Nokon cables

Bhima
Bhima Posts: 2,145
edited May 2010 in Road buying advice
Worth the money?

Smoother shifting?
Longer life?

How do they work? How are they better?

For the full advantage, I assume I'd need to get, both, the inner and outer cables together?

I'm going to start building up an expensive Record/Super Record beast soon. Despite it being a ridiculously flamboyant bike, I'm not prepared to spend extra cash on it unless I can actually feel the advantages.

My current Athena carbon monster is pretty damn smooth, but i'm thinking Nokon cables could greatly extend the time between maintainance. Certainly, higher-end components seem to be much much more durable.

Comments

  • BigG67
    BigG67 Posts: 582
    Cant comment too much as I only had them for 4 months (long story but not the cables fault).

    But for what it's worth I didn't notice too much difference over Jagwire and they are pricey. They do however look really cool and you can get some tight curves on them.

    One thing is to check that whoever fits them really knows what they are doing. The LBS that fitted mine had no idea and I found out later had done it all wrong (part of the long story). And that they can be a little strange on Shimano shifters that don't have internal cable runs....

    http://www.sindoe.dk/pics/nokon.jpg

    EDIT: sorry just seen you're going Campag. I'll leave the Shimano comment on for anyone else looking at this.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    I use a small section of Nokon at my rear mech, but only because of a special condition
    that's sort of hard to explain. In any case I don't feel they are worth the extra money over standard cables. Now for bling - showoff value, well, that's another story. If you're OCP...........
  • APIII
    APIII Posts: 2,010
    They rattle like a b*stard. