I'm leaving June 1 for about a 1000 mile ride across eastern Montana, western ND, and South Dakota. Very few bike shops probably. My disc trucker is running good but as they say " **ht happens". Do I need to pack a spare set of cables, i.e., derailleur and brake. I do my own mech. work so I know my bike pretty good.

So why would any of my cables just up and need replacing. Or am I just overly worried about this? First long distance trip.

Actually worried more about water or lack there off.

Marlowe

Spare cables weight next to nothing, so why not. Rather than carrying a spare for everything, I feel it's more import to have the right tools, if you're handy you can MaCgyver a fix.
I'd be more concerned about other things like water.

My thinking is this:

1. Cables rarely break.
2. When cables do break they show signs beforehand in the form of fraying. Check for it especially in the first inches of cable at the shifters and brake levers. If you see any fraying at all, replace the cables before the trip.
3. You can limp along with any of the four cables broken.
4. On the other hand if it makes you worry less, take them. At least they don't weigh much.

I rode across the country with 12 other people. That amounted to more than 48,000 bike miles. Not one cable issue. I have never carried extra cables on any tour. But as noted, they weight next to nothing.

Where exactly will you be touring in those areas? I am scheduled to fly to Rapid City on 6/17 for about ten days in the Black Hills and NW Nebraska. (FYI, there is a bike shop in downtown Rapid City called Cranky Jeff's.) When I rode cross county we did ACA's Northern Tier route, which at the time used the entire Highline from Cut Bank to the ND border. ACA recently changed the route to avoid the oil related traffic around Williston and those parts. Shame. Rte. 1804 was a nice ride and virtually devoid of traffic.

I was just in Butte again last year during a loop from/to Missoula.

I will be riding from Great Falls to Lewistown, Roundup, Miles City and then into ND for a ways following 212 and then to Mobridge, SD and then down to about Yankton, SD for final. Actually Menno, SD.

Cranky Jeff's is a great store in Rapid City.

on all my tours, i take two spare tubes, a tire patching kit, and a hand pump, maybe some duct tape. never had to walk due to a mechanical failure. ...ever.

That's good to know. I will be shipping my bike there for assembly. Also going to have them box it for the return home. The shop is moving to a location not far from where it is now.

My planned stops are in Spearfish, Hill City via Spearfish Canyon and the Mickelson Trail, Edgemont via the trail, Fort Robinson S.P. in NB via Toadstool (if the road is not too rough), Hot Springs, Stockade Lake just near Custer and then the Mt. Rushmore KOA via Needles Highway, visiting the monument on the last day of riding back to Rapid City. Two rest days are built in. I may take a day ride on one of those days.

Whether to pack spare cables doesn't matter from a weight standpoint, but the question is important in the larger context of how much in the way of spare parts and tools you should carry.

I've only toured in the US and a bit in Europe. The only spares I carry are two tubes, a patch kit, a fiber flex spoke, a spare chain link, and some duct tape. I have a multi-tool and a leather man and that's it. If I was going to Mongolia I might carry more, but as long as I can make the wheels go around I figure I'm ok.

Get the bike checked out and new cables installed before you set out and you will be ok

Replace before you start, to be safe, and you should have no troubles .

+1 the spare 1 gear and 1 brake cable in a plastic bag can sit in the bottom of your pannier and weighs near zero.

I have only had one cable fail in the past decade. I thought that I felt some sharp bits on fingers at my right side bar end shifter and I had to adjust the shifter a few times over the last dozen miles, when I got home I took a closer look.



Only three strands remaining, very little warning. If the sharp ends were not stabbing my fingers, it would have been zero warning other than sudden need to adjust shifter a couple times.

I carry a spare rear derailler and spare rear brake cable. I do not carry a cable cutter, if I need it I will wrap up the excess and tape it to something with electrical tape.

Stuff happens, so do bring spare cables. They are light! The same reasoning applies to chain links and spokes. Better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.

Whatever changes you make to the bike before your trip, be sure to ride for a day or more afterward, to make sure it's all done right.

I don't carry very much stuff, I have never carried cables. It is an interesting though what set-up on a touring bike would make cables the easiest to McGyver, or replace on the road. I'm guessing stuff like internal routing might not be a plus.

