Triple shifters hurting my hand

[Bice]

I have a Trek 1.7 aluminium 10-speed road bike that I use in winter with Shimano 105 st-5600 triple shifters but it is hurting my left hand a lot to shift when I am riding with the club and making fast gear changes.

I am replacing the gear cables: I have loads of Clarks Workshop 'SP4 type' cable housing.

Is this good enough quality to make an improvement compared to, say, Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 including'Polymer Coated Inners'?

Or are these shifters notoriously sticky in triple and would I best replace them altogether?

If so, with what?

I could make it a double and get some Ultegra 6700s; or try Microshift; or buy another rim brake carbon bike for a bit more money - not much these days - and get a weight saving?

[Brucey]

it is usually possible to fit a 'helper' spring. This helps to pull against the spring in the mech, effectively unloading the shifter. This also reduces the spring force available for downshifts too, but nonetheless it is usually possible to leave enough force for the downshift whilst easing the load in the shifter during the upshift. It is probably best if the spring is a preloaded tension spring, which can be installed at some convenient location (eg. co-axially with the gear cable, anchored to the frame at a cable stop, and pulling the gear cable via a miniature sling).

Suitable springs can be bought or made. If persuing the latter course, note that the spring stiffness goes as the wire diameter to the fourth power and the reciprocal of the coil diameter raised to the third power. Thus with just two wire diameters and a few different diameter formers, a very wide variety of different springs/forces is possible. Winding (under tension) onto a brass former/mandrel held in a cordless drill can make a preloaded tension spring; by forcing the wire to bend horizontally whilst forming the coil vertically, the preload in a tension spring can be controlled, even allowing so-called 'constant force' springs to be made. Of course there is no such thing as a spring that exerts a truly constant force but if there are enough turns and enough preload over a short working range it is nearly true, and something akin to a 'constant force' spring is probably what is required here.

[keyboardmonkey]

Of all of my 10-speed bikes my 5600 bike is the easiest to shift; the 6700 bike the hardest. 2nd easiest is my “washing line” 9-speed Sora, then the 5703 Shimano 105 bike. So my best shifters don’t run cables under the bar tape. My advice would be to fit new outer and inner cables before getting all drastic.

[gbnz]

I have a Trek 1.7 aluminium 10-speed road bike that I use in winter with Shimano 105 st-5600 triple shifters but it is hurting my left hand a lot to shift when I am riding with the club and making fast gear changes.

Try resting/flexing the hand, on the ride ? Have been running a Trek, c/w a triple, past 5 months.......left arm was partially/temporarily paralysed 2.5yr's + back (5mm movement, a few weeks), not uncommon that fingers et al, hurt/can't fully be used on a ride

Seems to hit me, 4 miles into routine 47 mile gym ride, probable result of gripping the handle bars on a climb, 95% of climb being in the initial 4 miles. Have found simply flexing the hand the rest of the ride, resolves the issue. Helps to simply rest the arm on the handlebars, avoiding gripping the handlebars on the flat, easy sections

[Steve O'C]

Before changing cables are you sure you have the cable routed correctly

It should be like this, ie with the cable on the outside of the small tab next to the pinch bolt . If it has been routed the other side of the little tab shifting is much harder. Ask me how I know

Steve

[Bice]

Of all of my 10-speed bikes my 5600 bike is the easiest to shift; the 6700 bike the hardest. 2nd easiest is my “washing line” 9-speed Sora, then the 5703 Shimano 105 bike. So my best shifters don’t run cables under the bar tape. My advice would be to fit new outer and inner cables before getting all drastic.

My Shimano st-5600 ARE washing line: the gear cables don't run along the bars. I agree: they should be less friction, and less complex than my Ultegra ones, but they are not.

[Bice]

Before changing cables are you sure you have the cable routed correctly

Screenshot 2025-07-05 211642.jpg

It should be like this, ie with the cable on the outside of the small tab next to the pinch bolt . If it has been routed the other side of the little tab shifting is much harder. Ask me how I know

Steve

Interesting. I think they were routed like this. But I will do this with the new cables, as I have already removed the old.

[Bice]

it is usually possible to fit a 'helper' spring. This helps to pull against the spring in the mech, effectively unloading the shifter. This also reduces the spring force available for downshifts too, but nonetheless it is usually possible to leave enough force for the downshift whilst easing the load in the shifter during the upshift. It is probably best if the spring is a preloaded tension spring, which can be installed at some convenient location (eg. co-axially with the gear cable, anchored to the frame at a cable stop, and pulling the gear cable via a miniature sling).

Suitable springs can be bought or made. If persuing the latter course, note that the spring stiffness goes as the wire diameter to the fourth power and the reciprocal of the coil diameter raised to the third power. Thus with just two wire diameters and a few different diameter formers, a very wide variety of different springs/forces is possible. Winding (under tension) onto a brass former/mandrel held in a cordless drill can make a preloaded tension spring; by forcing the wire to bend horizontally whilst forming the coil vertically, the preload in a tension spring can be controlled, even allowing so-called 'constant force' springs to be made. Of course there is no such thing as a spring that exerts a truly constant force but if there are enough turns and enough preload over a short working range it is nearly true, and something akin to a 'constant force' spring is probably what is required here.

