Rear mech

[Johnno260]

This cable is only just over 1 year old, it’s R7000 105.

Just seemed a little premature for it to fray like this, it was shifting really poorly this morning, and some gears weren’t selectable.

could it be a case of the retaining nut not being tight and it’s had some movement and frayed it?

Got to get this changed out I think.

 

[fossyant]

Happens, and not being funny, but the mech and cable doesn't look like they see regular cleaning as I'd expect the cable to be shiny silver, so this will happen !

 

[Johnno260]

Happens, and not being funny, but the mech and cable doesn't look like they see regular cleaning as I'd expect the cable to be shiny silver, so this will happen !

It’s usually clean, I had just gotten back and the roads here in places are really wet due to water flooding onto the road.

Also the picture was taken in a dark room.

The screw retainer does have some muck around it so maybe it’s that’s and some rub, and the spring has some grubbyness to it.

I will wipe it down more often, maybe add some oil to a cloth for the cable to help?

 

[fossyant]

Need to keep cables clean. I'd get some better cables, also over tightening can brake the threads, and leaving the 'excess' cable too long can catch !

Change the outer at the same time.

 

[rrarider]

could it be a case of the retaining nut not being tight and it’s had some movement and frayed it?

It might be a case of the retaining nut being too tight, or the wire being badly positioned under the nut, allowing it to cut a strand or two.

 

[ianrauk]

If anything it may have been tightened too much, crushed and snapped some of the wires.

Edit: @rrarider & @fossyant beat me to it.

 

[Johnno260]

ok thanks guys.

It may of been me over tightening, I know I adjusted the front, I can't remember if I ever played around with the rear, indexing is like a dark art to me, I would rather leave it to someone who knows what they're doing!

I will make sure I clean around there better as well, usually the bike is spotless.

Edit: After looking at the picture again I think its over tighten, they look like clean breaks and all in the same place.

 

[cyberknight]

A year sounds about right to be fair especially if you use the bike a lot , the only cable i had for more than a few years was an internally routed one on the summer bike

 

[Johnno260]

A year sounds about right to be fair especially if you use the bike a lot , the only cable i had for more than a few years was an internally routed one on the summer bike

They have done around 3000 miles.

 

[Johnno260]

Time to bribe the local bike mechanic with beer to see if he can squeeze my bike in! haha

 

[ianrauk]

indexing is like a dark art to me, I would rather leave it to someone who knows what they're doing!

It's far from a dark art. Check out this brilliant 'how to' video.
Have a watch and have a go. You will surprised at how easy it is to do.

 

[Johnno260]

It's far from a dark art. Check out this brilliant 'how to' video.
Have a watch and have a go. You will surprised at how easy it is to do.

OK that video is made for people like me thanks

 

[Johnno260]

The bike mechanic is going to take the Merida, he wants to check the cable in the shifter as he said the later 105 shifters have a nasty habit of fraying the cable at the shifter as well.

@ianrauk I tried this on my Ribble as it needed some tlc with the gears, this video worked a treat, thank you very much.

 

[ianrauk]

@ianrauk I tried this on my Ribble as it needed some tlc with the gears, this video worked a treat, thank you very much.

As I said.
If you follow the video, do as it say's by starting from scratch, you can't go wrong.

 

[Blue Hills]

At what point was the fraying?

It's my understanding that fraying can be tolerated, if you keep an eye on it, as long as it's not between the clamping point and the shifter.

Gear cables do tent to fray in time, far more than brake cables - just one of those things - to do with angles etc.

In the past I had a tendency to leave cables too long.

I recommend buying a workshop box of 50 or 100 inners - that way you are less likely to push things as you will always have an inner to hand.

Substantially cheaper than buying singly as well.

Then just ride, be philosophical and rejoice in the simplicity of the system - no electronic puzzles or woes.