Tell me about cables

[AngryScientist]

on the topic of cables though - i've found that what is way more important than the cables themselves are how well you prep the housing. clean, square 90 degree cuts free of burrs/edges is key. the few times i've wound up with sloppy shifting have been the result of the housings not sitting square/home in their stops - so whatever you wind up buying, make sure you install it with attention to that.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

on the topic of cables though - i've found that what is way more important than the cables themselves are how well you prep the housing. clean, square 90 degree cuts free of burrs/edges is key. the few times i've wound up with sloppy shifting have been the result of the housings not sitting square/home in their stops - so whatever you wind up buying, make sure you install it with attention to that.

Your are absolutely correct, Sir! I was thinking about that yesterday. Thank you for re-focusing our attention to the real issue.

[tuxbailey]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

on the topic of cables though - i've found that what is way more important than the cables themselves are how well you prep the housing. clean, square 90 degree cuts free of burrs/edges is key. the few times i've wound up with sloppy shifting have been the result of the housings not sitting square/home in their stops - so whatever you wind up buying, make sure you install it with attention to that.

Thanks. Hence I bought the CN-10 from a forum member instead of the generic brand cutter I had before. That cutter only gives me 50/50 chance of a clean cut for the housing.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

on the topic of cables though - i've found that what is way more important than the cables themselves are how well you prep the housing. clean, square 90 degree cuts free of burrs/edges is key. the few times i've wound up with sloppy shifting have been the result of the housings not sitting square/home in their stops - so whatever you wind up buying, make sure you install it with attention to that.

continuing on this... its also somewht important to pay attention to the curve in the housing when cutting.. ive noticed with the front brake and rear der piece especially the tendency for the housing to butt into the ferrule at an angle after bending to shape. i think its more of an issue with traditional parallel wire housing (dont know what the different styles are called) but even the more solid? coil? types generally found in der cable still do the funky angle thing, whick seems to me coukd easily add some slop to shifting and brake modulation

so for pieces thatll be bending alot or sharply, i try to remember to bend before cutting.

and now that ive presented this as original Dead Man wisdom, i suddenly feel like i might have even read this somewhere, years ago.. so maybe its already common knowlegde

[NHAero]

I'm about to cable up my first couple of 11 speed Shimano systems. This thread seems not to have converged to a consensus on best practice. Tuxbailey shows us a packaged Shimano cable set of 4mm housing and 1.2mm cable, which several respected PL members have warned us against. Are folks saying Shimano's stuff doesn't work on other brands, or that it doesn't work well period?

[dddd]

Originally Posted by NHAero

I'm about to cable up my first couple of 11 speed Shimano systems. This thread seems not to have converged to a consensus on best practice. Tuxbailey shows us a packaged Shimano cable set of 4mm housing and 1.2mm cable, which several respected PL members have warned us against. Are folks saying Shimano's stuff doesn't work on other brands, or that it doesn't work well period?

Shimano inner wires won't fit through the tiny hole in the spool of a SRAM road shifter.

Obviously Shimano's cables and kits are of good quality. I can't think of anything Shimano makes that isn't of good quality relative to it's price-level competition, though with things like wheels it gets tricky when certain kinds of riders are looking to exploit/maximize certain specific performance parameters.

Me, I'd say Shimano's cables/housings/kits are the best. But there is lots of good stuff to choose from these days, and aftermarket cables housings usually perform well enough to go unnoticed.

[NHAero]

Thanks for that clarification. I set up the first bike last night, 1x11 with ST-6800, and used the 1.2 cable that comes in the shifter with the existing SP41 housing on the bike. All works fine. As I had read elsewhere, the 11 speed appears less finicky to set up than the 10 speed - I'm guessing that changing the pull ratio was a contributing benefit.

Originally Posted by dddd

Shimano inner wires won't fit through the tiny hole in the spool of a SRAM road shifter.

Obviously Shimano's cables and kits are of good quality. I can't think of anything Shimano makes that isn't of good quality relative to it's price-level competition, though with things like wheels it gets tricky when certain kinds of riders are looking to exploit/maximize certain specific performance parameters.

Me, I'd say Shimano's cables/housings/kits are the best. But there is lots of good stuff to choose from these days, and aftermarket cables housings usually perform well enough to go unnoticed.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by NHAero

I'm about to cable up my first couple of 11 speed Shimano systems. This thread seems not to have converged to a consensus on best practice. Tuxbailey shows us a packaged Shimano cable set of 4mm housing and 1.2mm cable, which several respected PL members have warned us against. Are folks saying Shimano's stuff doesn't work on other brands, or that it doesn't work well period?

It'll be fine..make the housing long enough, they are mateched like that for a reason..shimano has been making thir cable kits 'for a while'...

Except for too big of a head on der cables for Campag, it DOES work fine with other component brands. Either get a 'far superior Campagnolo' der inner wire for Campag(smaller head) or make it smaller(not recommended..it may come off)..BUT spending a few extra $ on quality inner wires instead of weird, off branded stuff from wally-world, for yer big buck(or not big buck) rig is worth the $.

IMHO, of course, 'pal'...