what a difference ....

[02GF74]

.... a new front brake cable makes!!

Over the weekend I regreased the headset and also the brake cables, discovering that 4 or more strands in the front cable had worn through by the noodel!! EEEK!

Anyway, yesterday, fitted new cable, noodle and applying the front brake for the first time, it made such a big difference to the stopping power - guess the old "thinnner" cable was being stretched!

 

[Globalti]

Change all your cables or at least the gear cable outer at the rear derailleur, you'll be amazed at how accustomed you have become to heavy and inaccurate shifting.

 

[Iceniner]

Ive never changed my cables as of yet as im still fairly new to cycling, but is there a rough guide as to how often/approx milage before i should think about changing them/dropping it into the lbs?

 

[Soltydog]

I've not changed any cables on either bike, apart from one gear cable on the road bike. How often do people change the cables?

 

[4F]

I've not changed any cables on either bike, apart from one gear cable on the road bike. How often do people change the cables?

When they break

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Cable Life

Change them two months after they broke or when you get fed up with the bottom of your shoes wearing out, that's what the local kids seem to do any way

The main thing is to keep them lubed if you have short outer pieces on the cable release at one end ,slide these short outer pieces up and down the cable while you apply a little oil on the inner cable. If you have cables where the full length of the cable has an outer, release the top end form a little funnel from tape at the loose cable end and fill with light oil leave for a good while and this should run down the cable. of course if you notice any cable frays (is that how you spell it ?) or the cable is really hard to pull with your hand replace it. Life of the cable depends on many things, how it was looked after/used and how good it was in the first place so no hard and fast rules there.


Hope that helps.

 

[Steve Austin]

You could always use avid flak jackets or nokons or gore cables.
sealed cable units last longer and do work better foe longer.


If you arte running normal cable sets. I would change inners every six months. spring/autmn works for me.
Outers every spring

An inner costs a pound so its hardly expensive to change them and it really does make a difference to shifting

 

[Globalti]

After years of fiddling with gear and brake cables I've come to the conclusion that lubrication doesn't help much. Probably what happens is that the oil attacts dirt and material worn off the outer cable and soon ends up just as bad. A new, clean dry cable running in a dry unworn outer seems to work best for me, so I change the cable outer where it curves round to the rear derailleur every 6 months. This is the most stressed cable on the bike, so it wears from day 1 but you just become accustomed to the slow deterioration in shifting until the day it becomes a real hindrance. I keep a supply of cable outer and I have a cable cutter, a worthwhile investment.

I had a Park cutter, which was a superb quality tool until I used it to open a loop in a ring main; unfortunately my sparky had wired this particular loop into the downstairs ring not the upstairs so I'd turned off the wrong fuse and the cable was still live. There was a big flash and a loud bang and one blade of my lovely cutter was deeply spark-eroded and became useless for cutting!

 

[Headgardener]

I had a Park cutter, which was a superb quality tool until I used it to open a loop in a ring main; unfortunately my sparky had wired this particular loop into the downstairs ring not the upstairs so I'd turned off the wrong fuse and the cable was still live. There was a big flash and a loud bang and one blade of my lovely cutter was deeply spark-eroded and became useless for cutting!

My Dad has a pair of sidecutters that he did the same to(intentionaly I think), the hole that was burnt into the blades is ideal for stripping the inner insulation on mains wiring.

 

[dubman]

You could always use avid flak jackets or nokons or gore cables.
sealed cable units last longer and do work better foe longer.


If you arte running normal cable sets. I would change inners every six months. spring/autmn works for me.
Outers every spring

An inner costs a pound so its hardly expensive to change them and it really does make a difference to shifting

a pound is dear , i brought 10 gear cables and 10 brake with outers for under £4 jagwire brand , happy days