Gear and Brake Cables - replacement/upgrade

[swee'pea99]

The cable outer needs changing where it curves round to the derailleur every 6-12 months. The rest every couple of years.

Why? Surely things need replacing when they wear out. My cable housings must all be knocking on three years now and they're fine. Why would I want to replace them? Where's the benefit? Sounds financially and environmentally inane to me.

 

[Bollo]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Sounds financially and environmentally inane to me.[/quote]
Brake cables?! Have you watched the news in the last, say, 150 years?

Are we having the first ever 'Know How' flame war? (Looks to sky) What has become of us?

 

[Chris James]

Don't need changing? Wot bollox. The cable outer needs changing where it curves round to the derailleur every 6-12 months. The rest every couple of years. And you don't grease the cables; the grease stiffens up and collects dust. At worst you lube them lightly with a synthetic lube, at best you leave them dry.

[quote name='swee'pea99']Why? Surely things need replacing when they wear out. My cable housings must all be knocking on three years now and they're fine. Why would I want to replace them? Where's the benefit? Sounds financially and environmentally inane to me.[/QUOTE]

I must admit I agree more with swee'pea99. My bike is two years old and the cables are as original and still shift fine on a 10 speed. I have eased off the outer and it looked clean as a whistle so put a few drops of Finish Line Cross Country on the inner and put it back together again.

I can't imagine brake cables ever getting crappy enough to warrant changing. Maybe this is because my bike has guards on it all year?

 

[cheadle hulme]

On a bike a Nipple is the thing that keeps your spokes tight to the rim.
As for the things on the end of your cables they are called Cable end caps or some know them as wire crimps.

I meant the other end of the cable.

http://www.chickencycles.co.uk/index.php?cat=11⊂=10&ord=2

 

[swee'pea99]

Brake cables?! Have you watched the news in the last, say, 150 years?

Are we having the first ever 'Know How' flame war? (Looks to sky) What has become of us?

Eh? What are you on about? I'm just questioning the idea of chucking out perfectly good gear - is that provocative? I hope not.

 

[mickle]

Stainless steel inners as a minimum requirement. Avid have the edge over Shi**no because their long ferrules support the outer better. I found Gore cables to be an utter waste of time and money.

Shi**no outers come with grease btw.

 

[DaveP]

Stainless steel inners as a minimum requirement. Avid have the edge over Shi**no because their long ferrules support the outer better. I found Gore cables to be an utter waste of time and money.

Shi**no outers come with grease btw.

M,

Yes will admit that the Avid's are looking like top of the pops, had a look at the Nokon's, but they seem more style over content...

 

[mickle]

Nokons are lush, especially in gold.

 

[DaveP]

Nokons are lush, especially in gold.

M,

Yup if I wanted to pimp my bike, they would be top of my list!

 

[Bollo]

Stainless steel inners as a minimum requirement. Avid have the edge over Shi**no because their long ferrules support the outer better. I found Gore cables to be an utter waste of time and money.

Shi**no outers come with grease btw.

Its early days for the Gores with me, and I can see how they could end up worse than ordinary cables if you didn't take a lot of care fitting them. It's not something I'm attempting again, because I think there was more luck than judgement in getting it right when I did it.

You get the same story with the Nokons - some people swear by them, others say worst thing they ever bought.

As for changing them reasonably often - that's going to depend on you (I've admitted to being fussy), your bike, the terrain you ride over and how far you ride. That's a lot of variables, so different people are going to have different experiences. I wouldn't grease cables, but then I'm not losing sleep if it works for someone else.

swee'pea99 - I thought your 'financially and environmentally inane' was a bit out of nowhere for a 'Know How' thread about "tips for fitting new cables".

 

[Bodhbh]

Not sure where I read it, but understood when installing cables to run the inners thru a greased cloth to give them a light coating. This is okay or should leave them dry? Can't say I've noticed a huge issue with dirt collecting so far.

I noticed teflon coated cables are available. This more bling to waste money on or they genuinely shift better?

 

[Bollo]

Not sure where I read it, but understood when installing cables to run the inners thru a greased cloth to give them a light coating. This is okay or should leave them dry? Can't say I've noticed a huge issue with dirt collecting so far.

I noticed teflon coated cables are available. This more bling to waste money on or they genuinely shift better?

I've done the cloth thing with some dry lube, but I think for modern cables and outers the difference is marginal. Teflon coating might also make sense if you have long cable runs - for example on a folder - and want to reduce friction. The Gores just take the idea of teflon coating a stage futher I suppose.

 

[swee'pea99]

swee'pea99 - I thought your 'financially and environmentally inane' was a bit out of nowhere for a 'Know How' thread about "tips for fitting new cables".

Oh well, apologies for any offense. None was intended. I just have a thing about waste. Child of a child of the Blitz.

 

[jimboalee]

I have always applied grease to brake and gear cables and they have always give me ZERO 'things gone wrong'. Its the brake and gear mech pivots that bind up.
Cables have lasted the whole life of the bike, even my 1964 Moulton.

Nipples ARE on cables

When you buy a new brake cable, it comes with a BARREL nipple on one end and a PEAR nipple on the other. You cut off the one you don't want.

I haven't seen a BALL nipple for a long time, but they will do the job of a BARREL nipple.


BTW, I was called into work today so not on my 200k rando.

I have been awarded a free day off next Wednesday as compensation for cancelling my holiday.

For those who are interested, last night's carbo loading was a 1lb Christmas pudding,, M&S with 7% brandy.

 

[Bollo]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Oh well, apologies for any offense. None was intended. I just have a thing about waste. Child of a child of the Blitz.[/quote]

No worries, and apologies back for being a bit touchy. I'm hiding out in Know How after some toy-throwing in Commuting.

With me its not so much about waste as being a tight-@rse, although the two go hand in hand. I figured that I'd poured so much cleaner and solvent through my gear cables attempting to clean them out that it might be cheaper in the long run to fit a sealed set. If the Gores hadn't been on offer, I probably wouldn't have bothered. If I'd have known how difficult they were to fit, I probably wouldn't have bothered either!

Some of my problem with cables is that, during the winter I'm effectively doing cyclocross on a standard road bike, such is the state of my local roads in winter. Things get gummed up double-quick, especially brakes and cables. The final loop of cable outer to the rear mech is the guilty party most of the time and I've had to replace this every 6 months or so in the past. I've not bought a new set every time, but chopped spare outer to length. I trust this meets with the swee'pea seal of approval

I've never had any problems with gear linkages strangely enough.