Soloist Assassin

I came across these cables reading Cervelo's blog on their attempt to build a sub 10lbs. road bike. They used Nokon cables for their light weight. I not only want them for that, but also because they are supposed to work better, and I will be able to run my shift cables under the bar tape like a proper shifter (campy and sram). This will enable me to save money, and not switch to Sram. The stupid cables sticking out erk me, that bad. So whats the story? Has anyone used them? What is your perception? I am also thinking of upgrading my DH bike too if it works well on the roadie. For those that have no idea what I am talking about scope these links.

https://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4107

https://www.velonews.com/tour2004/tec...es/6575.0.html

Treefox

Opinions seem to be mixed around these parts...

Soloist Assassin

So what would your opinion be? I need some new cables, and I am looking at my options.

charliekeri

They look real goofy with that quick loop under the bar tape, but you have to wake up and look at her every day.

brians647

Avoid them. Yes, some get good results, and some get bad results straightened out (or not), but they just aren't worth the hassle.

Soloist Assassin

Yeah I should probably just suck it up, and go SRAM. I even called Shimano today to see if they ever planned on hiding the shift cables like a proper shifter, and they said no, they would have to completely redesign their shifters. I said OK, this is probably the last Shimano part I will ever use. I already converted my DH bike. I've always hated Shimano, this Ultegra crap is the first time I ever liked Shimano stuff.

brianb

I've had two sets on my road bikes. The second set I got as a warranty replacement when the finish on the first set flakes off after 6 months. I will never buy them again. Too much hassle to install for too little perceived benefit. I did run the shifter cables under the bar tape from my Ultegra STI's which looked cool, but I felt it degraded the performance a little, but that may have been due to my install technique (followed the instructions to the letter). If they were that great I think we would see them on a lot more pro bikes. I'd save my money if I was you. The only benefit, if you think it is one, is that they look cooler than normal cables. Unless of course you're talking about a FS MTB, where the bends you are able to make with these cables are a definite benefit for tricky routing situations.

rbrsddn

I have the Nokons on my mtn bike and the finish peeled off and oxidized within a year. I am replacing them with a set from https://drycables.com/index.html as they have the continous liner and teflon coated shifter cables. Might be overkill for road bikes.

edzo

I have them on one of my MTB's...

immediate improvement in braking and shifting vs new install of regular sis cables and housing
and it lasts (the feel lasts)

makes the bike easy to toss in a car because the cables can bend
every which way


for performance, they do, in fact, rock


now

appearance...yes they degrade and do not hold the shine. but on my
litespeed, the patina of the nokon fading is cool to me...and it still looks
good on a ti bike

if you are OCP then you'd need to clean them with chrome polish to get the shine back
to some extent

but I care about performance and accuracy and these do work great, and also allow
you to make tighter bends in the cable routing

it is a hassle to install but once installed, you are done for a looooong time

rbrsddn

Gotta admit the operation is not a problem. They are slick. I had the Ride-On cables for years before they went OOB. The Dry Cables are an improvement over the Ride-Ons.

Edit: the chrome is actually peeling orf, leaving aluminum to oxidize. Doesn't affect performance, it is true.

mloywhite

I had a black set on my bike for about 3500 miles. The color all wore off, they squeeked and rattled and generally were a big pain in the ass. That said, they did work well, very smooth.

psuaero

I've had a set on my road bike now for over 1500 miles. I did the loop under the bar tape with my Ultegra's. I can't say I notice a big improvement in the shifter performance. I do think they look cooler and are definitely a little lighter. No color flaking or peeling yet. The one thing I notice (definite drawback) is they tend to squeak and make more noise than stock cables. Most say the installation was a pain but I'd have to disagree. It didn't take that long and it's not like you install them many times a year. Plus you can fine tune your length by adding/subtracting a link as you go.

Would I do it again on a new bike? I think so but probably not until the stock cables wear out. I've been thinking about Campy or SRAM for the next bike anyway so maybe no Nokons for that one.

Here is a pic:

brianallan

lol. moron.


try campy

powerglide

Just go Camy

forrest_m

I've been thinking about doing this (using nokons in order to route under the tape), purely for OCP reasons, but was wondering if it doesn't get in the way when you want to ride on the hoods? Seems like you might catch your thumb?

WheresWaldo

The loop is actually bigger than it looks, no problems riding on the hoods. I have posted these before.

brianb

Mine did the same, emailed Nokon, they sent me a brnad new set. They did make me return the old ones or they would have charged my credit card, so don't anyone get any funny ideas...The rep said this is a known problem that has been remedied in the new sets

.:Jimbo:.

They ****ion fine. The only downside I've heard, however never personally experienced was the color wearing off, and the rare squeak. Not much can be done about the anodized coating flaking, but a bit of grease between links takes care of the squeaks. The look awesome though.

Also, someone mentioned Gore ride-on cables. Well, they're back, they were featured at inter and euro bike and my rep brought them in. They are suppose to retail for 50 for a brake set, and 50 for gear set, and have some incredible amount of reduced friction of random crap cables and even jagwire cables.
No personal experince with those...yet. Looks quite promising.

zonatandem

Have silver Nokons on part of our tandem cable routing for the past 16,000 miles. Bit pricey, but work fine and no flaking.

talyfixed

I have to agree with most of the posts, they are not worth the hassle! I just finished installing a pair, took me 2hr which is unacceptable with instructions that seem to have been translate from google or altavista. They are amazing if you have a weird angle or a tt setup that needs a special setup that normal cables wouldn't do it. Beside that, stay well away from them. Yeah they are lighter, the anodized comes off super fast and they start squeaking (which can be fixed by rubbing them with a rag wet of wd40) but still the bling factor these give on your bike are priceless

stoph78

Nokon cables are great. I had them but got bad results due to the grips I used. If u use regular grips Nokons are great

merlinextraligh

I'm not sure I follow the logic of $150 worth of cables on a $500 frame. But it's your money.

DocRay

1. 10 lb bikes are awful bikes to ride.
2. Nokons are a lot of effort and money, for little gain.

Phantoj

You could probably use something like an Avid Rollamajig and regular cables to do the loop thing.

BoSoxYacht

I haven't noticed the color fading, but the noise is very annoying.