Bike mech wanted to replace cables?

[Robert Nicholso]

So I have my rear derailer cable that's previously been anchored and a little frayed on the end now.
Since the mech has to thread it back thru the barrel adjuster he claimed that it would be easier to
replace the cable. He also wanted to do the same with the brake cables even though they are already
anchored. My bikes been in storage for the last two years but the cables looked in decent condition
to me. Since I'm paying for a tuneup I guess if they do need replacing then this is the time to do
it but I seriously doubt that they needed replacement.

The bike store in question is a very reputable bike store in the Chicago area.

So, what this mechanic just trying to run up the bill?

 

[Kbh]

I replace my brake and derailer cables almost every year. They're like $1.50 each.

"Robert Nicholson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> So I have my rear derailer cable that's previously been anchored and a little frayed on the end
> now. Since the mech has to thread it back thru the barrel adjuster he claimed that it would be
> easier to replace the cable. He also wanted to do the same with the brake cables even though they
> are already anchored. My bikes been in storage for the last two years but the cables looked in
> decent condition to me. Since I'm paying for a tuneup I guess if they do need replacing then this
> is the time to do it but I seriously doubt that they needed replacement.
>
> The bike store in question is a very reputable bike store in the Chicago area.
>
> So, what this mechanic just trying to run up the bill?

 

[Jon Bond]

"Robert Nicholson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> So I have my rear derailer cable that's previously been anchored and a little frayed on the end
> now. Since the mech has to thread it back thru the barrel adjuster he claimed that it would be
> easier to replace the cable. He also wanted to do the same with the brake cables even though they
> are already anchored. My bikes been in storage for the last two years but the cables looked in
> decent condition to me. Since I'm paying for a tuneup I guess if they do need replacing then this
> is the time to do it but I seriously doubt that they needed replacement.
>
> The bike store in question is a very reputable bike store in the Chicago area.
>
> So, what this mechanic just trying to run up the bill?

If he said all the housings needed to be replaced, maybe. Threading a used cable through
housing or adjusters again is a ***** - usually it ends up with the wire fraying a lot farther
up and a lot more.

If the bike's been sitting, the cables might have corroded enough to make it worthwhile to replace
them. Replacing cables is cheap, having bad brakes can be very expensive at the hospital. Or should
I say breaks?

Jon Bond

 

[Paul Kopit]

I suggest that you try to remove a frayed cable and then reinstall it.

On 17 May 2003 19:19:20 -0700, [email protected] (Robert Nicholson) wrote:

>
>So, what this mechanic just trying to run up the bill?

 

[Russell Yim]

I usually replace all the cables when I tune up people's bikes. They're cheap (I charge $3.00 for
stainless steel...if someone balks at that, I do have inferior galvanized ones for $1.00); no sense
compromising safety over a few extra dollars, IMO. When I don't, it's when the cables look to be in
nearly new condition. Housing I don't replace unless there was corrosion on the old cable, or there
are cuts, abrasions, or kinks on the old housing. Other wear items I look at carefully are the
tires, brake pads, and handlebar grips.

I always tell customers upfront what I intend to replace during a tune-up. If I am not around to do
the write-up, I have instructed staff to tell customers that approximately $20-30 in small parts
_may_ be used in the repair of their bike.

 

[Pete Biggs]

Robert Nicholson wrote:
> So I have my rear derailer cable that's previously been anchored and a little frayed on the end
> now. Since the mech has to thread it back thru the barrel adjuster he claimed that it would be
> easier to replace the cable.

That's reasonable and is what I usually do with my own cables. It can be awkward/time
consuming/risky/impossible to re-use a frayed cable, especially if it was cut short.

> He also wanted to do the same with the brake cables even though they are already anchored. My
> bikes been in storage for the last two years but the cables looked in decent condition to me.

That's not so reasonable, if cables are still in good condition, and modern stainless steel cables
stay in good condition for quite a while. I suggest asking the store to leave the brakes alone this
time (unless positive they are dangerous) and learing to do more tuning up yourself.

~PB

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

Robert-<< Since the mech has to thread it back thru the barrel adjuster he claimed that it would be
easier to replace the cable.

I agree, it is easier. But tough to say whether he was saving time or the condition of the inner
wire was good enough to re-use without seeing it. I doubt he was 'running up the bill', not with a
$2-$4 cable.

IOnner wire and hosing replacement is a inexpensive way to get porly working brakes and ders back
into good working order. The cheapest thing to check, change. He would be seen as 'running up the
bill' if he changed the rear der
w/o changing and checking the inner wire first.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Chris Zacho "Th]

Cables are cheap. If they show signs of corrosion, replace them. If they're still shiny, all he has
to do with the frayed one is clip off the frayed portion, if they're is enough sticking out from the
deraileur.

If all he knows is that they are two years old , but not that the bike hasn't been ridden, then he's
just following SOP.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Chris Zacho "Th]

"That's not so reasonable, if cables are still in good condition, and modern stainless steel cables
stay in good condition for quite a while. I suggest asking the store to leave the brakes alone this
time (unless positive they are dangerous) and learning to do more tuning up yourself.

