Nokon Cables/IRD Metawire

[Dude]

Does anyone have any first hand experience with this? They are really expensive but if they last as long as they are supposed to it doesn't seem that ludicrous. I am guessing there is a plastic liner that runs through the "links" that has to be replaced - is that true and if so, how much does it cost to replace. Also, do they take standard shimano and campy cables?

Any differences between the Nokon cables and the IRD Metawire housing?

Thanks.

[EdK]

Hey Dude

I have used both. In my opionion I prefer factory cables. I use Campy and the factory cables just feel better. I have friends that swear by both brands mentioned. I just didn't get it. For 3X the price you don't get 3X the performance. They do look cool though, so that has its own value proposition.

[Dude]

Do they last longer at all?

[EdK]

Don't know, I took them off well before their life should have ended. The friends I know using them change bikes like underware. So they are no help either, sorry.

[MGS9500]

I've got the Nokon cables. They look great, and go around bends without the flex problems of cables.

Performance is marginally better than Campy, they don't flex under compressive loads so no power is lost.

In terms of wear, reports have it that they loose the outer gloss and may show metal wear at about three years.

Like a lot of bike stuff, we buy it to be different, or the looks.This item has limited if any performance advantage.

[TheDon]

So if you ask Nokon Manufacturer, they will tell you that IRD ripped off their design. There is a slight difference in how the links actually link together and that design aspect. In terms of functionality they have very little difference but Nokon will tell you that the materials they use are higher quality, will last longer and so forth. On the other hand, I have IRD Metawire (got it as a trade from IRD) on my Steelman Stage Race and my Sycip Custom Mtn. and feel the performance is excellent. Nokon was sure to point out to me that the IRD product is outsourced from Asia as well. Not that it makes any functional difference to me, just thought I'd share the knowledge. Nokon claims to be the original innovator of the "technology" where the main benfit is longer life and less or no compression under heavy load. And the looks thing, which is nice. You see the stuff on a lot of show bikes at Interbike.
Hope this helps,
Don

[Russ]

.... I have used the IRD cables for about two years now, with little or no problems at all (see my bikes on the Gallery). If there is anything I have noticed is that the "black coat" (I don't know if you call this anodization) wears off a bit. So, I use a Sharpie marker to cover these defects and the beads look great again.

With the acquisition of my Ottrott, I decided to try Nokon; specially now that they are available in black. I noticed, right away, that the Nokon system is a slighlty better product for the following reasons:
1) better lining-- it is thinker and the beads adhere to it much better than the IRD
2) the Nokon beads are better finished
3) Nokon uses a better scheme-- some beads are shaped like pearls and some are smaller to comform to sharp cable bends, as in the case of the rear derailleur. Nokon also provides in the kit some ferrules that fit nicely on the head-ons and cable stops that Serotta uses

Some things I can further tell you: You HAVE to use the (smaller) brake cables that are provided by Nokon or similar. The Camapagnolo brake cables are too big and won fit inside the lining. The gear cables are fine, however. Both systems ship with PLENTY of lining and extra beads, so if you have to redo a cable, this should not be a problem. I like the fact that the Nokon instructions are better (not great, but better) than IRD. By the way IRD comes with NO instructions whatsoever; I like instructions!

Like others have said here, I have not experienced a HUGE performance advantage over the standard cables, but these cables are certainly much lighter! And that is important for me. But the (real) bottom line is that they look more high-tech, and you see a lot of pros using them....

Hope this helps....