Shift cable/housing replacement
 

I've recabled bikes before, but this one is a bit different and wanted to run this by the gang for tips/suggestions.

The bike is a Volagi Viaje - a kind of rando/gravel/touring road bike that is my everyday commuter and has a lot of miles on it. It's got the 105/5800 hydraulic disc group set.

I am having some sticky shifting in the rear DR - shifts to bigger cogs fairly reliably but iffy shifting to smaller cogs; sometimes won't shift at all, then you click again and it jumps up two cogs smaller/harder. It was suggested here, which makes sense, that after 6-8k miles it just possibly might be time to replace the shifter cables.

One thing that's different about this bike is that it has full-length cable housings. Every other recable job I have done has either had stretches of cable run inside the frame, or stretches of bare cable alongside the frame. But this bike has cable housings that go all the way from the shifters to the DRs. I don't think I've ever seen that option when ordering cables/housings before. What is the "keyword" I'm going to be searching for? Do you have a favorite brand for this kind of cable housing?

I do have some shift cables laying around, so I was tempted to try just replacing the cables - but my sense is that if stuff is worn out from mileage/grit, I probably need to replace both the cables and the housings.

Would appreciate any other tips or suggestions you may have for this project.

Cable housing also comes in 'bulk' and is cut to the needed length. I usually buy shift/brake housing from my LBS in the lengths I want; 5'~8' and he charges me by the foot.

Ask for lined housing. I usually buy Shimano or Jagwire.

Shimano compressionless, stranded housings.

jagwire has similar housing, too.

the teflon lined housings are usually "compressionless", and worlds stiffer than the coil stuff.

i have a spool of the shimano that i use on the better bikes.... walmart bikes get the coiled steel type housing.

do be aware that the cable runs can be stiffer to the point of causing a bit of drag/deflection to the steering.... people that ride no-handed a lot have complained on these forums... correct length/routing should reduce that effect to the point of not being an issue.

You can add cable stops and eliminate the full housing.

https://www.rivbike.com/products/clamp-on-cable-stops

As others have suggested, use compressionless cable housing.

However i am using brake cable housing for my fd and it shifts flawlessly. The only reason i use it is that it is stronger than derailleur cable housing and there is no way the coil would poke out of the rubber outer. My previous set up using derailleur cable housing failed because the strands poked out of the rubber outer.

Full length is simpler to cut, install and remove. Just one cut and two ends to finish (if needed).

You can buy both brake and shift housing in long coils from 25' upward and cut off exactly what you need. Jagwire or Shimano housings are good.

So you are the person who makes my life miserable! Index shifters, whether "good" bikes or Helmart bikes, should use compressionless housing. A large part of the reason that Helmart bikes perform so poorly is that the manufacturer will often use "brake cable" housing (i.e. the coiled type). This allows the housing to compress and results in poor shifting.

Use compressionless housing on all index shifters systems. The bike will work better. I regularly replace the coiled housing with the proper housing and can make Helmart bikes purr like the most expensive "good" bike.

you got proper housing cutting tools ?

+ a bench grinder, its useful in squaring the ends to fit solidly in the ferrules,
which in turn fit solidly in the frame and component housing stops?

some people, here, as I read, like Dremel tools with a metal cutting disc.




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My local bike shop carries CGX-SL brake cable housing and LEX-SL shift cable housing, from Jagwire's "Sport Housing" line:

Housing | Jagwire

It seems to be good stuff; I use it on all of my projects, whether it's a bike I'm keeping or not.