Originally Posted by oldbobcat
Parallel (rope) stranded housings don't compress so much as settle into the ferrules. After settling occurs, rope stranded housings are considered by Shimano and SRAM to be more dimensionally stable, but they are also weaker, which makes them prone to delaminating under high loads. That is why they are used for shift cables but not brake cables. High loading usually occurs when a cable is routed incorrectly, a shifter or derailleur is broken, or an old cable rusts inside the housings. Delaminating also occurs when the housings get old and crusty. Properly sized ferrules are also absolutely required to prevent the ends from splitting.
Alf and I disagree about this. Use your own judgement. I've been using rope stranded shift housings with Shimano and SRAM drivetrains without problems since 2006, when I finally bought my first new bike in 25 years. Shimano specs two grades of high-grade (and expensive) coated low-friction cables and (rope stranded) housings for their mechanical 11-speed systems. They researched this product extensively.
Regarding barrel adjusters, like Alf, I recommend them for everyone who does not have a team mechanic who can replace cables every other week. They preserve cable life by minimizing dinking around with the cable fixing bolt. On bikes with internal routing, they can only be installed by splitting housing somewhere between the handlebar and the frame. The best place to split is far enough from the frame so it doesn't scratch the finish and where the cable appears to be the straightest.
FWIW. I generally
love Shimano's engineering & manufacturing thereof + I
love Shimano's customer service ...
- BTW. Parallel stranded (rope stranded!?!) cable housing certainly predates Shimano ... certainly, by decades ... possibly by 100+ years ... that is, I suspect that some form of parallel stranded cable housing originated somewhere near the dawn of the Industrial Revolution! No doubt, a variation of a rifled pipe-or-(gun)-barrel.
- As I previously noted, I thought that the use of parallel stranded cable housing for bicycles had been abandoned in the late 70s or early 80s, but I guess that what 'I' consider to be a bad idea just won't go away!
Regardless, lest we forget, Shimano also
extensively researched non-concentric motion & gave us the quasi-elliptical BioPace chainrings + their half-brother -- the eccentric take-up spools on their STI Road shifters!
If what you say is true about the
extensive research, then why aren't METAL ferrules supplied with the parallel stranded cable housing rather than the plastic ferrules?!?
Why isn't the plastic, outer sheath made with a more UV
/etc. resistant material?
'I' would suspect that the parallel stranded cable housing is more of a bean-counter's choice raher than a choice made by EITHER Shimano's OR Campagnolo's engineering teams.
While I am reluctant to choose parallel stranded cable housing, I am not totally adverse to using it. I certainly have parallel stranded housing on a few of my bikes because it was handier at the particular moment in time
(i.e., since it comes with the brake cable "kits" which Campagnolo & Shimano provide, it's a matter of might-as-well-use it situation); but, if I am not using a "kit" of replacement cables & housing then I prefer to cut the replacement housing for the derailleur cables from brake cable housing.
For the moment, I guess that MY preference has to be chalked up to a philosophical difference where 'I' would prefer to use something which is not prone to what I perceive to have an obvious, in-built,
potential failure (
no matter how remote) if 'I' am negligent in the particular component's maintenance ...
OT. One could say that for similar reasons, no matter how great a rubber "timing"/(
DRIVE) belt may be AND no matter how long it may theoretically last when used on a bicycle, its limitations exceed its realistic utility unless one wants to harken back to the 50s-and-before when single speed, coaster brake bikes were the norm and THE particular chainwheel & cog configuration was probably going to be IT for the life of the bike (
yes, of course, the cog & chainwheel can be replaced on a belt driven bike, but what a nuisance it must be by comparison where you have to hope the shop can order the part-or-parts) OR unless one chooses to be saddled with using an internally geared hub.
External Cogs & derailleurs are wonderful things, IMO.
Despite my belief that the limitations of the parallel stranded cable housing exceed their utility without offering superior performance, I am happy for those who are inclined to only use parallel stranded cable housing for their derailleur cables because I long ago realized that we, Americans, are what I refer to as "
a pet rock nation" for whom what is sold must be bought ...
And so, as a Philistine (
yes, that means you can pray that I will someday see-the-light and that I will then better appreciate the gifts that Shimano & Campagnolo engineers have given us as those gifts have have been given to us without question), I will continue to say "why put up with the nuisance" of even having to go back and make any future adjustments if one doesn't have to when EITHER coiled brake cable housing OR segmented Nokon-or-Aztec housing will work as well, or better?
BTW. While you make think otherwise,
I'm all about ease-of-use while riding (i.e., consistently clean shifts) & ease-of-use when performing maintenance ...