Anyone have an opinion on the functional improvements between these systems specifically on a TT bike with tight cabling radii? I am most interested in the brake function.
Right now I have jagwire, just curious if I will be able to get more performance out of my brakes if I swap to one of the other alternatives.
I see tons of I-links on the Pro Tour bikes, just curious if there is something to them.
You should consider yokozuna
Nokon cables do tight turns really well but they are tedious to install. Lightweight though
I am using them on pretty much all of my bikes. I find them easier to install than Nokon’s which I used to have on all my bikes. What I like is the newer shifter housing which are 20% smaller than the brake housings. They are especially nice for behind stem entry into the frame and for the rear derailleur bend which can be a lot smaller than standard cables.
in which case do NOT consider yokozuna.
royal pain to deal with as far as tight turns are concerned, and if your training wheels are of different width from your racing wheels, that extra 2-3 mm will induce enough kink in the cable to give too much play in the brake lever.
I use I-Links on all my bikes. Nokon’s with the individual beads would be a real PITA if your bike has internal cable housing. I had zero issues getting the housing thru my Scott Plasma 2 frame.
I have an older Shimano 9-speed STI set up on my road bike - which cable would be best so I can route the shifter cable/housing under the handlebar tape? I’ve seen this done before but forgot the brand with the super flexible beads to make the sharp bend.
I use Nokons on my bikes, never had any problem with them and allow for tight turns.
I’ve had Yoko’s and they are definitely not good for tight bends (although they are nice overall)
I’d like to try I-links in the future. Look to be good as well.
The mini ilink shifter housings will give you the tightest bend to bring them out from the shifter and loop them back under the bartape. I did this with the Nokon’s before using only the small beads and I know that the Mini Ilinks work better for this application. As mentioned they are about 20% smaller in diameter than the Nokon’s.
One big advantage of nokon/ilinks is you can experiment with length. If you get it to short you can always add a segment or two. Plus the liner is available separately and is cheap, so redoing it is a cheap proposition.
How does this stuff work for internal applications like aero bar brake lever or bar extensions for shifters? Can the links fit inside the aero bars and out the bull horns/extensions, or can you run just the liner inside the bar or do you need a traditional housing for this application?
May be stupid questions since I have never held the product in my hands. Pictures much help if you have any.
Mini ilinks are smaller diam so they fit better. Regular and nokon are about the same size as normal housing so no issue. The are metal so you may get some rattling but that doesn’t always happen and a bit of electrical tape can help.
Liner alone can’t be used as it has no strength.
No but you can run the liners full length and just use the links between the cable stops. The only issue would be if your bike had internal run cables where the housing runs the full length of the bike then you might as well just run standard cables.
Can you post a link to a cheap place to get the liners?
Awesome, I am trying to do everything I can to improve the braking performance of my (new to me) P4 front omega and rear rocker brakes.
I am thinking these super low friction and zero compressin ilinks may be the way to go. Shouldn’t be less aero for rear brake. For front brake, it might be a little less aero but also may allow me to use a tighter radius and put less cable into the wind.
Any extra thought on these applications, will a see a performance difference over the jagwires?
Where do you guys buy these?
Depends on where you are but here for one. http://www.dulight.fr/product_info.php?products_id=1257&language=en
Sometimes on ebay
How those i-link “wire” handle bike dissassembly (mostly handle bar removal) for plane transportation? do they are more suceptible to “pinch”/broke/etc?
Thanks!
The answer depends on whether you release the cable tension. Both Nokon and iLink feature a teflon liner over which the links are passed which means that so long as the cables are under tension, there is less chance of putting a crimp/kink in the liner when packing the bike. That also means that if the frame has internal cable runs - external can typically be removed from the cable boss increasing range of motion - then the degree to which the housing can be bent in terms of positioning the handlebars for packing will be limited by the max angels of the links.
Dragging up an old topic…
I’m looking into using one of these cable systems (leaning towards Jagwire) when I do my annual cable job.
Do they rattle at all when run in the aero bars or when run through the base bar?
Every bike that I have has I-Links. Will never use anything else.
I’ve noticed that in your posts…
The Jagwire install video showed them using standard cable under tape on a road bike and links after the tape. Seems contrary to the whole point.
So you don’t do anything special in the bars and have no noise?
Every bike that I have has I-Links. Will never use anything else.