corrado33

My commuter was having trouble shifting between the cogs recently. It's been driving me nuts lately. Regardless of how I adjusted the tension, the rear derailleur would only shift up "well/quick" or down "well/quick", never both simultaneously. The difference between shifting up good and down good was probably 1/8th turn of the adjustment knob. I had lubed everything, played with everything, realigned the hanger, etc. Finally (after about a month) I finally gave in and replaced the cable and housings. I used good stuff, Jagwire compressionless housing and a nice stainless cable. Low and behold, the bike shifts perfectly again. The funny thing is, the old cable looked... new. If you handed me the cable with no backstory I'd say it was new. The bike is also significantly easier to shift (which makes sense). So much so that my first few shifts were accidental doubleshifts because it was so easy.

Anyway, it's amazing what a little cable and housings will do.



Any similar stories?

dsbrantjr

Shifting up well or down well but not both, and being able to shift between the two, are classic signs of cable friction.

The inner wires may look fine but I'll bet that the liner inside of the outer housings has worn through or gotten full of road grit and old lube gunk.

The change is often remarkable, like getting new tires, shocks and a wheel alignment on your car, it feels like new again. The degradation occurs so gradually that you don't notice until things get replaced.

CafeVelo

That was my thought too. Inner lining worn through or gummed up. Probably worn through since there's not corrosion on the cable. I'll replace housing on a bike if I can't clean up the shifting and it's been on there for a year or more.