Ok, did I miss a memo or something?
Are there some gear cables that are incompatible with some gear outers?
I seem to have to replace one or both of these on far too regular a basis. When I do, gear shifts are nice and light and predictable. Over the course of 2 or 3 rides it all gets stiffer and less predictable and then seizes up.
Am I doing something wrong?
Am I doing something wrong?
I suspect so. Are you jetwashing the bike or doing something to drive muck into the cables? Are you crashing or dropping the bike so that the bars spin and kink the cables?
Thanks for replying, but absolutely not.
Yes I do spray down the bike with a hose, never on jet setting. I don’t even carry the bike on the outside of the car (which to my mind if it’s raining is akin to jetwashing it)
I’ve been using outer that comes off a reel I bought in a shop closing down sale years ago and inners I bought in bulk from eBay. I might pop to the bike shop tomorrow and buy some different stuff to see if that’s any different.
Never heard of incompatibility- I mean, yes there's some that are different but they always advertise that as a benefit so you'd not get it without knowing.
For me, SP41 outer, because it's really good, and any stainless inner- the shimano coated inners are good too but after a month, everything feels much the same and after a few months, anything that isn't stainless or otherwise rustproofed feels like crap so I just keep it simple. Better to buy cheap stainless and replace often, for sure.
Just buy shimano sp41 and some not off ebay inners.
Just as important as the outers and inners, sealed SP4 end caps. We used to have nightmares with cables seizing up on some customer's bikes until we started using them (with full length SP41 outer, and a slick 1.1mm stainless inner if possible).
I don't know about 'incompatible' but I think modern gears and shifters (and cable routing) demand a lot more out of cables.
I had my LBS recable the road bike and they did a very neat job but using Jagwire inners and outers. The front shifting was horrible and so 'sticky' I swear it gave me ligament damage in my middle finger! 😂
I swapped it (and the brake cable) for posh Shimano equivalents and the difference was night and day, my rear brake now outperforms the front brake just since I changed the cables 🙄
Even the 11spd GX on my MTB benefitted from new Shimano SP41 which sorted out some shifting niggles
Outer housing for gear cables in either going to be 4 or 5mm. 5mm used to be the standard, but now most is 4mm (bends easier obvs) inners can come in anything from 1.1 - 1.3 for galvanised, brake cable is 1.5mm and you can force it in there, but you're not doing that are you? If you've got "standard" cables in standard outer it should all work fine. Maybe the plastic inner lining sheath of the outer housing is breaking down and getting bunged up?
If in doubt; SP41 (shimano outer) and 1.1mm cables (SRAM standard) is my go to for super light shifting. Rather than random Ebay or old non-spec outers
