shifter cable is fraying/snapping
06-01-11, 03:52 AM
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shifter cable is fraying/snapping
hello all,
I'm currently on a bike tour and I'm having a recurring problem with the rear shifter cable fraying and eventually snapping. It's happening almost once a month now, and the point of friction is where the cable feeds into the thumb shifter. The housing has been replaced (with a more crappy housing, hey I was in rural Morocco) and I put backwards duct tape around the inside of the housing to prevent what I could. What else can I do to soften the friction?
specs: it's a shimano 8-speed v-brake on a 2007 specialized sirrus.
could the problem be the cable tension? if it's any slacker, i cant get to the lowest gear. perhaps there's another place i can relieve some of the tension that i don't know about?
advice on how to address the problem would be much appreciated!
thanks!
-Brian
www.twofacesgoingplaces.blogspot.com
(currently in Macedonia)
I'm currently on a bike tour and I'm having a recurring problem with the rear shifter cable fraying and eventually snapping. It's happening almost once a month now, and the point of friction is where the cable feeds into the thumb shifter. The housing has been replaced (with a more crappy housing, hey I was in rural Morocco) and I put backwards duct tape around the inside of the housing to prevent what I could. What else can I do to soften the friction?
specs: it's a shimano 8-speed v-brake on a 2007 specialized sirrus.
could the problem be the cable tension? if it's any slacker, i cant get to the lowest gear. perhaps there's another place i can relieve some of the tension that i don't know about?
advice on how to address the problem would be much appreciated!
thanks!
-Brian
www.twofacesgoingplaces.blogspot.com
(currently in Macedonia)
06-01-11, 04:14 AM
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It's not cable tension. My guess is that you have a burr in the housing reenforcing wire and it's rubbing against the inner wire. Remove the housing and check the ends. File or cut off any roughness or burrs. Shifter cables should last for along time and once a month breakage says there is something very wrong.
06-01-11, 05:07 AM
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OldBikeGuide.com
Agreed, certainly not cable tension - though there may be tension from the cable rubbing against something and this would be the problem.
Does the cable come out of the shifter at a sharp angle?
Does the cable come out of the shifter at a sharp angle?
06-01-11, 05:36 AM
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that was what I was thinking. I would like to see pics of the bike. if the bar tape ove the cable housing?
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
06-01-11, 10:54 AM
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Senior Member
I'm also thinking that either your cable housing is too short or that the housing has a rough cut and one of the wires is sticking inwards and rubbing on the shifter cable. Dressing the ends with a grinder, file or even a flat rock will remove any end kinks that are poking in and scratching at the shifter cable. Since this is a thumb shifter if you have a ferrule on the end remove that to expose the actual cut end of the housing to allow dressing the end. If the housing is too short so it leaves the shifter's pod at a sharp angle you really should find a longer piece.
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