Jagwire sealed cable systems vs Campy original

[Tommasini53]

I'll be assembling a new gravel bike in a month or so, all mechanical. I'm curious if any forumites have experience with Jagwire's sealed cable systems. Is there improved performance that is worth the extra work to install over Campy's original equipment cables?

I've long used Campy cables and I've been happy, I wasn't sure if the Jagwire's Elite cables offer any better performance.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Tommasini53

I'll be assembling a new gravel bike in a month or so, all mechanical. I'm curious if any forumites have experience with Jagwire's sealed cable systems. Is there improved performance that is worth the extra work to install over Campy's original equipment cables?

I've long used Campy cables and I've been happy, I wasn't sure if the Jagwire's Elite cables offer any better performance.

Better performance, as in better shifting? No..Maybe a little less goop into housing but that's all. Plus the inner wire(do they have a Campag compatible one?) is poly coated..'may' shred some like DA and Gore does/did.

I'd say just Jagwire slick, stainless inner wires, their lined housing, metal ferrules(brass is best)..And if pre 2009 levers, 10s, 5mm der housing and ferrules..

[Tommasini53]

thank you Old Potato.. i'll stick with Campy OE. Jagwire advertises this a replacement for the Gore product. I didn't realize the Gore product had problems.

Please indulge me..I know you have decades of hands on experience.

On cable set ups, do you lube the cables or leave them dry??? Any other best practices for smooth cable set ups?? thank you.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Tommasini53

thank you Old Potato.. i'll stick with Campy OE. Jagwire advertises this a replacement for the Gore product. I didn't realize the Gore product had problems.

Please indulge me..I know you have decades of hands on experience.

On cable set ups, do you lube the cables or leave them dry??? Any other best practices for smooth cable set ups?? thank you.

Clean cut of housing, particularly in 'gumby' shaped levers, 2009 and later. Make sure wee brass washer is in the hole in the lever(again, 2009+ levers)..

A little bit of grease on delrin ramp..again, Gumby levers.

Make sure der housing long enough, and behind the hbars 'seems' to be smoother, older or newer levers. For 2007 and older levers, I use 5mm der housing and brass ferrules from Wheels manufacturing. Der housing, YES ferrules in lever, 2007 and older. NO FERRULES for BRAKE HOUSING in either lever(pet peeve of mine, digging those things out).

2009 and later, NO FERRULES in the lever for der or brake. I use 4mm brass ferrules for the der housing, again, 2009 levers and later.

I squirt a wee bit of Boeshield into the housing for ders, nothing for brake.

I also dab a bit of grease on inner wire ends, brake and der, as they go into lever.

[chiasticon]

I've had good luck with the Jagwire sealed system, haven't had issues with fraying or shredding cables. been running it on two cross bikes for four seasons now. I get about two seasons out of each re-cabling. it's really not a hassle at all to set up, especially after you've done it a couple times. first time, maybe an extra 20 minutes to read/follow instructions...? the main thing is it's about double the price over the elite system. performance is about the same, it's just that the sealed system tolerates adverse conditions better, hence why I put it on my cross bikes. but my bikes have fully exposed cabling. if you have internal cables, full length housing or don't plan on riding through a lot of muck with your gravel bike, might be over-kill.

[Tommasini53]

molte grazie Oldpotatoe, I'll make good use of this information. Printed and posted on the peg board next to my cable cutters.

[MikeD]

In my opinion, the sealed PTFE coated cable systems like Jagwire Elite, and the GoreTex cables before, have less friction that you can actually feel at the shifter, and it doesn't degrade like when dirt gets into an unsealed cable system or is prone to drag at the bottom bracket cable guide. I'm almost at 3 years of use on the Elite cables on my Ultegra triple road bike. I see now that Jagwire has polished stainless steel inner wires that they claim have lower friction than PTFE coated cables and are more durable. But smooth stainless cables (some are called die drawn) have been available for many years, so the whole thing is puzzling.

[dbh]

I just recabled my 10spd campy ultrashift equipped bike. Went from campy oe to jagwire. Honestly can't tell the difference in shift quality.

[Mark McM]

I only have limited experience with the Jag Wire sealed system, but I've used the Gore sealed systems for years. I've found that for bikes whose cable runs have only a few, large radius bends, and which are used in relative clean, dry environments, the Gore systems give only minor improvement over good stainless steel cable systems. But the Gore system gives huge performance improvements if there are many tight bends in the cable runs. And when used in wet, dirty environments, the Gore sealed system provides good performance for far longer than an un-sealed system.

In the little time I've been using the Jag Wire sealed system, I've found that it has a little more friction than the Gore System (but probably a little less than a stainless steel system if the system has tight bends). I haven't run them long enough in grungy environments to know how well the sealing works, but I would expect that they are similar to the Gore systems in this respect.