I recently acquired a pair of used Chorus 10s ergo shifters. Installed the left one, only to find it needed a rebuild, it would not hold the derailleur in place.

Before I send it away for a rebuild, is there a way to determine if the right lever needs a rebuild as well without installing it on a bike? I know the safe thing to do is send them both for a rebuild, but if there's an easy way to do it I'd rather know whether the right side needs it or not.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Hope this helps.....

You could even do it yourself.........

http://www.campyonly.com/howto/ergo_rebuild.html

Besides worn springs and carriers, there can be other things go wrong. I ruined a left lever by yanking on the cable to try and free a stuck front derailleur. It buggered the ratchet mech. It's a complete sub-assy EC CH 429 along with ratchet EC RE 234 - see here: http://www.campagnolo.com/repository/documenti/en/spares07_A-0307.pdf

and was not economically repairable. I ended up gutting the shifting mech completely, leaving the lever as a brake only, and mounted a downtube shifter for the FD.

So, it's hard to tell.

As to your questions, I'm not sure there's a definite test of the right lever without installing it. I've not heard of one. Some idea of history and wear on it would be useful.

G springs and carriers are relatively cheap and can be installed by anyone who can follow the online instruction videos. You could hope that's the issue with your left lever and try it. And while buying the bits, you may as well buy them for the right shifter too. Bikeman http://www.bikeman.com/store/merchant.mvc? is a good source. Buy the metal spring carriers, not the "Ultra" ones. Left is 5 EC RE 112, springs 50 EC RE 210, right carrier is 5 EC RE 111, and springs EC RE 209. good luck.

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dangerous curves ahead

Like bikerjulio said.....No real way to tell without a doubt unless you hook it up to a rear der. and see how things work.

And I also agree that you should go back and ask the seller a bit more about their history....how the right had been shifting, had it been rebuilt once or more already, if rebuilt was the shop/person experianced at the task, etc. A left rebuild is such a very rare occurance.....my guess is that if it needed that (for the left) then the right obviously would have been due for some maintenance/rebuild at one or more prior points in time.

In my experience, the right shifter needs rebuilding fairly frequently, the left one almost never. So, I suspect that if the left has problems, the right will too. I seem to remember that if the shifter isn't mounted to a bike, you can still hear and feel how it clicks. If it feels soft, it probably needs a rebuild.

I'd rebuild them no matter what. "Rebuild" overstates is a bit. G Springs and making sure the tip on the carrier isn't broken is 95% of it. Less than $20 in parts for both shifters.

I recently moved my 2008 Record shifters to my rain bike. The shifting had been less than excellent on the right lever. Carrier was broken but still shifting at least. I've rebuilt levers before but was still surprised how much better (and louder) the shifts are.

I also bought a new set of Centaur 10spd with the 11spd shape hoods to replace the 2008. That was a very positive upgrade across the board. I do miss the multiple cog shifts in the rear.

OP I was thinking back to my FD shifter problem. Which was that the lever wouldn't move the derailleur at all.

If your shift lever is moving the FD OK, but then it won't hold position, then I'm left with thinking that it's the G spring/Carrier combo that's failed. And I'd agree that you might as well refurbish the right one at the same time.

Check out this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxOfgqiiZtY You only need to get to the 2:03 point of diss-assembly in order to replace the carrier & springs.

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dangerous curves ahead

You can tell if it needs a rebuild by the firmness of the clicks. Put a cable in. Hold it taut with one hand. Shift the big lever with the other hand. if the cable clicks into distinct spots, and if you can't easily tug the cable and make it pull out, then it's good.