Trialtech Carthy levers - service and spares?

[DYAKOV]

I bought a pair of used trialtech carthy levers some time ago. They work well but I’ve noticed a bit of play in the blades with one being way too wobbly for my liking.

I was wondering if this is to do with worn seals/bushings around the pivot bolts and wether these are available to buy anywhere; or is that a result of old damage where the lever body might have deformed a bit?

Anybody had the same issues with trialtech levers and any fixes at all?

Cheers,

N

Edited January 20, 2022 by DYAKOV

[aliao]

This is pretty typical. Over time, the set screws on the end of the lever that tighten the blade down to the lever pivot loosen up a bit and slide down the lever pivot. You can see in your video that the lever blade is moving, but the lever pivot is not.

If you want to get rid of the play, all you have to do is loosen the set screw slightly, push the pivot bolt down from the top so it bottoms out on the lever body and then tighten up the set screw again. Be careful not to strip out the set screw head or threads when you're loosing and tightening it. If it's giving you a hard time when trying to loosen it, use a bit of heat from a hairdryer to soften up the loctite and use a fresh allen key so you don't strip out the bolt head.

[DYAKOV]

4 hours ago, aliao said:

This is pretty typical. Over time, the set screws on the end of the lever that tighten the blade down to the lever pivot loosen up a bit and slide down the lever pivot. You can see in your video that the lever blade is moving, but the lever pivot is not.

If you want to get rid of the play, all you have to do is loosen the set screw slightly, push the pivot bolt down from the top so it bottoms out on the lever body and then tighten up the set screw again. Be careful not to strip out the set screw head or threads when you're loosing and tightening it. If it's giving you a hard time when trying to loosen it, use a bit of heat from a hairdryer to soften up the loctite and use a fresh allen key so you don't strip out the bolt head.

Hey bud, thanks very much for the tip! It worked and minimised the wobble although there is still a tiny bit of play and the pivot bolt is moving as seen in the clip below:

It’s definitely much better than what it was and won’t bother me to the extent of replacing the levers. Do you know if those plastic washers are available to buy anywhere?

 

N

[Canardweb]

On 1/21/2022 at 9:09 AM, aliao said:

This is pretty typical. Over time, the set screws on the end of the lever that tighten the blade down to the lever pivot loosen up a bit and slide down the lever pivot. You can see in your video that the lever blade is moving, but the lever pivot is not.

If you want to get rid of the play, all you have to do is loosen the set screw slightly, push the pivot bolt down from the top so it bottoms out on the lever body and then tighten up the set screw again. Be careful not to strip out the set screw head or threads when you're loosing and tightening it. If it's giving you a hard time when trying to loosen it, use a bit of heat from a hairdryer to soften up the loctite and use a fresh allen key so you don't strip out the bolt head.

I am sorry but I haven't understood which screws should be tightened or operated. Is it possible to post pics for future use? Thanks 

[DYAKOV]

18 hours ago, Canardweb said:

I am sorry but I haven't understood which screws should be tightened or operated. Is it possible to post pics for future use? Thanks 

Here mate:

Loosen 1, then push 2 all the way down, then tighten 1 again, so it properly holds 2 in place. You can also pull out 2 to see if there are any indentations which might affect the grip..

It did help and minimised the wobble but there is still a tiny bit of play as you can see in the second clip. It’s nothing too frightening but compared to a hashtagg lever I have on my other bike which has absolutely zero play, it slightly annoys me still.

 

[aliao]

Glad to hear that the fix helped! And thanks for getting the visual instructions together for canardweb.

If you want new IGUS bushings you can probably email trialtech directly and they might be able to send you some. I will say though that the smaller amount of play that you have now looks normal to me even for a fresh lever out of the box.

One more thing that you might want to check is whether the previous owner of the lever lost the black rubber o-ring that sits between the lever blade and the lever body in the pivot. This o-ring is really easy to lose whenever you take the lever blade completely out of the lever body and is often forgotten.

[Canardweb]

Thanks a lot for your input.