I assume parts are in like new condition when I leave, so I tend to carry only stuff that life on the road tends to break. So inner-tubes are tops. I tend to also carry stuff I have broken in the past. I burst a tire casing, so now I carry an extra tire. I don't see any particular reason for cables to wear out, but if I had a bad experience I would probably carry them for ever after, unless there was some new tech I could employ that was supposed to eliminate the problem.

My overall approach is to build the bike with repairs in the field in mind, and to carry only tools that fit some specific part of my bike that I can repair on the road, and have parts for, if that is what a repair would require. I don't carry multitools, or stuff for repairs I can't make on the road. The exception being that I sometimes carry a fairly serious pedal wrench if shipping requires it.

Marlowe, Bring an uncut shifter and brake cable. While it's unlikely you'll need either, it won't weigh on your mind during the trip.

Brad

Yeah I can't understand some of the posts above. Who cares if it will probably never happen. The cables weigh next to nothing and take little space. If you don't need it a riding partner that is not so well prepared might. Or some poor soul along the road.

+1
I have never broken a cable anytime in the last 40 years, but I still carry one of each in my tool kit. I have also never broken a chain until about a month ago. I've always carried one extra power link for Sram chains; now I'll probably carry 2

no multitools. they often have tools/bits that aren't needed, and the swiss-army-folditinto case can weigh more than the tools themselves.

i used to carry a pedal wrench, until discovered pedals can be removed with a hex key.

and no more cone wrenches, neither! a couple nails and my 6" crescent (for the cassette tool) works.

parts/spares i carry (laos/cambodia/jungle): folding tire, 2 tubes + patch kit, 4-5 spokes and a couple nipples, set of wheel bearing cartridges (went bad last tour with no replacements available), short section of chain (5-6 links) and qwik-links, der+brk cables (long with the appropriate nubs cut off!), bb5 pads (rear, no longer take the front v-pads), derailler hanger.
and of course misc nuts+bolts, duck tape, erectrical tape, zip-ties, a length of coated wire, 2g tube of super glue...........

If you do carry a spare cable and don't carry a cable cutting tool, cut off the crimped-on end caps before you leave or you won't be able to replace the cable in the field. Then you have to deal with fraying cable ends.

But I agree with the others that after a close inspection before the trip (not so easy with some shifters), carrying a spare is not needed.

It doesn't sound like your route goes through Medora ND, but Dakota Cyclery is an excellent bike shop.

The problem is that this is the spot where the fraying occurs and is not all that visible unless you make it a point to check there. If you do routinely check there you will probably have a lot of warning between the time one strand pops and it looks like the picture you posted.

I have never had a problem with brake cables breaking. I have had derailleur cables go bad. They will not break immediately, but they can go bad over a few days once you notice that some of the strands are breaking. I would either recommend that you carry a spare derailleur cable or make sure that the ones being used have been replaced recently.

With no water reserved for cooking, I have used 60+ oz. of water during a full day's ride. I have a combination of three 21-32 oz. bottles I routinely use on the touring bike. Your hydration needs aren't probably like mine, but from advice given to me years ago, I try to drink at a rate that has me wanting to pee about once an hour.

Even in remote areas I've come across places to refill a water bottle. If you're really concerned, carry a half gallon in a pannier.

Brad

If I knew how to replace cables, I would carry spares. I've had cables break on several occasions, once on a commute and once on a metric century. Like others said, they weigh next to nothing and take up very little space.

I replace all the crimp caps with 3/32 shrink-to-fit insulation when installing new cables. It takes care of that problem very neatly.

Boy lots of good advice in relation to my question on cable. Really at the weight of a cable it only makes sense to take a spare I guess. So it will be. Good advice on water also. I do have a 70 oz platypus bag that I fill on those 70 mile stretches in Eastern Montana. Once I get into North Dakota and South Dakota the towns start coming about every 8-15 miles. So will be ok then.

Thanks to all,
Marlowe

Cables cost $1.50 each. If you're inclined buy new ones, and have the ability to repair them in the field, then just replace them before you go, its much more convenient. NO cable breaks after 1000 miles.

I always take a spare RD cable. You only need the the one. Never broke a brake cable so I don't carry that. I also take a spare pair of brake shoes.