gear cable snapped - can you help me?

[lulubel]

As there is no thumb lever, it must be tiagra, but will check later.

It's Tiagra. You can just see the "GRA" on the top in the photo on your first post.

My OH had exactly the same happen to her a couple of weeks ago. To get the broken off bit out of the lever, flick the small, black lever on the back of the brake lever (the one you use to change up) until it stops clicking. Then pull the brake lever, and you should see the broken off bit inside.

You might be able to get away with just changing the inner - my OH did, and her bike is the same age as yours and has had a lot of use. Before she ran the new inner through, she gave the old inner a good coating of chain lube and ran it backwards and forwards through the outer several times. Quite a lot of debris came out, and it's presumably well lubricated now as well.

Her gears are now working smoothly.

 

[Edwards80]

I had my gear cable snap on my Sora a couple of weeks ago. Piece of cake to replace once you know how to get to the cables by pulling the lever

I replaced everything apart from the outers that were under the bar tape - I'm guessing this bit is not subject to the same amount of gunk being slung into it as the cables lower down so all seems fine - no noticeable friction when I was passing the cable through.

Took less than an hour to do both gear and brake cables so definitely worth learning, rather than nipping to the lbs every time

 

[Maz]

i cant figure out where the end of the cable has gone, i cant see any sign of the barrel end.
also the left (good gear cable) shifter looks different to the right (broken gear cable). pix not too clear unfortunately. you can see the gear cable end on the left shifter, just about.
Left (good) shifter...

right (broken cable) shifter...

 

[top-tube]

Put shifter into highest gear position on right shifter (lowest gear on left shifter), push cable through, and nipple should pop out.

 

[potsy]

Maz, for some reason replacing gear cables was a job I wasn't looking forward to doing, but it really is quite simple, indexing the gears afterwards can take a few minutes if you haven't done it before but you'll be fine

 

[Maz]

The Photo looks like it has Tiagra written on the hood but the unit looks the same as the 105 unit, just push the black lever a few times until it stops clicking to reveal the head.

I tried this and still cant see any sign of the head. Very frustrating, especially when so many people on here have said this is an easy job.

 

[black'n'yellow]

it is an easy job. if you have released all the tension in the RH shifter mechanism, the cable head should be visible. If it isn't then maybe your shifter is jammed, or otherwise not releasing properly...

 

[Maz]

it is an easy job. if you have released all the tension in the RH shifter mechanism, the cable head should be visible. If it isn't then maybe your shifter is jammed, or otherwise not releasing properly...

Update...When I release all the tension in the RH shifter, if I look into the hole where the gear cable enters the shifter, I can see all the way through to the other side. What can be deduced from this?

 

[black'n'yellow]

you can deduce that there is no cable in there. In a way, that's good, because you can now just get on with fitting the new cable. In another way, it does make me wonder what happened to the old cable end - but who cares, if it's gone, it's gone.

 

[Maz]

you can deduce that there is no cable in there. In a way, that's good, because you can now just get on with fitting the new cable. In another way, it does make me wonder what happened to the old cable end - but who cares, if it's gone, it's gone.

Thanks, I had a feeling it might have pinged off somewhere -mentioned in an earlier post-but didnt know how likely that was. Anyway, if it's gone, it's gone.

Some really basic questions...
Are brake and gear cables differnt strengths/thicknesses?
Are they universal fit for shimano/campag? (i ask because i saw some online description of a gear cable that said 'suitable for campag' with no mention of shimano).

 

[black'n'yellow]

gear cable = 1.2mm / brake cable = 1.5mm
Shimano & Campag gear cables = same dia but different ends. Universal cables will have different ends - just clip the one you don't need.

 

[ianrauk]

Maz,
when fitting a new cable.
Do not cut to length first... thread through, fit and then cut.
Other wise the cable will fray and unravel.

Do not ask how I know this.

 

[black'n'yellow]

Do not ask how I know this.

how do you know this..?

 

[Maz]

gear cable = 1.2mm / brake cable = 1.5mm
Shimano & Campag gear cables = same dia but different ends. Universal cables will have different ends - just clip the one you don't need.

If I clip off the one I dont need, I will have the problem that Ianruk mentioned, i.e. the end becoming frayed.

 

[martint235]

If I clip off the one I dont need, I will have the problem that Ianruk mentioned, i.e. the end becoming frayed.

Use good cable cutters and then when you thread the cable, gently twist it in the direction that will tighten the weave of cable (if that makes sense).