[Deyv]

I had dirt in my cables after just 3 months of riding so I decided to go full housing for my rear derailleur. Ever since I have shifting problems. Can a full housing on a full suspension bike cause shifting problems? can it move or be too short? I have bented my derailleur and bented it back a couple of times but I really want to isolate the problem not being the full housing before changing my XTR deraileur for good.

Thanks

 

[spincrazy]

Unless there isn't enough cable or housing, and the suspension causes pulls on the cable, running full housing should be fine. Maybe take your bike in to the shop and have them perfect the alignment of your derailleur hanger before doing anything further. Then, I 'd just start over and go slow.

 

[PsychO!1]

Be sure you are using shifter housing (compressionless), not brake housing. A full length of brake housing would compress and screw up shifting.

 

[Repack]

I had a problem once after I recabled my fs bike. The piece of housing that bridged the space between the main frame and swingarm was too long, causing the cable tension to be affected. I thought that too short would have caused the problem, but no. And complaing about 3 months for cables? I do mine about every month if I'm riding a lot. I always go with uncoated stainless. The teflon cables may work slightly better when brand new, but the coatin where's off quickly creating more friction. I've tried just about every lube out the on cables and have found Pedro's Ice Wax to work the best.

 

[Matt D]

I always run full length housing, no matter how many zip ties it takes.

It should work perfect as long as you trim the ends of the housing ever week for the first 2-3 weeks. The housing will settle in and stick out the ends, pushing the metal threads of the housing through the cable ends and into the der. and shifter.

After you trim it twice you should be golden.

 

[fonseca]

As others said, it could be that the housing is too long or too short, both will cause shifting problems. You may have to experiment to find the ideal length.

Make sure the housing can't slide through the guides; it needs to be stationary and not moving. You can prevent that with some electrical tape around the housing, a zip tie, or a section of heat shrink.

I use full housing myself, and use only high quality compressionless housing. I prefer kevlar-reinforced, teflon-lined stuff that works for both brakes and derailleurs, such as the 5mm "carbon fiber" kevlar housing made by jagwire and relabeled for other brands, like Avid Flak Jackets. I also like the 5.5mm silver mesh/rattler mac housing.

Anyway, I think that it's worth the extra cost to use "premium" housing for reduced friction and compression. It's also nice to be able to use the same roll for both brakes and derailleurs. Aebike.com has great deals on 25' rolls, cheaper than generic stuff at most places

I recently posted a full housing how-to on the mtbr brake forum. I have run full housing to the rear derailleurs of several bikes for years, and it has only improved performance. No ghost shifting on my Switchblade, which gets 5.7" travel.

 

[oldfart]

Metawire from IRD is truly compressionless. I just installed a complete set, brake and shift on my road bike. The brakes are far more solid and have almost no sponginess. I can't say the shifting is much different though although it is working better its probably because the old housing and cable were due for replacement. Pretty expensive investment, but the housing beads should last indefinitely. Cables are the same and all I need to refresh it all is new plastic liner. That should be cheap.

 

[Deyv]

I switched to full housing for shifting piece of mind but for the moment it been the other way around. I might switched back to regular housing and change them when I need to