Campy cables...do you???

[shinomaster]

Or do you not, partake in the fine joy that is a Campagnolo cable?
I write because I have had this experience with them thus far In my brief life as a campy user.
About a year ago my Cross bike stopped shifting well. It has campy 10. The rear cable was replaced with a non-campy cable. It didn't shift any better for about a year...Just the other day I got fed up and took it to my other LBS and they used a Campy cable, and a gave it a tune up, and it feels like a new bike. It shifts beautifully with a light touch. It hasn't worked this well for over a year, and I had given up and was gonna replace my shifter, cassette, or derailleur, but no....it was just the dumb cable...It would seem that a campy cable makes a big difference..
Any thoughts?

[chakatrain]

I, too, have found that replacing the shifter cables and housing can make it feel like a brand new bike. It's one of those truisms that those systems slowly degrade over time, like the proverbial boiling frog, so you never really notice that the shifters aren't so good until they aren't so good.

I'm a big fan of a clean, well working bike.

[Elefantino]

I love new cables. I hate pre-stretching them, but I love the final product.

I find that I can keep the Campy housings and put in generic cables and that works just fine, too.

[chrisroph]

Or do you not, partake in the fine joy that is a Campagnolo cable?
I write because I have had this experience with them thus far In my brief life as a campy user.
About a year ago my Cross bike stopped shifting well. It has campy 10. The rear cable was replaced with a non-campy cable. It didn't shift any better for about a year...Just the other day I got fed up and took it to my other LBS and they used a Campy cable, and a gave it a tune up, and it feels like a new bike. It shifts beautifully with a light touch. It hasn't worked this well for over a year, and I had given up and was gonna replace my shifter, cassette, or derailleur, but no....it was just the dumb cable...It would seem that a campy cable makes a big difference..
Any thoughts?


Shino, give me some love. I told you you needed a new cable. Its a cross bike. This is portland. You need frequent cable changes on that bike. Now, campy vs non campy, truly either will work if the barrel end is the correct size. The real issue on a cross bike is contamination. Because of the price of campy cables, I would be tempted to try non campy if I found myself changing shifting cables every couple of weeks, which is what some people do on their cross rigs. One great feature of campy drlr cables and housing is that the housing is built of longitudinal strands that are quite resistant to stretching while shifting ensuring precision. I have a bunch of campy bikes but I can't recall ever using non campy drlr cables.

[pdxmech13]

A test for all please

take any bike style cable and attach weight to it
hang it verticaly and measure its length
then let it sit for many years
measure the actual change of length and get back to me

follow this up with a piece of housing and let me know

[chrisroph]

A test for all please

take any bike style cable and attach weight to it
hang it verticaly and measure its length
then let it sit for many years
measure the actual change of length and get back to me

follow this up with a piece of housing and let me know

I ain't gonna do it but you have to share now that you've laid down the challenge. pm?

[Grant McLean]

New cables = new socks.

groovy

g

[djg]

I put in a new set -- cables and housings -- each year, and I use C's very own cables. I'm sure that something else would work for me, but I know that this works, and it's easy enough and not too expensive, so I stick with it.

[shinomaster]

Shino, give me some love. I told you you needed a new cable. Its a cross bike. This is portland. You need frequent cable changes on that bike. Now, campy vs non campy, truly either will work if the barrel end is the correct size. The real issue on a cross bike is contamination. Because of the price of campy cables, I would be tempted to try non campy if I found myself changing shifting cables every couple of weeks, which is what some people do on their cross rigs. One great feature of campy drlr cables and housing is that the housing is built of longitudinal strands that are quite resistant to stretching while shifting ensuring precision. I have a bunch of campy bikes but I can't recall ever using non campy drlr cables.

It's all you baby! I have need to replace the cable for a while, as I noticed the fraying metal poking my fingers in my last two races. The last cable only had a few hundred miles on it, but it never seemed to work well in its short life.

[coylifut]

Shino, I've had rear mech cable housing last only one race on many occasions. I had to change the housing (not the cable) after both Hillsboro races this year. I started buying housing in bulk lately.

[shinomaster]

Really? what happens to the housing?

[Ozz]

New cables = new socks.

groovy

g
that good huh?

I gotta get me some new cables! :cool:

[coylifut]

Really? what happens to the housing?

it gets a fine yucky grit in it. when it dries, it creates mega drag on the cable. It's usually just the loop at the rear mech, but sometimes the other 2 loops as well. I found a place that sells it for .75 per foot.

[Xyzzy]

I love how the tips are prepped on new Campy cables. I can't tell if they are soldered or laser welded. I'd love to be able to reproduce it, minus the sharp point.

[pdxbikeboy]

zinn just mentioned the method, some kind of flash welding or phazer's on high.