Brucey, I am sorry but I would not have a clue how to do this. Nor do I know anyone who could do so for me.

I way prefer mechanical shifting - although Di2 is beginning to appeal. These shifters are taking a toll on my arthritic hands that down tube shifters simply don't, because I can shift with my palms.

[rareposter]

I was trying (unsuccessfully) to find a fairly recent thread very similar to this - solved if I remember correctly by fitting a bar-end shifter.

However in my search I did stumble across another thread of yours from 2022 describing this exact issue. Seems you did a full cable refit back then which helped matters...

So I'd try the same again (ensuring correct routing) and it's worth giving the mech a thorough clean up and lube on its spring and pivots cos if that's sticky it'll dramatically increase the force needed to move it. Cables should usually be replaced every couple of years anyway so yours are overdue a change.

Other options:
Fit a bar end shifter - in your previous thread you said you didn't fancy that but maybe it's getting to a "needs must" situation.

Half way house of a new (or secondhand) mechanical shifter operating a double chainset. Needs new shifter, chainset and BB and obviously a bit of work in deciding what chainring ratios would be most appropriate. Double shifters usually have a lighter action and less lever throw.

Go 1x. A more extreme example of the above but does away with front shifting altogether. You'll almost certainly need a new (wider range) cassette and a new rear mech but with a 10sp CUES groupset, this could actually be a fairly cheap option assuming it plays nicely with your existing rim brakes (honestly not sure if you can buy 10sp CUES with a mechanical brake option).
Edit: you'd need 9sp CUES, it's the only one with a mechanical brake option and even that is designed for discs so a bit of work to determine if the cable pull is OK for your existing rim brakes.

And then the latter option you mention in your final post ^^ , electronic gears. That's basically a new bike since it'll be a total pain trying to retrofit electronic to a bike of that age, you'd have to buy a S/H rim brake Di2 groupset and zip tie the wires to the frame. Far easier to just buy a new bike with it already fitted, you'd also benefit from hydraulic disc brakes.

But it will be a very expensive option.

[Bice]

However in my search I did stumble across another thread of yours from 2022 describing this exact issue. Seems you did a full cable refit back then which helped matters...

So I'd try the same again (ensuring correct routing) and it's worth giving the mech a thorough clean up and lube on its spring and pivots cos if that's sticky it'll dramatically increase the force needed to move it. Cables should usually be replaced every couple of years anyway so yours are overdue a change ...

A bit bad that I had completely forgotten raising this before: although the main issue then was the compromised braking, not the gearing. Many thanks for unearthing it.

I will do the cables again - Clarks OK? - and see what happens, as well as clean the mech thoroughly.

However, I am getting to the point where I am very tempted to do the below. But I am down to have a titanium upgrade to my hip, and I will do that before I risk buying a very expensive bike that I might not actually be able to use:

And then the latter option you mention in your final post ^^ , electronic gears. That's basically a new bike since it'll be a total pain trying to retrofit electronic to a bike of that age, you'd have to buy a S/H rim brake Di2 groupset and zip tie the wires to the frame. Far easier to just buy a new bike with it already fitted, you'd also benefit from hydraulic disc brakes.

But it will be a very expensive option.

[PT1029]

RE Steve O C's comment about cable routing at the gear cable clamp.
Always used to be the case, but not any more. some of the newer gears route it differently around the pin, so it might be worth checking Shimano's tech docs to be sure (the gear's model number FD#### will be on the back side of the shift cage). I recall one of Shimano's docs saying you route the cable one of 2 ways, depending on how far to the left the under BB cable guide is. This had a mention on a thread on here a while back.

Some of the newer front gears that don't comfirm to Steve O C's comment also have an issue that on the small ring, the cable passes almost past/on the line of one of the parallelogram shifting pivots, which gives almost no mechanical moment to start the shift.This manifests itself as needing a very hard push on the upshift lever to start your shift. Once the mech has moved a little, the issue disappears.
I have seen at work one or 2 cases where the cable passes within the shifting parallelogram, so pulling on the upshift lever pulls the gear mech to the left.... Calls for jiggery pockery to cure.

It is bar end shifters for me.

[hoogerbooger]

Do you think it's definitely related to an increase in lever stiffness over time?.

My Missus has somewhat arthritic hands and rejected Shimano for SRAM double tap as she said there was more travel and twist on the wrist/ hand on the Shimano...that hurt. (Also though she found the whole lever too big for her). Just wondering if it's worth borrowing someone's bike with SRAM levers to consider if they might be better ( although then there will no doubt be expensive compatability issues?)

( I don't use either....so may be barking up the wrong tree)

[Brucey]

note that the cable friction depends on the cable tension. Thus the cable friction can be disproportionately increased during a FD upshift. Obviously better cables help, but even so, if the helper spring take just half the load, it is quite possible that the load at the shifter is reduced to about 1/4 of it's previous value.

[531colin]

I’ve never used coated inner cables, but I think I read about the coating coming off and humming it all up?
I use die drawn ( ie smoothed off) inner cables on anything demanding.

[Bice]

This thread covers same sort of ground and has a pic of a mixed bar-end front derailler shifter and STI:

viewtopic.php?t=164292&hilit=bar+end&start=15