I am probably going to change out my t2+ wing and t4+ cockpit with a Brezza Team I and dura ace levers. I have the stock cables and housing that came with my P2;
Has anyone found a signifcant different when changing out the cables? I was thinking the jagwire road pro complete kit for derailleur and brakes.
Thoughts?
I did see shimano has PFTE cables. Not sure if the Jagwire’s have that or not. Nor do i know if ever had cables with that.
Aside from saving a little weight, you likely won’t notice much shifting performance difference. Unless your cables are run really crappy now.
I wouldn’t shell out too much extra cash for coated cables, generally not much bang for your buck there.
You should however, learn to do it yourself. Plenty of info on Youtube to get you through it, just remember “measure twice cut once.”
is it difficult to install and reroute all your cables and housing if i were to buy the bars levers tape and cables and just do it myself? Only thing i’d be weary about is having my shifters adjusted and then readjusted after cable strech… or I am on a cervelo p2 so I have never ran cables through the frame. it appears as thought the brake housing stops and while in the frame it is naked so is it difficult to run cables thru the frame?
It’s not hard, I’ve done it twice on my P2 so far.
In fact, I think it’s better to use brand new cables because I’m pretty sure the old ones won’t slide through the housing very well with frayed ends etc…
Both times I used the Jagwire kit - FIY the brake cables are different lengths so make sure you use the shorter one for the front brake. I just picked a random one assuming that they are the same length and got burned. As far as tools go, I do recommend you use a good cable cutter for housing. I had a big ass steel cable cutter that worked just fine. As far as routing through the frame goes it’s no big deal. It takes a couple of tries and eventually they just pop out of the hole near the bottom bracket.
I’d say, replace them one at a time the first time. If you’re OK with the way they are now, just cut the housing using the old one as a guide. Or, you can use this opportunity to clean things up a little bit. I like to route the shifter cables from the extensions, over the base bar and alongside the stem. For brakes, you can actually reverse left and right as it will give you a cleaner routing path. BTW all bikes in europe have them reversed (left is rear and right is front) and you’ll get used to it after a couple of rides.
Make sure they are not too short as to impede turning.
You’ll have to adjust derailleurs afterwards. Just search Youtube, it’s an easy job. Just put the chain in the small ring, small cog combo and push the shifters down. Youtube…
Ok because my bike is from earlier march this year. How often do you replace cables? And small ring small cog for what?
If you’re replacing the base bar you will have to remove the cables so you might as well just put new ones in. Since your bike is new you could keep the old housing.
Even if you want to reuse the old cables you might not be able to. Once you take them out, you’ll see that they are frayed at the connection points so they won’t slide back into the housing that easily and you will have trouble routing them through the frame.
Before you reconnect the cables at the derailleurs, push your shifters down i.e. the rear in the 10th speed and the front in the lowest setting. They should both be pointing down. The chain should be in the small ring on the crank and the smallest cog on the cassette in the rear. This is to remove any tension in the chain.
Before you reconnect the rear, turn the barrel adjuster on the derailleur all the way to the right and then 1 full turn to the left. This will allow you to increase the tension in the shifter cable and adjust shifting after it’s connected. Watch these two videos below:
I’ve been replacing my cables ~annually or once every 18 months depending on the bike. With big floppy cable runs, less riding, less storing the bike outdoors, and less sweat, cables will last longer, but I have some extremely tight cable runs on my bike (slammed, short stem pretty much necessitates it), my bikes get ridden a ton, they routinely spend the day sitting on my hitch rack while at work so the heat cycling/UV exposure certainly aren’t helping, I sweat like a pig, and I ride/race in the rain. Even with thorough, regular cleanings the cables housings just start to get some cracking on the OD of the tight cable bends which lets in water/sweat and they start to rust. If it weren’t for the tight cable bend radii then I would be able to get substantially more time out of my housing. The stretching REALLY impairs the longevity.
I work at a bike shop so I can use the facilities for free, perform my own labor, and get the cables/housing for a fraction of the cost that a customer would pay. All of the above means I probably replace my cables more often than the average person should.
Ok being that bikes been new since March. No cracking housing is shiny and shimano but aside from those slightly frayed parts of cable would you reccomend as a client to replace only cable or housing if I’m going to change the bars,
Is the cable frayed at the ends (i.e near the stop in the shifters/brakes or beyond the clamp at the brakes/derailleur) or in the middle of the cable run (I.e along the downtube/top tube if you have external cable routing)? How does the housing look near all of the stops (i.e is it rusted out inside the ferrules)? Do the shifts and braking action feel smooth, and do any of the return springs struggle when the tension on the cable from the levers is removed?
If the cable is only frayed beyond where it is clamped into a brake caliper or a derailleur that’s really more of an aesthetic issue than a functional one. If you have a rather lengthy piece of cable extending beyond the clamps with only the very end frayed you can just cut it slightly shorter (i.e cut it to the end of the non-frayed section) and crimp on a new end piece. Looking at the ends of the housing near the ferrule or the stop can give you clues as to whether there may be any gunk/rust intruding into the interior portion of the housing. Very few bikes use a totally sealed system, so if you have gunk in the general vicinity of a cable stop and the ferrule there’s a decent chance it has gotten onto the cable too. That said, the gunk is really only an issue if your brake/shift performance starts to suffer (i.e the return springs struggle when tension is relieved) so it’s really more of an item to monitor.
It’s fairly clean housing looks perfectly fine. Just figured I am changing the bars it might be worth putting in new freshly coated cables etc.