Shifter Cable End Knobs

For awhile, the lead-ends (knobs) on a MTB shifter cable was slightly
larger than those on road cables. Presumably because the cables
themselves were larger in diameter. I guess the manufacturers were
afraid the smaller road ends wouldn't stand up to the rigors of
"mountain shifting". I think they're all the same size now, I never
really took notice.

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John Everett said:

Do shifter cables come with two (or more) different sized end knobs?

New ones often do. Decent replacement brake cables typically have one
end equipped with a roadie button and the other with an mtb barrel.
Most replacement shifter cables of my experience are similarly
two-natured.

Quoted message said:

When I restored my Peugeot PX10E several years ago I replaced all the
cables. No problem! Then a few years later I replaced the front
derailleur (Simplex "plastic fantastic"😉 and decided to also replace
the cable. The new cable end knob wouldn't fit into the hole in the
shifter. I painstakingly filed down the knob and managed to get it
into the shifter.

You were not the first person to have to do this.

Quoted message said:

I had sort of forgotten about that until a couple of weeks ago when I
was helping someone replace a shifter cable on a MTB. He had bought a
set of "universal bicycle cables" at Walmart (the only place open at
that time in the evening). These are the ones with a shifter knob on
one end and a brake knob on the other. As we replaced the cable we
noticed the shifter end knob was noticably smaller then the one we
removed. I immediately though about my Peugeot.

Thus the question.

Yeesh. Umm, those universal replacement cables are probably less
universal than a lot of people would have liked. Maybe universal for
MTB use, but I'm betting they were useless for brakes on a
roadie...or, for that matter, on an old cruiser with the road-style
brake cable ends.

Wallyworld has sold some cable sets in the past which had [censored] for
shifter housing and not much better than [censored] for brake cable and
housing both. Immediately replacing such brand-new crummy components
with better stuff dramatically improved the brake effectiveness on a
bike I was working on a few months ago.

When it comes to brake cable, in my experience, the lower-end junk is
suitable only for emergency use to get the rider to the nearest place
that has real cable and housing. Using it can degrade brake
effectiveness enough to actually be hazardous.
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John Everett said:

Do shifter cables come with two (or more) different sized end knobs?

Some do, the Clark's we use do..a 'shimano' end and a smaller
'Campagnolo' end. Use the small end for your Siplex shifter.

Quoted message said:

When I restored my Peugeot PX10E several years ago I replaced all the
cables. No problem! Then a few years later I replaced the front
derailleur (Simplex "plastic fantastic"😉 and decided to also replace
the cable. The new cable end knob wouldn't fit into the hole in the
shifter. I painstakingly filed down the knob and managed to get it
into the shifter.

I had sort of forgotten about that until a couple of weeks ago when I
was helping someone replace a shifter cable on a MTB. He had bought a
set of "universal bicycle cables" at Walmart (the only place open at
that time in the evening). These are the ones with a shifter knob on
one end and a brake knob on the other. As we replaced the cable we
noticed the shifter end knob was noticably smaller then the one we
removed. I immediately though about my Peugeot.

Thus the question.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3