Everything's a little bit stiff (ooh er!)

[Mushroomgodmat]

Bit of an odd one this..

I have 2 bikes, one fitted with ultegra, the other fitted with 105.

Iv noticed that my 105 is considerably harder to use, changing gears and breaking are stiffer, amd i need to use more force to get the gears changed when compared to my ultegra which is easy in comparison.

I fitted the 105 myself and I suspect that might be part of the problem, but I didn't think I could go too far wrong. One thing I did do when I fitted my 105 was to lubricate the gear/break cable. Is it possible that the lubricant has thickened to the point that using the shifters is noticeably stiffer/stickier than my unlubricated ultegra set....or....is it just the way 105 is seeing as its cheaper than ultegra?

Cheers for any advice.

 

[smokeysmoo]

There isn't really a noticeable difference between the two IME, so that means I'd point to the DIY installation you referred to yourself anyway.

I'd whip the cables out, clean the out the outers, wipe the cables, check everything is sat nice and re-fit them.

I'd wager it will be that simple a fix for you

 

[Rob3rt]

How bent are the cables? If the housing is too short you may have some sharp bends in the cables.

 

[accountantpete]

Check that the ends of the outer cable are cut square and have not been squashed when cut. I'd also suggest that you use those little plastic ferrules at every end.

 

[potsy]

Has it always been stiffer to use or is it a recent thing?

 

[Mushroomgodmat]

How bent are the cables? If the housing is too short you may have some sharp bends in the cables.

I think if anything they are a little too long..

There isn't really a noticeable difference between the two IME, so that means I'd point to the DIY installation you referred to yourself anyway.

I'd whip the cables out, clean the out the outers, wipe the cables, check everything is sat nice and re-fit them.

I'd wager it will be that simple a fix for you

I'm goings to give that a go over Xmas

Has it always been stiffer to use or is it a recent thing?

I don't know! I only noticed it when I got my new bike.

Check that the ends of the outer cable are cut square and have not been squashed when cut. I'd also suggest that you use those little plastic ferrules at every end.

Ah...now that's a very possible problem. I'm pretty sure I cut them well, I even cleaned up the edges. But, I did notice that on one of my cables housing the actual metal weave (that are weaves inside the housing) had slipped....and the and come loose.


I think the best bet then is to remove the cables, and maybe redo the cable housing...I suspect that and that alown will be enough so iron out any problems.

Cheers guys!

 

[fossyant]

New cables and outers