Is it worth it to upgrade shifter/brake cables to exotics?

Triathlon Forum
1

I don’t ride in the rain and I keep things pretty clean, but I need to replace my cables this winter. Is it worth it to go beyond ultegra/durace cables/housings. I know there are nokons and jagwires and prob others and I’m wondering if I’d notice a performance benefit that justifies the cost. Is is mostly a bling factor: matching housings with bike colors or maybe being able to hide shimano shift wires in the bar wrap?

suggestions, comments…

thanks in advance
Barry

2

I’ve used Nokon on lots of my bikes, recommend them despite the extra time needed to install. You’ll hear lots of griping (sp?) on the installation but the outcome’s worth it. Recently used Yokozuna on my SRAM road bike, works well but the housings are STIFF. The shifting is a lot better than stock cables and you won’t notice the housing stiffness after you’ve installed them and redone the bar tape.

I’d go Nokon housing and liner because you can keep the cable runs short and tight, but I’d use Jagwire cables instead of the stuff that comes with the Nokons. Not that they’re bad, just that the Jagwire/Nokon combo is that much better. You will notice improved braking ‘modulation’ for sure, and most likely better shifting.

Stay away from the DuPont/PowerCordz stuff, it’s CRAP.

3

IME, Nokons are great for TT bikes since they allow very tight radius bends. But if you don’t need to do this, if it were my bike I’d probably go with standard (D/A or top of the line Jagwire) cabling for both easier install and lower cost. I find the best investment is taking time to grind/debur cable ends so they are nice & flat, just like the factory cut ends. You aren’t likely to get there with just a set of cable cutters.

I’ve also had good liuck with the Yokozuna Reaction cable set, installed them with 7900 on a very narrow bar and did not find the stiffness problematic. It was noticeable, but so was the improved shifting performance. Well worth it. The brake cable housing is relatively thick though, so the ferrules seat poorly in the frame stops and won’t go into a 7900 brake barrel at all. Have not tested with other brakes yet. I’d run Reaction cables for shifting and something regular for brakes. Just my $0.02.

Cheers,

4

does anyone wrap their shimano shifter cables under their bar wrap with any of these. Or, is tight angle bending like this going to take away from the improved shifting/brake modulation.

thanks again

5

i put Nokon on my tri bike. and while it’s cool and adds that extra bling factor, i don’t know if it’s the best use of the extra money. if you have very tight turns, etc then maybe so. but i did it because i had a credit at my local shop and one of the guys thought it would be cool. so i thought, “what the hell.”

in hindsight, i didn’t really “need” it. and yes, it’s a pain to install. but it does look sweet. i don’t really notice much improvement or ease in braking/shifting.

6

I use to recable the bike every year with standard cables. This year I bit the bullet and bought Gore ride-on sealed cables. Super smooth and guess what I am NOT doing this winter!