Cycling UK Forum

Can I remove Shimano 8 speed Dura Ace bar ends from a set of drop bars bars without having to remove the gear cables? I want to swap the bars for another pair and am hoping there is a simple way to remove the bar ends still cabled up and then refit them to the new bars so that I don't have go to the bother or recabling the gears.

It should be doable. Move the shifter to remove cable tension. You'll need to unbolt the shifter lever fixing screw to remove the shifter lever, boss cover and axle. That allows Allen key access to the body fixing bolt which loosens or tightens the expansion body of the shifter. Once loosened it'll slide out.
Reverse to install in the new bar.
See expanded view here...
https://si.shimano.com/en/ev/SL-BS77-1664

You have to remove the lever from the boss in order to access the expander to remove the boss from the bar end; you could do all that with the cable in the way, but it’s quicker and easier to remove the cable and get a clear run at it, and re-cable it once its re-fitted to the new bar.

It’s readily possible to mid-assemble bar end levers!
Part labelled 2 in cyclothesists diagram has a specific orientation which is easy to miss.

531colin wrote: ↑3 Aug 2024, 10:58pm You have to remove the lever from the boss in order to access the expander to remove the boss from the bar end; you could do all that with the cable in the way, but it’s quicker and easier to remove the cable and get a clear run at it, and re-cable it once its re-fitted to the new bar.

It’s readily possible to mid-assemble bar end levers!
Part labelled 2 in cyclothesists diagram has a specific orientation which is easy to miss.

Good points from 531colin. Take photos as you disassemble so you can refer to them when putting it all back together.

I guess the orientation is as shown in the diagram, ie the square tab faces down; it’s a few years since I took one to bits.
Wrong orientation of the tab throws out the angle the lever wants to sweep through, so the indexing is in the wrong place

at first sight, it looks as if the chrome piece can go on one of four different ways, but actually they only fit properly one way round. If you look at them carefully you will see there are four cutouts in the back of the chrome piece, of which only one will fully accommodate the 'pip' cast into the mount. If you mis-assemble them, not only will your levers not work, but you will very likely break something (usually the chrome bit) too.

Thanks all for the advice, I shall absorb it all and have a go! Glad to here it is possible