Well, I'll have a set of these things mounted up on my newest bike fairly soon. Honestly. . .I'm only putting them on because I had the money. I just don't think there is that much shifting and braking going on with a TT bike to really justify spending the $$. But hey, if you've got it to burn, might as well. Sure will look cool.

I have had mine for about 2 yrs before they were easier to get in the states. The price jumped just after I got them & it now seems to have lowered slightly again. I really like them. I have syntace c2 with bar end sfiters & wanted something that could take tighter runs with less cable. I have both the brake & shifter cables. The IRD knock of product is NOT the same quality and was a pain to work with. You can do a search on the velonews forum for more comments in the past.

I was looking into getting some of these since they look pretty cool. I asked my trusted local wrench about them and he said they were crap because they have no form, they just kinda hang. Now, this could be an advantage in some situations, but I've looked closer at the bikes that have them, and they always have this saggy look to them. not what I want on my aero tri-bike.

Don't bother.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Brad,

Thanks, that is a good point. I am interested because I am going with a bar-end shifter on the left side and an STI shifter on the right and I hate how Shimano loops the cable from the inside part of the shifter that makes a big rainbow in front of your bike. I have seen folks use the Nokon cables and because there so "flexy" you can bend them back to the tape on the base bar of your aerobars. I'm not sure if I will use the cables for anything else although Team Once did a nice job routing the Nokon cables on their TT bike for the Tour.

Dave from VA

To be more specific (I had to run to the potty): The premise behind these cable housings is that they are "compressionless" and compress less under control actuation (squeezing your brake lever or using your shift lever)meaning the inner cable does all the moving. So, when you squeeze the brake or hit the shift lever no energy is used to "smush" the cable housing- it is all used to move the inner wire cable attached to your derailleurs or brakes. since the all-metal compressionless cable housing doesn't move under compression (if correctly sized and routed on installation) then alll the energy put into the control lever (shift or brake) goes to the component being actuated. Great theory. However, the practical reality is that these cables take a lot of practice to size and install correctly. Once they are installed I perceive no tangible improvement in the quality, repeatability or speed or shifts and the brakes don;t feel much different, if at all, either.

Considering they are difficult to install (understatement) and service and not widely available where you may be racing means you are better off with what Shimano supplied you with. Believe me, Shimano had all metal cable housings on the drawing board years ago. If it would have worked it would be on their components.

I give them two thumbs down in favor of good 'ole Shimano SIS cable housing and Shimano SLR brake cable housing.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com