UKH

Hi,

So on a wave of lockdown enthusiasm, last year I splashed out on a 12 year-old Trek 1.9 last year and fell in love with the joys of "proper" cycling.

Alas, it was not to be and despite cycling through the winter, yesterday the left hand shifter gave up its ghost to the point where I scooped various components and springs out of it. I am therefore lost as to what to do.

Option 1 is to buy a second hand shifter but the ones currently online look really beaten up. Do I really want to spend £50+ on second hand tat? I could potentially take parts off my broken shifter to make the replacement look a little less like it came out of a shredder.

Option 2 is to buy new. Unfortunately, you can't buy Shimano Ultegra ST-6603 3x10 shifters any more and second hand doesn't look great (see option 1)

My question is - can anyone suggest some shifters that will handle 3 on the front and 10 on the back? The current trend seems to be 2x9 / 2x11. Ideally, they will massage my ego by not being vastly inferior to the Ultergra groupset I currently have whilst also not damaging my bank account ego too much either.

Alternatively - is converting what I have into a 2x10 feasible?

Thanks in advance.

I have a rather old second hand Sora triple shifter that you can have for free/charity donation if you can cope with a big downgrade. Although it's designed for 3x8 I'm pretty sure the front chainring spacing is the same so it will probably work as long as the brake pull is also compatible. It's the generation that just had a little thumb lever for the downshift rather than the longer lever next to the brake lever if that makes any difference to you.

If the lefthand shifter is still structurally sound and the brake works etc, there is a cheaper option for getting your front gears working again.

From a place like SJS cycles you can buy a set of Ultegra 3x10 barend shifters for about £50. You would then only use the lefthand one of the pair and add it to the left hand bar end. You would have to get used to a different operating method, but they work really well as front shifters. They index better and are incredibly well made.  

When the rest of the bike wears out in ten years time, you will still a left hand changer that is only part worn and the unused right, which together still fetch £50 on eBay as all the old fogeys in Audax UK and the CTC who are using 8 speed now, will be looking to upgrade to ten speed about then.

PS: (Edit) You can get Dura-ace for £87 and have an upgrade:  https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/shimano/dura-ace-7900-10-speed-road-bar-e...

Hi - that is really kind. Thank you. I will bear it in mind. That said, this is the first properly decent bike I have ever owned and if possible, I want to move on from the days when I just bodged stuff together with gaffer tape and solder. I'm quite happy to spend some serious money if I can get the right solution. Trouble is, I am bewildered by all the options and don't really know what will work and what won't.

I sympathise with you as I had a similar problem recently trying to find a front derailleur for a 2008 Giant.

A good aspect of Shimano is that they are thorough at publishing their technical documents online. This one (https://productinfo.shimano.com/download?path=pdfs/archive/2008_Compatibili...) says that your front derailleur (FD-6603) is compatible with shifters ST-7803 (dura-ace), ST-6603 (ultegra),  ST-5600 (105). I see what you mean about all the 6603 on ebay at the moment being a bit manky, but there are some nice 7803 and 5600. I don't think there is any harm in buying used - they are likely being sold because the seller has changed their whole groupset rather than because they are worn out.

However, having said that, Shimano are very conservative with their recommendations on compatibility. Any Shimano triple shifter should be good as they all have the same cable pull (amount of cable travels per indexed click) of 6.75 mm. This means any triple shifter that aesthetically fits should be good.

...all the old fogeys in Audax UK and the CTC who are using 8 speed now, will be looking to upgrade to ten speed about then.

Ha! I have a shedful of sixes and sevens.  My Walvale (classic steel, Merseyside built) is almost near completion and will be a sporting 1 x 5!  Just have to steel myself and re-tap the threads on the Stronglight 93 cranks to 9/16, or "British," and it'll be rolling. Not far... 

If the frame and wheels are still in good nick you could do a lot worse than something like this:

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-tiagra-4700-groupset-10-speed

E

Although all options appear to be out of stock

I think that might be a problem all over at the moment.

Was just a suggestion. There's more than just Wiggle though.

E

You could convert to double, 105 (5700) shifters are still available (about £150, disappointingly they are more expensive than newer 11 speed ones, although actually I prefer the aluminium levers, since been replaced with fibreglass ones). These should be compatible with your 10 speed rear derailleur (and the front-derailleur should work ok in a double system with the limit screws set accordingly).

Any 10/11 speed shimano double crankset will be compatible that you can find.

Be aware that Tiagra 4700 (10 speed) is not compatible with previous generation 10 speed groupsets (inc Tiagra 4600). The pull ratios were changed to make compatible with the 11 speed derallieurs (to still provide a 10 speed system)

New lower end Shimano groupsets are like gold dust atm, if you are planning on doing plenty of miles this year it might be less painful to go for a new set of shimano 105 from Merlin cycles (one of the only places with any stock)  not going to be the cheapest option at all but if the rest of the components on your bike are in a similar condition to the shifters you might struggle finding reasonably priced second hand components with the added covid tax (some jokers are asking for £300+ for the old gen tiagra groupsets). going for a compact chainset and a 11-34 cassette with a medium sized rear derailleur will give you plenty of range for the hills and an easier time setting it up than a 3x9. Obviously an 11 speed rear hub is needed and a band on braze mount adapter for the front mech.  

Some great advice here. Thanks so much!