopefully once they look at it they will be able to sort it or give me some options :), (the shop doesn't open on Sunday or Monday which is why i don't know the outcome yet). Will update once i know more

[@tony10speed]

Did you try to remove the broken end as in the video? Be interested in the outcome. Good luck and hope you're back on the road soon, Tony

[@Wiki7202]

@@tony10speed found the video after taking it to the bike shop, but will keep it in mind for future reference, still waiting to hear back from the shop though

[@cpf55]

Does it need to be in a certain gear for the spoke to work?

[@tony10speed]

You need to be in the highest gear (smallest cog of the cassette). Regards, Tony

[@audax333]

About the small screw on modern shifters: There is a great video explaining how to fix the problem and which cover you can then remove. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ_GZ6OQjbOShZI

[@tony10speed]

Thanks for the comment and reference. Not present on all new shifters, but really helpful when it is! Regards, Tony