[johnbryanpeters]

OK, so the backyard mechanic comes in from the yard, where he has just replaced his rear shifter cable and housing in the nice dark thirty degree F night.

After cutting the housing to length, he had realized he was using the spiral wound brake-type housing instead of shifter housing with all the parallel strands. He said "screw it" and finished the job.

Now he wants to know whether it makes any difference.

Why is shifter cable housing constructed differently?

J

 

[sub6]

Because it's compressionless. When you turn the bars, it won't stretch/compress, which ends up moving your derailleurs a tiny bit.

I have used spiral-wound brake housing on my shifter cables before, and it didn't cause a noticeable shifting hindrance. I wouldn't worry about it, but if your setup turns out to be sensitive to the new housing, swapping it for compressionless (shifter) housing will probably cure it.

I personally prefer the compressionless stuff for brakes also, because it results in a much firmer feel. Quite a few companies are offering compressionless brake housing now; I have a feeling that the spiral-wound stuff is on its way out, except for Walmart bikes and their ilk......

 

[PsychO!1]

Originally posted by sub6

I personally prefer the compressionless stuff for brakes also, because it results in a much firmer feel. Quite a few companies are offering compressionless brake housing now; I have a feeling that the spiral-wound stuff is on its way out, except for Walmart bikes and their ilk......

Shifter housing for your brakes is not good. The brake cable housing is put under far higher comression loads than shifter housing. I have seen shifter (compressionless) housing plit along the housing and explode under heaving braking..not good. If you are going to use a compressionless housing, make sure it is brake specific....not shifter housing.

 

[sub6]

well yeah,.....of course. I thought shifter housing was smaller in diameter anyway, and would cause undue friction on a brake cable, making it practically useless anyway?

Anyway, yeah, make sure it's compressionless BRAKE housing if you wanna use the stuff.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

The "compressionless" housing I was replacing was interesting - rusted strands and plastic sheathing shrunk back from ends approximately the length of the ferrule - the rust I can understand; the shrinkage baffles me.

J

 

[PsychO!1]

Originally posted by johnbryanpeters
The "compressionless" housing I was replacing was interesting - rusted strands and plastic sheathing shrunk back from ends approximately the length of the ferrule - the rust I can understand; the shrinkage baffles me.

J

I have experienced this myself.....Usually when replacing housing, i notice the old housing outer sheath has pulled back (or shrunk) exposing about .25" of bare wire or strands (not the cable)

Any insight on this???
Does all this type housing do this, or am i just buying cheap sh*t?

 

[PsychO!1]

Originally posted by sub6
well yeah,.....of course. I thought shifter housing was smaller in diameter anyway, and would cause undue friction on a brake cable, making it practically useless anyway?

Anyway, yeah, make sure it's compressionless BRAKE housing if you wanna use the stuff.

Your right, my bad.
It is kinda tough to squeeze that brake cable through shifter housing..... Although i've seen it done.

 

[spincrazy]

I don't think it's shrinking. I had this problem just last month. It appears that the innards of the housing were pulling through. They had made their way past the crappy cable end and started to pull through from the inside out.

 

[PsychO!1]

Originally posted by spincrazy
I don't think it's shrinking. I had this problem just last month. It appears that the innards of the housing were pulling through. They had made their way past the crappy cable end and started to pull through from the inside out.

That's what i used to think.....some of the strands from the housing getting pulled through the ferral (sp).
But I have also seen it when the strands have not pulled through the ferral. Everything looks fine until you pull the ferral off, then you realize there is no plastic there, just steel strands. Wierd.

It's really not a problem (until they pull through the ferral). Everything works fine, just kinda strange.

 

[sub6]

I think that's caused by not seating the ferrule all the way down on the housing when installing it. Then, you crimp it with the clamper-thingy, which constricts it.

With use, the ferrule will become pushed all the way onto the housing, but since you crimped it, it's now too small for the whole housing to fit, so it pushes the plastic sheathing back as the housing seats itself.

Just a guess....

 

[spincrazy]

I don't have to crimp. I have since stopped use of the metal ferral ends though and gone back to plastic.

 

[PsychO!1]

Originally posted by spincrazy
I don't have to crimp. I have since stopped use of the metal ferral ends though and gone back to plastic.

I don't crimp either....hmm?

How are those plastic ferrals working for ya?

 

[johnbryanpeters]

I don't crimp ferrules.

I did observe strands poking out of the end of a metal ferrule I used on one section, decided it was the wrong sized ferrule for the housing.

I think I had strands exposed at both ends, which would get back to shrinkage - I will try to remember to dig them out of the trash and look again.

This whole exercise started because I started to get ghost shifting after a one and one half hour rain ride. I was looking for crud in housings and wound up replacing everything, which seems to have fixed the shifting, but I still have no single candidate for the cause of the original problem. I think maybe the housing strand poking through the ferrule end may have been it.

J

 

[oldfart]

All shift housing has that problem of the outer plastic part pulling back. Its because the strands do not compress when you arc the housing, but the plastic can and does.

Never ever use shift housing for cable brakes. The housing will explode when you need brakes the most, when you pull hard. I've never seen copressionless cable housing for brakes other than Nokon. i'd be interested in who makes it.

As for the shifting woes, JBP, it was almost certainly fouled cable and housing. You don't really see the contamination all that easily as it does not take much to slow cable movement with todays more sensitive shifting. I'll bet 99% of all shifting problems are cured with new cable and housing. Probably not that big a deal using spiral wound housing. It doesn't compress that much. Its what we used when indexed shifting was first invented.

 

[spincrazy]

Originally posted by PsychO!1


I don't crimp either....hmm?

How are those plastic ferrals working for ya?

So far so good, however I just recabled one of my bikes and had to use the metal ones again because it's all my lbs had.

 

[Matt D]

the strands of housing that seem to "appear" after some use is basically the cable strands and plastic casing settling in, as oldfart said. If you're really on top of your stuff, after installing new housing and riding for about 3-4 rides, take it off and trim back the housing wire. You should only have to do this once. If you're running full length cable housing, you may have to do this more than once. It can majorly screw your shifting up if you don't remember to do it. I've seen multiple strands of wire sticking more than 2 inches out of the ferrul. And it'll prick your finger like a beeoch!