Shifting Gremlin Solved

[SYJ]

Just thought I'd share the following with you:

I spent the bulk of last year fighting with shifters that just didn't
want to work. Every year, I replace my cables & bar wrap, just to be
proactive. I started out with Aztek (fake Nokon), but wasn't terribly
happy with them. So I went to good old generic SIS cable & housing
(Delta, I think). My shifting started out OK, but gradually went out
of whack. I found myself adjusting cables during or after nearly ever
ride. At first, I just notched it to cable stretch/housing
compression, and stopped thinking about it. As I kept riding, and kept
adjusting, I started to think that my brifters were crapping out (after
all, the cables & housing were still new). Still I suffered along, and
started figuring out what to replace them with.

I decided to hold off on replacing anything, and this weekend did my
annual spring cable swap. Low and behold, the ferrules that I had used
with my last swap (some plastic jobbies my LBS gave me) had failed, and
rode up the housing, allowing the inner strands of the housing to poke
through the cable hole, screwing up the adjustment and putting a whole
lot of drag on the system. After cleaning everything and replacing the
cables, my bike's back to shifting like new.

Let this be a lesson...plastic ferrules (at least, the kind without the
metal disks at the ends) = bad. New cables = not necessarily good.

 

[john]

SYJ wrote:

>ferrules that I had used with my last swap (some plastic jobbies my LBS gave me) had failed, and rode up the >housing, allowing the inner strands of the housing to poke through the cable hole, screwing up the adjustment >and putting a whole lot of drag on the system.

That' interesting, I thought you were going to say that the derailleur
hanger was misaligned. I've read of others having your condition, and
having seen it on other people's bikes that I have serviced, but it has
never affected a bike I've set up & ridden. I thought that it occurred
due to ham fisted shifting, & poorly lubed derailleur & cables. Come to
think of it, my Mt. Bike w/ plastic ferrules isn't shifting quite as
well as I like....

hmmm.... John

I have no idea why the quote isn't wrapping around, & no idea how to
correct it. It doesn't happen in edit mode.

 

[dvt]

SYJ wrote:
> I... did my
> annual spring cable swap. Low and behold, the ferrules that I had used
> with my last swap (some plastic jobbies my LBS gave me) had failed, and
> rode up the housing, allowing the inner strands of the housing to poke
> through the cable hole, screwing up the adjustment and putting a whole
> lot of drag on the system. After cleaning everything and replacing the
> cables, my bike's back to shifting like new.
>
> Let this be a lesson...plastic ferrules (at least, the kind without the
> metal disks at the ends) = bad. New cables = not necessarily good.

I had that happen with metal ferrules. I don't know how long those
ferrules served before it happened, but it was certainly longer than a
year, and probably many thousand miles.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

 

[RonSonic]

On 6 Mar 2006 09:26:43 -0800, "SYJ" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Just thought I'd share the following with you:
>
>I spent the bulk of last year fighting with shifters that just didn't
>want to work. Every year, I replace my cables & bar wrap, just to be
>proactive. I started out with Aztek (fake Nokon), but wasn't terribly
>happy with them. So I went to good old generic SIS cable & housing
>(Delta, I think). My shifting started out OK, but gradually went out
>of whack. I found myself adjusting cables during or after nearly ever
>ride. At first, I just notched it to cable stretch/housing
>compression, and stopped thinking about it. As I kept riding, and kept
>adjusting, I started to think that my brifters were crapping out (after
>all, the cables & housing were still new). Still I suffered along, and
>started figuring out what to replace them with.
>
>I decided to hold off on replacing anything, and this weekend did my
>annual spring cable swap. Low and behold, the ferrules that I had used
>with my last swap (some plastic jobbies my LBS gave me) had failed, and
>rode up the housing, allowing the inner strands of the housing to poke
>through the cable hole, screwing up the adjustment and putting a whole
>lot of drag on the system. After cleaning everything and replacing the
>cables, my bike's back to shifting like new.

In my limited experience that's the prevailing failure mode. I see it with metal
and plastic ferrules. I don't see it on the ends that the manufacturer prepares.

>Let this be a lesson...plastic ferrules (at least, the kind without the
>metal disks at the ends) = bad. New cables = not necessarily good.

Yep, cable housing is a huge part of it.

