Q&A: Cable stuck inside Shimano STI shifter

QUESTION:
Good morning Jim,
I have a problem with my Shimano Ultegra shifter-10 speed, triple crankset. The cable broke inside the shifter and the end piece that holds the cable fell below the cam. Now I can not turn the levers and can not get the piece out. I know the piece is in there because I can see the frayed end of the cable. There are very limited diagrams on the shifter assembly.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Bob

ANSWER:
Hi Bob,
Well, it can be tricky to get the cable out if it breaks like that, however, if you can see the frayed end, you should be able to persevere. Unfortunately you can't take the lever apart. So, what you have to do is try to reach inside the lever with some type of thin pointy probe like an awl or pick and try to poke the frayed end of the cable to try to get the other end, the lead end (or the head of the cable), to start to come out of its holder in the lever. If you can do that you can then reach inside with a small needle nose pliers, grab the head and extract the cable.

I know you mentioned that a piece fell below the cam. You may need to invert the bike and/or wiggle or shake the bars, or poke or pull with your probe to get things lined up again. If it moved one way it can move back with the right amount of trial and error. And, then it'll take some patience and experimentation but you should be able to get the cable out.

Now, if you don't want to mess with it, you could also pay a shop mechanic to get it out. This isn't a rare problem so the right mechanic who has dealt with this before should be able to help you. However, it'll be more fun to get it out yourself, I'm sure,

Good luck,
Jim

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