Cycling in Melbourne Australia

Hi guys wonder if someone can help clear something up for me about Shimano 105 levers.

I have a second bike that I want to use as a training bike after it was written off after a crash (Stupid P platers!). Anyway thats another story................ ;)

What I want to know is are they any 105 shifters that only do the brake line. My understanding that any 105 shifter will do brake and gears but I need to be sure as there is a language breakdown with the guy I am looking at buying one from via Ebay.

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The add went something like this:

SUBJECT
Left Shifter Shimano 105 ST 5600 - Only Use Brake

DETAIL COMMENT
The Shifter is wrong . Only can use brake. Don't have ring fix handle bar
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The problem I had here is I did not know if the lever came only with brake or this guy only ever used the brake part of the shifter.

So I wrote him a message asking the following:
Hi, What do you mean by your comments? is the shifter Dual control or broken or does it only have the brake part built in?

He then came back with much of the same:
hi mate! it's only have use brake! Cann't use for shifter! Thanks

So as you can see it is not entriely clear but maybe if someone can let me know if there is a brake only shifter in 105's, or not? I can bypass anymore question to my old mate here in Vietnam.

Thank in advance to anyone that can confirm this for me.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by RobE on July 10, 2009 at 9:17pm: the review from Cycling News of the whole 105 groupset clears up most of your enquiry about 105 shifters, but whether this helps with your Vietnamese seller is dubious... sounds like he is trying to say they may have internal components missing and thus can only activate brakes, or maybe he is saying he only ever set them up for brakes and hasnt a clue about them anyway... Caveat Emptor... is there an image on the sellers listing?, and is there a way you can translate your questions in Vietnamese with some degree of certainty?... good luck, ... BTW, IMO Shimano groupsets are too under engineered to last long and any secondhand/used/worn parts of the lesser quality in their range ((ie) anything below Dura Ace and maybe for some components, Ultegra) is likely to be sus. You want a safe group set... if it fails, ouch...Caveat Emptor, repeat CE, CE CE; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jaeger on July 10, 2009 at 11:35pm: Sounds like they're saying it is the wrong shifter for their needs -- eg 10 speed when they need eight speed or something. Also description sounds like the handlebar clamp is missing. I would not bid too high on that item. Wouldn't be concerned about quality though, a friendly bike shop in pinoak crescent flemington gave me some second-hand tiagra STI shifters and they've been going like a dream on my commuter for 12 months so far.

I also feel compelled to mention that if you are looking for cheap 105 you should check www.chainreactioncylces.com.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ben Malcolm on July 13, 2009 at 12:09pm: Thanks guys and thanks again to Jaeger some great prices on that site ended up buying new ones from there. $200 for Left and Right STI 105s perfect as this bike is only going onto a trainer. Cheers - :); ▶ Reply to This