Derailleur cable quality affect shift performance?

HardwareLust said:

I recently replaced the original Shimano shifter cables
(just the inner wire) with some cheap 'Jagwire' Teflon
coated cables. (My bike currently has 2003 Ultegra.) The
Jagwire cables are thinner, and I swear the I can feel the
difference in shifting performance vs. the Shimano cables,
especially on the front derailleur. Before I changed them,
I was always impressed with how well the action of the
shifter was translated into the derailleur movement. It
seemed very direct and powerful, and now if feels as if
the derailleurs are 'lagging' slightly behind the shifter
a tiny bit. Am I nuts?

Both my front and back derailleurs are adjusted properly,
and the shift as they are supposed to, so I don't think
this is a setup problem.

Maybe I should just go back to real Shimano cables? Can
you buy just the inner wire, or will I have to buy the
whole set up? Or, is there another aftermarket cable (and
housing?) that works as well (or better?) as the original
Shimano ones?

Shimano stainless steel cables are available at every bike
store for ~3 bucks.

However, the Jagwire cable shouldn't be that bad -- sounds
like it's too loose (for la Trek? Sorry), OR your housing(s)
may be gunked up. Dribble some White Lightning thru 'em, and
blow! (But try the cable tension first.)

Bill "off to ride" S.

HardwareLust said:

I recently replaced the original Shimano shifter cables
(just the inner wire) with some cheap 'Jagwire' Teflon
coated cables. (My bike currently has 2003 Ultegra.) The
Jagwire cables are thinner, and I swear the I can feel the
difference in shifting performance vs. the Shimano cables,
especially on the front derailleur. Before I changed them,
I was always impressed with how well the action of the
shifter was translated into the derailleur movement. It
seemed very direct and powerful, and now if feels as if
the derailleurs are 'lagging' slightly behind the shifter
a tiny bit. Am I nuts?

Both my front and back derailleurs are adjusted properly,
and the shift as they are supposed to, so I don't think
this is a setup problem.

Maybe I should just go back to real Shimano cables? Can
you buy just the inner wire, or will I have to buy the
whole set up? Or, is there another aftermarket cable (and
housing?) that works as well (or better?) as the original
Shimano ones?

Shimano stainless steel cables are available at every bike
store for ~3 bucks.

However, the Jagwire cable shouldn't be that bad -- sounds
like it's too loose (for la Trek? Sorry), OR your housing(s)
may be gunked up. Dribble some White Lightning thru 'em, and
blow! (But try the cable tension first.)

Bill "off to ride" S.

S o r n i said:

Shimano stainless steel cables are available at every bike
store for ~3 bucks.

Well, unfortunately that just ain't true where I'm from. I
went to several LBS's and it basically came down to two
choices; ultra-cheap generic shift cables, and the
Jagwire's, but none of them carry actual Shimano brand
cables. That's why I went with the Jagwire's.

Quoted message said:

However, the Jagwire cable shouldn't be that bad -- sounds
like it's too loose (for la Trek? Sorry), OR your
housing(s) may be gunked up. Dribble some White Lightning
thru 'em, and blow! (But try the cable tension first.)

According to the Shimano instructions, I have the cables
tensioned properly, AFAIK. I have a triple, and according to
the Shimano manual, the shift on/off the middle ring is
adjusted by cable tension, and it shifts properly, so I
believe I have it set correctly. I lubed the housing prior
to installation of the new cable with Tri-Flow, so I don't
think that's an issue either. And, the cable braze-on under
the BB is lubed properly, too.

It's not that it's really 'bad', it still shifts pretty much
like it should. It just doesn't 'feel' the same anymore.

Regards,
H.

HardwareLust said:

According to the Shimano instructions, I have the cables
tensioned properly, AFAIK. I have a triple, and according
to the Shimano manual, the shift on/off the middle ring is
adjusted by cable tension, and it shifts properly, so I
believe I have it set correctly.

First, I have no knowledge of these two cables so there
could be a difference.

However, for index shifting systems, a very small
differences of less than 1 mm in cable length that could
affect shifting performance. If the cable is just a fraction
of a millimeter too long, the shift may "lag". This also
depends upon derailleur brands - in prehistoric (pre-index
times), there were "early shifting" "late shifting" and
neutral shifting derailleurs. The early shifters you had to
keep moving the lever after the shift. The neutral ones, no
movement. The late ones, you had to shift, then move the
lever back a little bit.

If you have barrel adjusters, have you tried tightening them
1/4 of a turn to see if the shifting gets "snappier" like it
used to be ??

- Don Gillies San Diego, CA

HardwareLust said:

I recently replaced the original Shimano shifter cables
(just the inner wire) with some cheap 'Jagwire' Teflon
coated cables. (My bike currently has 2003 Ultegra.) The
Jagwire cables are thinner, and I swear the I can feel the
difference in shifting performance vs. the Shimano cables,
especially on the front derailleur. Before I changed them,
I was always impressed with how well the action of the
shifter was translated into the derailleur movement. It
seemed very direct and powerful, and now if feels as if
the derailleurs are 'lagging' slightly behind the shifter
a tiny bit. Am I nuts?

