Changing cables

How often do you guys change your brake and gear cables?

Halfords yearly service replace them every time i.e once a year

When they need changing - often it's down to fraying near the ends or kinks rather than due to corrosion. I often recycle rears to front, snip off crimp, a quick rub of the cable with a Scotchbrite pad and a relube and they're as good as new.

The cables on my Raleigh are the same ones as fitted way back in the middle 80's :shock: and still going strong.

If the nipples have no corrosion in the barrel and the cables are not corroded/rusted I leave them be !!

There seams to be a lot of modern cables which are failing by the heads pulling off the cable[shite quality control i guess]

Always buy stainless cables and not galvernised cables if you want to replace them.

Ian Raleigh":1kwqgxv4 said:

There seams to be a lot of modern cables which are failing by the heads pulling off the cable[shite quality control i guess]

Always buy stainless cables and not galvernised cables if you want to replace them.

Click to expand...

That's quite a scary thought.

I tend to start off with a full set of campganolo cables which seem to last well, if I need to change one due to swapping components etc I buy transfill K.ble which I've been told are pretty good by modern standards.

riddim-track":2fb4ru5w said:

Ian Raleigh":2fb4ru5w said:

There seams to be a lot of modern cables which are failing by the heads pulling off the cable[shite quality control i guess]
Always buy stainless cables and not galvernised cables if you want to replace them.

Click to expand...

That's quite a scary thought.
I tend to start off with a full set of campganolo cables which seem to last well, if I need to change one due to swapping components etc I buy transfill K.ble which I've been told are pretty good by modern standards.

Click to expand...

Chris at Edison Cycles in Clowne has come across many defective brake cables
and these even include Clarks :shock: He now tests his replacement cables by pulling
the the levers as hard as he can to ensure the head doesn't 'pop' off.

As you say ''Scary Thought'' imagine braking hard and the cable pulls out the nipple! I'm not even going there

I change them very rarely although I do sometimes fit new ones when building a 'new' bike. I also cut down rears for the front. My philosophy is 'if it works OK, why fiddle with it'. The idea of an 'annual service' is a load of round things that bounce in my opinion. A money making scheme for the dealers - especially changing cables for no good reason. You should always be aware if things are going wrong on a bike (which is rarely in my experience) and only attend to them when they do.

Apart from oiling the drive train and general cleaning etc. that is.

Old Ned":7v5gvnqn said:

The idea of an 'annual service' is a load of round things that bounce in my opinion. A money making scheme for the dealers - especially changing cables for no good reason.
Apart from oiling the drive train and general cleaning etc. that is.

Click to expand...

A friend of mine had dodgy brake levers and would not listen to me about oiling such things is a god send.
Well he took his bike to a local shop which is re-known for changing a whole item instead of taking them apart
and oiling them, I insisted that he gets the old parts back and let me have a look at them and the major fault was
the brake caliper shaft which had seized up on the arms causing the brake levers to feel spongy and bad.

I oiled the calipers and they worked mint but at a cost of him paying for a whole brake-set of £70.

Always tell folk to buy those precision oilers which can be picked up for as little as 99p, something like this is ideal and last years.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat ... ler&_frs=1

Seeing as there's a cable thread I just thought I'd warn everyone not to buy a Fibrax cable set if they're using campagnolo 2nd gen. ergos. I bought one as they're a tempting deal at £18 for everything include brake and gear frame protectors, outers, inners, ferrules etc. however the brake cable nipples don't fit into the levers! I couldn't speak for other types of brake lever.

That's interesting riddim.

Ok so it seems we all take the same approach as I do not change cables unless there is any damage to them. Just curious after reading the halfords leaflet, guess they're just trying to justify what they charge because other than that its just checking the bike over.

Cables don't need to be changed annually as already said. It is turely a money making scam.

Transfil cables are pretty good campag and top end shimano cables are even better. You tell how good the stainless steel is by using a magnet. the less magnetic it is the higher grade stainless it is. Proper stainless steell is not magnetic but I don't think makes a good cable. Campag cables are barely magnetic. clarks cables are quite magnetic and therefoe not really that stainless. Transfill are somwhere in between.

Any shop that offer these kind of anmual e.t.c services that change a whole buch of parts will end up doing more than is needed. A scam.

riddim-track wrote:
Ian Raleigh wrote:
There seams to be a lot of modern cables which are failing by the heads pulling off the cable[shite quality control i guess]
Always buy stainless cables and not galvernised cables if you want to replace them.

That's quite a scary thought.
I tend to start off with a full set of campganolo cables which seem to last well, if I need to change one due to swapping components etc I buy transfill K.ble which I've been told are pretty good by modern standards.


Chris at Edison Cycles in Clowne has come across many defective brake cables
and these even include Clarks Shocked He now tests his replacement cables by pulling
the the levers as hard as he can to ensure the head doesn't 'pop' off.

Click to expand...

Surely after fitting cables pulling the brakes levers hard to test is standard practice anway.

For campag I only use campag cables as I can be sure these work and they last a very long time in all weathers.