~PB"

Actually, learning to do your own maintenance is a good idea, period. Not just to save money, nor to
take away from a shop's business. It's just that things have a tendency to go wrong when a bike shop
is not readily available.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Robert Nicholso]

These are whatever cables I got when I got my bike with Campy Record 99 and the housing has
Campagnolo printed on it. The housing itself looks new it's just that the end that went through the
barrel adjuster is frayed after I removed the cap that was crimped on there.

I don't think I'll worry about it. I'll let him do what he wants.

[email protected] (Qui si parla Campagnolo) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Robert-<< Since the mech has to thread it back thru the barrel adjuster he claimed that it would
> be easier to replace the cable.
>
> I agree, it is easier. But tough to say whether he was saving time or the condition of the inner
> wire was good enough to re-use without seeing it. I doubt he was 'running up the bill', not with a
> $2-$4 cable.
>
> IOnner wire and hosing replacement is a inexpensive way to get porly working brakes and ders back
> into good working order. The cheapest thing to check, change. He would be seen as 'running up the
> bill' if he changed the rear der
> w/o changing and checking the inner wire first.
>
>
> Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
> (303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Andrew Webster]

[email protected] (Robert Nicholson) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>... <cut>
> So, what this mechanic just trying to run up the bill?

I would have thought that the main element in the bill would be labour charges.

It justs sounds like being thorough.

After all, if you paid for a tune up and soon after had difficulty with the cables you would then
question the abilities of the mechanic.

It's really catch-22 for the LBS. If they do work you don't think is needed they are running up the
bill, if there is a problem shortly after the tune up then they should have spotted it while the
bike was with them.

For this reason I have seen the owner of my LBS refuse to take bikes for a general service. Instead
he will look a bike over and agree a list of tasks with the owner before accepting it.

 

[Robert Nicholso]

His words were that he wanted to put a campy cable kit on and I don't exactly know what that is
exactly but the cost for this is going to be $25... The housing is in great shape and I believe the
cable itself apart from being frayed is also in good conditon.

He better not lose those little black rubber "UFOs" the stop the cable hitting my top tube.

Also, originally the cables on the downtown were setup to be crossed over instead of parallel with
each other. What's the norm here? I know on mountain bikes it's common to see them crossed but why
would you do that on a road bike?

 

[Suzy Jackson]

"Robert Nicholson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> These are whatever cables I got when I got my bike with Campy Record 99 and the housing has
> Campagnolo printed on it. The housing itself looks new it's just that the end that went through
> the barrel adjuster is frayed after I removed the cap that was crimped on there.

So they're four or five years old? Probably not a bad idea to replace them, especially if they're
frayed. The reason he suggested replacing the brakes at the same time is that Campy does an "ergo
cable set" which is all the cables, so he probably just doesn't want to break that up.

This time, might I suggest having your cables soldered, ala
http://www.suzyj.net/soldered_cable_end.jpg as this will ensure your cables never fray, and are
always easy to insert into housings. Also prevents a lot of punctured thumbs.

Regards,

Suzy

--
---
Suzy Jackson [email protected] http://www.suzyj.net

 

[Andy Dingley]

On 18 May 2003 22:29:07 GMT, [email protected] (Mike Krueger) wrote:

>Part of the fun and satisfaction of cycling is doing your own basic maintenence and repairs.

Maybe _your_ basic maintenance. Certainly _mine_. But I'd never push anyone else to do theirs, if
they didn't want to. Some people just don't grok spanners (and bike mechanics have to eat too).

 

[A Muzi]

"Robert Nicholson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> His words were that he wanted to put a campy cable kit on and I don't exactly know what that is
> exactly but the cost for this is going to be $25... The housing is in great shape and I believe
> the cable itself apart from being frayed is also in good conditon.
>
> He better not lose those little black rubber "UFOs" the stop the cable hitting my top tube.
>
> Also, originally the cables on the downtown were setup to be crossed over instead of parallel with
> each other. What's the norm here? I know on mountain bikes it's common to see them crossed but why
> would you do that on a road bike?

I used to think that looked dorky (maybe ten years ago) but now I cross the cables on Ergo bikes
frequently when it yields a better cable route. Mostly on small bikes.

I can't see your bike but a 1999 Campagnolo equipped bike getting $25 worth of cables four years
later is not unreasonable in and of itself. Some mechanics will replace just a wire and trim back
damaged casing, others will use fresh cable sets complete. Nothing weird about that either way,
personal taste in most cases. If it bothered you, you should have discussed it with the service
writer. If you otherwise trust the shop and the work is otherwise of good quality I would take his
word for the cable change.

--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

[Robert Nicholso]

True and yes I've been thru this phase before. I use to own the portable park stand and I currently
still have my park toolkit with me but this time since the bike has been in storage for so long i
wanted somebody more skilled than I to look it over. Again, I've had problems with corossion on a
fork of mine and I figure they know better than I do. Plus I've been to the store and this LBS
doesn't use high school kids for mechanics. The guy I spoke with seemed to be very qualified. And
the end of the day for a lot of people the joy is getting the most out of the bikes. People who have
expensive bikes and who don't do their own maintenance are always ridiculed by those that do. It's
just human nature I guess as it's so common. A lot of people enjoy riding their bikes but don't
necessarily get the same satisfaction out of keeping them in great shape.

