Changing cables

[qcamel]

Hi Folks

Bit by bit I am learning to maintain and service my own bike and with the help of the Zinn Mountain Bike Book I am enjoying the experience. I now want to change the rear gear cable on my 2009 P7 that runs Shimano xtr but dont know how to go about ordering the correct cable. Do I buy any cable, cut to length and pass through existing outer housings or is there a bike specific kit to use? Advice would be most appreciated.

Cheers

Ollie

[Steve Kish]

Any decent rear inner cable will be fine. You can buy individual Shimano ones but make sure that they don’t roll it up too tightly.

Make sure that the nylon lining of the outer is cleaned and slightly lubed (GT85) and just assemble carefully with no kinks. If it’s looking ropey, buy new outer as well but you’d need to cut and finish the ends nicely – I use a Dremel.

Have the lot running and indexing correctly before finally chopping the cable and capping it.

If you enjoy this kinda stuff, this is one of the better ‘fiddle a bit to get it right’ exercises! 8)

[qcamel]

Thankyou Steve, and am I therefore right in thinking that a cable is a cable, not xtr or deore or different brand specific?

Ollie

[tomlevell]

Yup but make sure it’s a gear cable and not a brake cable as they are thicker and have different ends.

There are different specs of gear cables available but if your not having problems just get a normal one.

As a matter of course I replace all outers and ferrules and end caps but then mine tend to be pretty ropey by the time I do that.

What’s the problem with your gears as that might lead you to needing to change the outers too.

Out of adjustment?

Stiff to use?

If your cutting outer you really want some proper cable cutters. I use a Park one as they are cantilvered for more leverage to get through the outer. They also cause far less fraying on the cable too. Well worth the investment if your going to do it regularly.

[qcamel]

Thanks for the further update. The only problem I have is that the end after the gear hanger is very frayed and I suspect will cause an issue sooner rather than later, thought a bit or preventative work might be good. Cable is running well and all outers look fine.

I have ordered the xtr cable from Wiggle, so will fit this weekend… Keep your eyes open, I may be back if it all goes wrong.. 😯

[BigBadJohn118]

Good luck, Hope all Goes Well. 😀

[qcamel]

Good Friday is a good one today, got the time to change the cable and found the job really simple, also spend some time then fiddling with the adjustment and think I have got it spot on. Thanks for the advice and guidance.

[tomlevell]

Well done.

It will probably go out of adjustment after a few rides as the cable will stretch. Reset it up and then you should be sorted.