Weird cable outer f...
 

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[Closed] Weird cable outer failure

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Last night - night ride - new gear cables inc clarks braided outers. Gears wouldn't shift. Looked down at the shifter end and the outer had compressed into an L shape meaning no gears could be selected!!

any ideas why/what could have happened? Interesting ride up curbar gap on 34/16!!


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:05 am
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using brake outer not gear?


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:06 am
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You must've surely caught the cable on something. A cable can only "compress" in a concertina fashion, not "bend" into a 90 degree angle.


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:08 am
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it was brand new and unridden druidh - the outer is made up of several layers so will not compress uniformly surely - will take a photo later to explain what i mean. It is just where it enters the shifter barrel adjuster so couldn't get caught by anything.


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:10 am
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it was brand new and unridden druidh - the outer is made up of several layers so will not compress uniformly surely - will take a photo later to explain what i mean. It is just where it enters the shifter barrel adjuster so couldn't get caught by anything.


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:11 am
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definitely gear as it game in a pack with gear inners


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:11 am
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sounds like it's been crushed somehow ?


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:14 am
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that close to the end I'd suspect it got damaged being cut?


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:14 am
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My guess would be that - if you've not accidentally bent it and damaged it at some point - that the cable outer is faulty. One of the downsides with braided cable, of course, is that you can't see what's happening inside the braiding, so if there's some sort of break to the inner bit - which presumably there must be - it wouldn't be obvious in the way it would with a normal cable?


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:18 am
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I'd go for it getting caught on something, maybe getting it in or out of the car. Gear cables aren't under much tension, so I can't see the outer being compressed (unlike using gear for brake).


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:23 am
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Never seen that with 'normal' cables but have seen it happen with Gore lightweight ones, the one with kevlar in the wind. If something sticks but you keep on trying to shift, something will give, a flaw in the outer may have made a weak spot or it could just be how the outer compresses when curved, as the filaments in the outer can part if it's too tight a bend. (The braiding is aesthetic, not structural)

edit: to be clearer, the filaments in the outer part like a curtain, causing the 'fold' in the outer.


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 10:53 am
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any ideas why/what could have happened?

inc clarks braided outers

😉


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 1:11 pm
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Picture of the failure would be useful.


 
Posted : 08/11/2012 1:23 pm
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Wouldn't it?

Can we assume it was user error?


 
Posted : 11/11/2012 9:00 pm
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nope - when i took it off the inner had cracked so nothing to stop the outer outer compressed up and over the crack


 
Posted : 11/11/2012 9:01 pm
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Presumably just a faulty bit of cable?


 
Posted : 11/11/2012 9:02 pm
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sp41 solved the issue


 
Posted : 11/11/2012 9:02 pm

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