I move around too much to go and buy another park stand as I sold my last one for 50% of what I
paid for it.

[email protected] (Mike Krueger) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> This reminds me of my buddy who has a $6,000 custom ti road bike, two other very nice carbon fiber
> bikes, and even owns the top-of-the-line Park workstand. Meanwhile, he doesn't know how to adjust
> the limit screws on the front derailleur if the chain rubs and isn't embarassed to go to the LBS
> and pay some monkey to do it for him. Part of the fun and satisfaction of cycling is doing your
> own basic maintenence and repairs. With a few simple tools, I can do as good or better a job at
> assembling and maintaining my own bikes than the high school kid at the LBS who doesn't give a
> sh*t, and you should be able to, also.

 

[Robert Nicholso]

He knows that the bike wasn't ridden for two years and that I had had corrosion problem with my fork
in the past but it's quite easy to see that cables are shiny and he didn't even look at their length
before stating that he wanted to put a campy cable kit on. I think it's possible that this guy just
likes to see a customer get the most from his bike and you figure if somebody is riding a $5000
Merlin/Record bike that they aren't going to be worried too much about cables I guess.

[email protected] (Chris Zacho "The Wheelman") wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Cables are cheap. If they show signs of corrosion, replace them. If they're still shiny, all he
> has to do with the frayed one is clip off the frayed portion, if they're is enough sticking out
> from the deraileur.
>
> If all he knows is that they are two years old , but not that the bike hasn't been ridden, then
> he's just following SOP.
>
> May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris
>
> Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Robert Nicholso]

Yes this is the kit he wanted to install and I think I'll let him. The funny thing is that the
mail order shops have this at $33 but he priced this aspect of the work at $25 so who knows what
I'll be getting.

A few years ago I broke the adjuster that the cables sit in at the top of the downtube and had
Merlin send me another. That and the adjuster for the front brake seem to be very light "monkey"
metal and easy to break.

Q. What are the ferrules in the cable kit? Are these just the shiney caps that fit over each end of
the housing?

"Suzy Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "Robert Nicholson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > These are whatever cables I got when I got my bike with Campy Record 99 and the housing has
> > Campagnolo printed on it. The housing itself looks new it's just that the end that went through
> > the barrel adjuster is frayed after I removed the cap that was crimped on there.
>
> So they're four or five years old? Probably not a bad idea to replace them, especially if they're
> frayed. The reason he suggested replacing the brakes at the same time is that Campy does an "ergo
> cable set" which is all the cables, so he probably just doesn't want to break that up.
>
> This time, might I suggest having your cables soldered, ala
> http://www.suzyj.net/soldered_cable_end.jpg as this will ensure your cables never fray, and are
> always easy to insert into housings. Also prevents a lot of punctured thumbs.
>
> Regards,
>
> Suzy

 

[A Muzi]

> > "Robert Nicholson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > These are whatever cables I got when I got my bike with Campy Record 99 and the housing has
> > > Campagnolo printed on it. The housing itself looks new it's just that the end that went
> > > through the barrel adjuster is frayed after I removed the cap that was crimped on there.

> "Suzy Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > So they're four or five years old? Probably not a bad idea to replace
them,
> > especially if they're frayed. The reason he suggested replacing the
brakes
> > at the same time is that Campy does an "ergo cable set" which is all the cables, so he probably
> > just doesn't want to break that up.
> >
> > This time, might I suggest having your cables soldered, ala
> > http://www.suzyj.net/soldered_cable_end.jpg as this will ensure your
cables
> > never fray, and are always easy to insert into housings. Also prevents
a
> > lot of punctured thumbs.

"Robert Nicholson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Yes this is the kit he wanted to install and I think I'll let him. The funny thing is that the
> mail order shops have this at $33 but he priced this aspect of the work at $25 so who knows what
> I'll be getting.
>
> A few years ago I broke the adjuster that the cables sit in at the top of the downtube and had
> Merlin send me another. That and the adjuster for the front brake seem to be very light "monkey"
> metal and easy to break.
>
> Q. What are the ferrules in the cable kit? Are these just the shiney caps that fit over each end
> of the housing?

The adjusters are aluminum. Merlin's can be replaced with any standard adjuster - there are dozens
of models .Were they lubricated? Anti seize paste is best.

"Ferrules" ("carriers"; remember fero, ferre, tuli latus?) as you note, stop the casing allowing the
wire to pass through. Campagnolo ferrules are a size unlike any other. They come in the kit.
--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

[Andy Dingley]

On Mon, 19 May 2003 00:10:22 -0500, "A Muzi" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"Ferrules" ("carriers"; remember fero, ferre, tuli latus?) as you note, stop the casing allowing
>the wire to pass through.

Where can you buy ferrules ? (small quantities, UK) ? I'm sick of buying full cable sets when I
already have plenty of long offcuts of outer cable, and even then they don't usually include more
than two ferrules.

Similarly for the little silicone doughnuts. Moulding your own from bath sealer isn't the most
exciting job you can have.