Both my front and back derailleurs are adjusted properly,
and the shift as they are supposed to, so I don't think
this is a setup problem.

Maybe I should just go back to real Shimano cables? Can
you buy just the inner wire, or will I have to buy the
whole set up? Or, is there another aftermarket cable (and
housing?) that works as well (or better?) as the original
Shimano ones?

Clarks cables have a good reputation. That's what's on my
road bike (mainly because the shop I went to only had
Shimano road cables in a kit with outers, which I didn't
need as I have DT shifters and already had a new rear mech
loop). No problems with shifting.

I don't know about Jagwire cables. My advice would be to
stump up the pennies for a genuine Shimano one - they're
only 1.50UKP here so I expect they're about $2 in the US.

"HardwareLust" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I recently replaced the original Shimano shifter cables
(just the inner wire) with some cheap 'Jagwire' Teflon
coated cables. (My bike currently has 2003 Ultegra.) The
Jagwire cables are thinner, and I swear the I can feel
the difference in shifting performance vs. the Shimano
cables, especially on the front derailleur. Before I
changed them, I was always impressed with how well the
action of the shifter was translated into the derailleur
movement. It seemed very direct and powerful, and now if
feels as if the derailleurs are 'lagging' slightly behind
the shifter a tiny

bit.

Quoted message said:

Am I nuts?

Both my front and back derailleurs are adjusted properly,
and the shift as they are supposed to, so I don't think
this is a setup problem.

Maybe I should just go back to real Shimano cables? Can
you buy just the inner wire, or will I have to buy the
whole set up? Or, is there another aftermarket cable (and
housing?) that works as well (or better?) as the original
Shimano ones?

As a general rule, avoid galvanized cables and stick to
anything stainless. I've had cheapo galvanized cables get
sticky on me.

Kyle

On Tue, 18 May 2004 19:39:57 GMT, "HardwareLust" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

has 2003 Ultegra.) The Jagwire cables are thinner, and I
swear the I can feel the difference in shifting performance
vs. the Shimano cables,

...

Quoted message said:

Maybe I should just go back to real Shimano cables? Can you
buy just the inner wire, or will I have to buy the whole
set up? Or, is there another aftermarket cable (and
housing?) that works as well (or better?) as the original
Shimano ones?

It sounds like you replaced the inner cable with a smaller
inner cable but did not replace the housing with a correct
housing. I thought I remember reading recently that there
are two diameters of cable...

The Jagwire cables that came on my bike, in housing of
matching size, feel great to me.
--
Rick Onanian

Quoted message said:

It sounds like you replaced the inner cable with a smaller
inner cable but did not replace the housing with a correct
housing. I thought I remember reading recently that there
are two diameters of cable...

I believe that there is a 5mm and 4mm derailleur housing
diameter, whereas I've only seen 5mm brake housing.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

ZeeExSixAre said:

Quoted message said:

It sounds like you replaced the inner cable with a
smaller inner cable but did not replace the housing with
a correct housing. I thought I remember reading recently
that there are two diameters of cable...

I believe that there is a 5mm and 4mm derailleur housing
diameter, whereas I've only seen 5mm brake housing.

That's a good point, and I hadn't considered that before.
Could the smaller wire in a larger housing cause poor
performance?

Guess I'll have to change them to find out, won't I?
That sucks.

Regards,
H.

ZeeExSixAre said:

Quoted message said:

It sounds like you replaced the inner cable with a
smaller inner cable but did not replace the housing with
a correct housing. I thought I remember reading recently
that there are two diameters of cable...

I believe that there is a 5mm and 4mm derailleur housing
diameter, whereas I've only seen 5mm brake housing.

The 4 or 5 mm deraillleur housing is external diameter only,
I was told. Same internal diameter for the cable.

I've seen 6mm brake housing. With a larger internal
diameter. Maybe there was an attempt to create a new cable
standard years ago?

Dan Daniel said:

The 4 or 5 mm deraillleur housing is external diameter
only, I was told. Same internal diameter for the cable.

Quoted message said:

I've seen 6mm brake housing. With a larger internal
diameter. Maybe there was an attempt to create a new cable
standard years ago?

Seen sometimes on earlier mountain bikes. Probably actually
a propagation from the use of motorcycle brake hardware
(levers) on VERY early mountain bikes, not a "new" standard.
Fits 1.8mm or 2.0mm cable rather than the 1.6mm common now.

On Wed, 19 May 2004 04:25:09 GMT, "HardwareLust" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

That's a good point, and I hadn't considered that before.
Could the smaller wire in a larger housing cause poor
performance?

I made a mistake and bought brake housing at K-mart. I
think it was the "Bell" brand and came with cables and
housing. It was inexpensive. The housing was unlined and,
therefore, wider diameter. The braking deteriorated
immediately and was mushy.

In my experience, most brake housing is 5 mm od and the
lined housing takes whatever normal width brake cable is out
there. I think it is
2. mm.