Originally Posted by
cny-bikeman
The problem is not with the cable- it's not "broken" - but rather the ferrule on the housing, as others have mentioned. The cable housing is built with individual wires, and the ferrule is not stopping the ends from poking through the exit hole for the cable. Replace with a new ferrule, make sure the end of the housing is cut at 90 degrees (dremel/rotary tool and cutting wheel works great). Also make sure that the front housing section has been sized so as to allow the bars to swing all the way without straining the housing. You should also check the cable, as it may have become kinked. If you can't straighten it out so that it's fairly smooth again just replace it.
You are correct (unlike most everyone else) that the cable itself isn't broken. Only the plastic ferrule is broken. I see this all the time at my local co-op. It usually happens when the cable is too tight or the bend out of the shifter is too tight.
One mistake that everyone is making is that a the end of the cable is "frayed". This is something that manufacturers do to the ends of cables on nearly every new bike I see. For some reason, they think that the cable housing sheath has to be cut back so that the ferrule can fit on the cable housing. It's an unnecessary step and can actually make the shifting worse because of the way that the strands in the housing can clamp down on the inner cable. Here's an OEM cable housing with the sheath trimmed back
Compare the above to a cable where the sheath broke free from the inner strands and is
actually broken. It looks similar but the cable was blunt cut when I installed it.
Originally Posted by
puttster
I looked at the other end of the cable and it looks frayed pretty much like the front end! Or as Dedhed showed me, the sheath is frayed, either way, looks like bad news..
Also I noticed on the left side shifter when running the small gear if you try the shift up to the middle gear the chain won't go. You have to shift up to the big gear and then back down. Well, unless you nudge the grip half way forward, then it will shift from small to middle.
Maybe I do need a professional. What will it cost?
As above, I doubt the sheath is "frayed". It was cut that way. The good news is that you can get away without replacing the cable housing. You
should be able to just disconnect the cable from the derailer, pull the inner cable out, fit a new ferrule onto the cable and reinstall the inner cable. Just adjust the tension on the cable after installation
and leave the limit screws alone! You should be good to go.
One caveat: Whether or not you'll need to replace the inner cable depends on the state of the cable. If it is frayed at all, you should either trim the frayed bit and get a smooth cable or just get a new inner cable. If you are using the old cable be careful how you insert it. If you twist it clockwise as you insert it into the housing you can often avoid fraying the cable.
This isn't a difficult fix. Good luck.