Bad Cables

I really need to take my hunches more seriously. For the past three rides, my Emonda has been shifting a little bit funky. Shifts to the smallest two cogs have ranged from sluggish to impossible.
Since the rear dereilleur mechanics checked out fine, that indicates some binding somewhere along the cable.

Today at some point I was planning to put in my primary workout, so that I could do easy spins on Thursday and Friday, prior to the Winters Road Race on Saturday. So instead of a lunch break, I loosened the anchor bolt, pulled the cable up just enough to pry out the head and sure enough, the cable was frayed. Shimano shifters fatigue the cable substantially in the area of the mechanics of the dual-action levers. I assume that SRAM and Campagnolo must have a similar issue, since all of these shifters require the cable to bend around a tight radius as they pull. This action is repeated every shift. So a small area of cable goes from being relatively straight, to bent, over and over.

I noticed this about two years ago when my Dura Ace 9-speed shifters ate both shift cables on the same ride. At that point I vowed to replace the cables every year.

This bike has gone 5007 miles since I got it in mid-December last year, so I’ll adjust my MTBF for shift cables to 4500 miles.

I replaced both shift and brake cables today, along with new housings and ferrules, instead of riding. Unfortunately I didn’t get any actual work done either.

I like the Jagwire Road Pro Complete Shift and Brake Kits ($36-$48). They come with Teflon-coated cables, housing, all the ferrules you need, plus cable end caps.