AlphaDogg

I just replaced my cable housings today and I wanted to reuse the old cable, so I set it up like normal. The end of the cable is about 2mm past the anchor bolt. Is that okay or should I get a new inner cable too? It's a teflon coated one that's relatively hard to come by around here (for a decent price). I got it from nashbar during a free shipping deal for about $3. REI charges $8 for a PTFE coated cable.

I was indeed able to get everything adjusted correctly.

dsbrantjr

If that is a brake cable I would not be comfortable with so little extra. If it slips that 2mm and pops loose you will suddenly wind up with NO brakes instead of loose ones. A longer cable could still stop you if it slipped a little. If it were me I would either find some places to shorten the housing and pick up some slack that way or buy a new cable. $8 is not much (for me) to spend on a safety item.

A shift cable is not such a safety-critical item. Still in that case you should be able to shorten some housing somewhere.

AlphaDogg

Forgot to mention it's a rear shift cable.

FBinNY 

Once a cable passes the pinch bolt it's 100% unloaded. It doesn't matter if it passes by 1mm or one mile.

The only advantage of leaving more than 1mm beyond the anchor is that you have something to hold on to.

So if you were able to pull it down and secure it, you're in, at least until you need to work on it anew.

AlphaDogg

In order to give enough tension in the cable, I had to pull the part of the rd with the anchor bolt closer to the non-pivoting part so that the same amount of cable slack would result in a tighter cable when the rd is relaxed.

FBinNY 

Many people, myself included, routinely shift to a lower gear before attaching the cable, then let the RD hang up there on the chain, so we can attaching the cable without fighting the tension. Mechanics who do this all the time, know exactly which gear they'll hang it on to nail the cable length dead on.

I do something similar for FDs, jamming a Bic pen into the pantograph when I attach the wire. Pull the pen out and it's just about dead on. But I still prefer having an inline adjuster.

AlphaDogg

I normally do the same, I just wanted to explain that I couldn't actually grab on to the cable.

Here's what the situation looks like:

FBinNY 

Get the Dremel and get rid of that ugly stub. If you're that close, you might as well be flush to the washer.

AlphaDogg

I did that and I think I got a little carried away. This is what happened:


But seriously, my cable housings are the absolute minimum length they can be without hindering steering.

FBinNY 

Actually, they look like the runs are pretty good. But you should buy a spare wire to have it on hand in case you have to work on the RD.

AlphaDogg

I just called the co-op where I volunteer. They're ordering two PTFE coated shifter cables for $4 apiece (wholesale cost is $2). That's a damn good price if you ask me. I know that people say there isn't an advantage to PTFE cables over good SS ones, but I like them.