Can I take some links out?



JungleBiker

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May 17, 2004
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Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I went to my LBS to change the inner cable of my rear derailleur. They also replaced the outer with some new Alligator stuff (see attached picture). I don't like the way it sticks out - like it's all ready to catch on some branches during my XC race on Saturday!

I reckon I can take one or two links out to make it lie flatter (note the cable comes down the seat stay (not chain stay). What do you reckon?

Thanks.

JB.
 
JungleBiker said:
Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I went to my LBS to change the inner cable of my rear derailleur. They also replaced the outer with some new Alligator stuff (see attached picture). I don't like the way it sticks out - like it's all ready to catch on some branches during my XC race on Saturday!

I reckon I can take one or two links out to make it lie flatter (note the cable comes down the seat stay (not chain stay). What do you reckon?

Thanks.

JB.

Since it's a Sram RD and it doesn't rotate forward when ya use it, sure, shorten it a wee bit. Pretty expensive answer to a simple question tho when a small piece of lined housing is needed.
 
Wow. Looks like a great way to charge the customer more. If it were me, I'd take the metal pearls off, and put on a short length of standard housing cut to the right length.
 
JungleBiker said:
Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I went to my LBS to change the inner cable of my rear derailleur. They also replaced the outer with some new Alligator stuff (see attached picture). I don't like the way it sticks out - like it's all ready to catch on some branches during my XC race on Saturday!

I reckon I can take one or two links out to make it lie flatter (note the cable comes down the seat stay (not chain stay). What do you reckon?

Thanks.

JB.
I reckon that I would take it back to the bike shop and tell them to fix it the way that I wanted it fixed in the first place, which was just the cable, not the cable and housing. And unless your cable was routed down the seat stay to begin with, I would tell them to route it the way it was routed when I brought it in there. I would also demand a refund of the cost of the Alligator housing but I might consider paying for the new non-Alligator housing if your old housing was getting on in years.

I hope this serves as a lesson to you and others to learn how to attend to such basic tasks as installing your own cables, then you'll know it was done right, and if it is not, you'll know who to blame:rolleyes: .
 
kdelong said:
I reckon that I would take it back to the bike shop and tell them to fix it the way that I wanted it fixed in the first place, which was just the cable, not the cable and housing. And unless your cable was routed down the seat stay to begin with, I would tell them to route it the way it was routed when I brought it in there. I would also demand a refund of the cost of the Alligator housing but I might consider paying for the new non-Alligator housing if your old housing was getting on in years.

I hope this serves as a lesson to you and others to learn how to attend to such basic tasks as installing your own cables, then you'll know it was done right, and if it is not, you'll know who to blame:rolleyes: .

OR go to a bike shop that does it right..they are out there ya know.
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks for your answers. Actually I later found the answer at the SRAM web site - page 5 of this manual explains how long the housing should be:

http://www.sram.com/_media/pdf/sram/dealers/TM_MTB_MY06_E.pdf

Regarding the Aligator housing - I didn't pay for that; it was just one of several pieces that the shop had leftover (and they let me choose the color). Also they didn't charge anything for installation; I just paid for the cable only.

I think the problem is the mechanic doesn't have much experience with SRAM; most people here use Shimano.

JB.
 
The outer cable does not require shortening, just make sure the outer beads are compressed and manipulate the housing into the proper position. It will take the shape and position that you want. That's the beauty of the segmented outer housing cables. Just make sure the outer beads are compressed.
 
alienator said:
Wow. Looks like a great way to charge the customer more. If it were me, I'd take the metal pearls off, and put on a short length of standard housing cut to the right length.

Agreed. I have Nokon cables on my road bike. They get a little droopy in the rear just like the photo above. For the road it's not really an issue, but would go for a piece of rigid plastic housing on the MTB for that section. It's just asking to snag something like that.
 
JungleBiker said:
Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I went to my LBS to change the inner cable of my rear derailleur. They also replaced the outer with some new Alligator stuff (see attached picture). I don't like the way it sticks out - like it's all ready to catch on some branches during my XC race on Saturday!

I reckon I can take one or two links out to make it lie flatter (note the cable comes down the seat stay (not chain stay). What do you reckon?

Thanks.

JB.


why not zip tie it closer to the chain stay and why didn't they fix your bent derailleur hanger?
 
I hope that the OP corrected his problem long before the most recent posts considering that his original post was in January of 2008!
 

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