Road Cycling - Nokon cables

Has anyone heard or used Nokon cables? A guy we ride with says that they are lighter and more responsive--also a lot more expensive. Any thoughts? Thanks

hmm....does that mean you shave 0.05 grams off the total weight of the bike?

According to my physics equations, that roughly translates into a +0.2 m/s^2 in acceleration!!! wow! :D :D

I'm not sure the weight is really the factor, but stopping distance, much like steal-brainded lines on motorcycles. Any thoughts?

I have installed nokons and similar cable systems on several bikes for my customers. The aluminum beads that form the housing provide a compressionless line which results in great feel from the brakes and very crisp shifting. The cool looks are an added bonus. Just be sure to have a pro install them as they are slightly more tricky than regular cables and housing. The cost is only a factor the first time since the cables actually run inside a narrow plastic sheath inside the aluminum beads. The plastic and the cables are cheap to replace, just rethread the beads onto the new plastic and cables when it gets gunked up.

-Ryan

I just picked up a set of nokon cables, I have not installed them yet. Was present to myself for finding a job :) Any suggestions on installing them other then taking it to my LBS? I enjoy installing my own stuff even if I screw it up :)

Nokon are identical to the IRD Metawire.

Nothing different as far as brakes. They are the same as normal cables as they are lined.

Only difference is they use cable ferrule looking beads as the exterior. So they weigh a little less.

However they take much longer to install. So patience is a must.

Thought i'd bring this up again, as I need to replace my derailleur cables. I can get the nokons for £42 + delivery from poshbikes.com, or dura-ace cables for £20 from LBS, (LBS don't stock nokon).

Any comments from people who have used them? Also would I need to buy barrel shifters too or would they come with it? I would like to try to fit them myself too if possible.

Hello, this is the same text I posted in another section of this forum. Since you are obviously a pro bike mechanic, maybe you can help me. I would really appreciate it.

I just bought a new road bike with 2004 Dura Ace 10-speed and Nokon cables. It shifts sometimes for no apparent reason, especially in gears 3 - 5 when on the smaller front chain ring. My local bike shop (I did not buy the bike from them) said they could not begin to adjust the shifting because the Nokon cables will cause a spontaneous shift whenever they are deformed by, for example, turning the handlebars and thereby changing the tension. Their mechanic demonstrated this on their repair stand. They said the the 10-sprocket Dura Ace required too fine a tolerance to accept the cable tension changes caused by slight bends in the cable. I am faced with finding a way to correct this on my own, or changing over to normal cables. Who can help me with the fine adjustment here? Help!

-Chris in Bamberg

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2004/tour04/tech/?id=jul13-1

Read this article. The Nokons do work with DA10 even when twisted way out of shape.

I just bought a set for my 2004 Allez Pro. This was going to be the first set of cables for the bike since I was doing the build up. I work at a bike shop and could have bought good traditional cables/housings for less than $10. I dropped the cash instead on the Nokon system. Let's put it this way; I just finished a letter to nokonusa to comment on the fact that I have to spend extra time and money to drill out my f$#king barrel adjusters 1mm. This cost me about $10 extra and LOTS of frustration and anger. It's a good thing I own a dremel. If I was trying to install these on a walmart bike or some POS I would understand. For the price of the Nokon, there should be NO modification of ANYTHING. I didn't want to do this but... DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT unless you really want to spend 10x more money than regular cables/housings, love to tinker with your stuff, don't mind a few HOURS installing everything. I will never recommend this product to anyone that I see on the trail or in the shop.

Oh yeah, with an 120mm stem and 46cm bars the kit isn't long enough. :mad: :mad:

If you're gonna shell out for Nokon cables, I highly recommend you shell out to have someone else install them. What a PITA they are. I notice no difference in stopping power and nobody cares about weight. Just my opinion, but they're not worth a fraction of their cost.