Ron

 

[Nate Knutson]

dvt wrote:
> SYJ wrote:
> > I... did my
> > annual spring cable swap. Low and behold, the ferrules that I had used
> > with my last swap (some plastic jobbies my LBS gave me) had failed, and
> > rode up the housing, allowing the inner strands of the housing to poke
> > through the cable hole, screwing up the adjustment and putting a whole
> > lot of drag on the system. After cleaning everything and replacing the
> > cables, my bike's back to shifting like new.
> >
> > Let this be a lesson...plastic ferrules (at least, the kind without the
> > metal disks at the ends) = bad. New cables = not necessarily good.
>
> I had that happen with metal ferrules. I don't know how long those
> ferrules served before it happened, but it was certainly longer than a
> year, and probably many thousand miles.

Were they SIS/shift or brake ferrules? (The "shift" ferrules have
reinforcement at the end where the cable exits to prevent this - brake
ferrules, where the end section is as thick as the whole thing, usually
do this after a while, whereas I've never heard of a metal shift
ferrule doing it).

 

[Nate Knutson]

RonSonic wrote:
> On 6 Mar 2006 09:26:43 -0800, "SYJ" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Just thought I'd share the following with you:
> >
> >I spent the bulk of last year fighting with shifters that just didn't
> >want to work. Every year, I replace my cables & bar wrap, just to be
> >proactive. I started out with Aztek (fake Nokon), but wasn't terribly
> >happy with them. So I went to good old generic SIS cable & housing
> >(Delta, I think). My shifting started out OK, but gradually went out
> >of whack. I found myself adjusting cables during or after nearly ever
> >ride. At first, I just notched it to cable stretch/housing
> >compression, and stopped thinking about it. As I kept riding, and kept
> >adjusting, I started to think that my brifters were crapping out (after
> >all, the cables & housing were still new). Still I suffered along, and
> >started figuring out what to replace them with.
> >
> >I decided to hold off on replacing anything, and this weekend did my
> >annual spring cable swap. Low and behold, the ferrules that I had used
> >with my last swap (some plastic jobbies my LBS gave me) had failed, and
> >rode up the housing, allowing the inner strands of the housing to poke
> >through the cable hole, screwing up the adjustment and putting a whole
> >lot of drag on the system. After cleaning everything and replacing the
> >cables, my bike's back to shifting like new.
>
> In my limited experience that's the prevailing failure mode. I see it with metal
> and plastic ferrules. I don't see it on the ends that the manufacturer prepares.

Pretty sure it's just as likely to happen on an untouched
manufacturer-supplied piece of housing, should one use such a thing, as
any other piece of housing with plastic ferrules.

> >Let this be a lesson...plastic ferrules (at least, the kind without the
> >metal disks at the ends) = bad. New cables = not necessarily good.
>
> Yep, cable housing is a huge part of it.
>
> Ron

 

[dvt]

Nate Knutson wrote:
> dvt wrote:
>> I had that happen with metal ferrules. I don't know how long those
>> ferrules served before it happened, but it was certainly longer than a
>> year, and probably many thousand miles.
>
> Were they SIS/shift or brake ferrules? (The "shift" ferrules have
> reinforcement at the end where the cable exits to prevent this - brake
> ferrules, where the end section is as thick as the whole thing, usually
> do this after a while, whereas I've never heard of a metal shift
> ferrule doing it).

I don't recall. That was a few years ago.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

 

[Sorni]

dvt wrote:

> I don't recall. That was a few years ago.

Is Hillary testifying about something again?

 

[Tim Lines]

Sorni wrote:
> dvt wrote:
>
>
>>I don't recall. That was a few years ago.
>
>
> Is Hillary testifying about something again?
>
>
When did Hillary start channeling Ronald Reagan?

 

[Sorni]

Tim Lines wrote:
> Sorni wrote:
>> dvt wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I don't recall. That was a few years ago.
>>
>>
>> Is Hillary testifying about something again?
>>
>>
> When did Hillary start channeling Ronald Reagan?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/mcdougal031999.htm

 

[dvt]

Sorni wrote:
> Tim Lines wrote:
>> Sorni wrote:
>>> dvt wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> I don't recall. That was a few years ago.
>>>
>>> Is Hillary testifying about something again?
>>>
>>>
>> When did Hillary start channeling Ronald Reagan?
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/mcdougal031999.htm

From shift ferrules to politics in one fell swoop... Bill, you have a
one-track mind.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu