[fireman]

I'm looking for some new housing for my DH bike because the old stuff is falling apart. I'm sick of this happening so I want to try the "new" kind of housing that IRD, Nokon and Aztec are offering. Does anyone have any imput/experiance with any of these housings.
thanks

 

[binary visions]

I know it's not what you're looking for but I'm going to throw in my unasked for 2 cents anyway:

Cheap housing is the best. Replace it regularly. Brand new cheap housing shifts boatloads better than couple-month-old-wonder-housing, so spend a third as much, change it twice as often, and spend the rest on beer

 

[w00dy]

I use the cheap stuff too. Just run full housings, zip tie it on there, forget the cable stops, and put little V brake rubber accordians on the ends where you can. I've had the same cable set for about 3 years with no maintainence and it still feels great.

 

[oldfart]

I have been using the IRD metawire which is very similar to Nokon. It has a continuous liner so it stays cleaner a smooth shifting longer. The aluminum beads are truly compressionless so the feel is really nice on mechanical brakes. It is very flexible which can help on full suspension bikes as the suspension movement flexes the housing and can cause ghost shifting. It looks pimp.

But. It costs an arm and a leg. I have not noticed and better or worse shifting performance. I do like the brake performance on my road bike though. The housing is floppy and rattles a bit. And the shift housing seemed to need tension adjustments every week or so for no reason aparent to me. Less so on the road bike but on mine and the wife's Blurs, I was always fiddling. Not an issue with standard housing.

I won't get it for shifting again, but will use it for brakes.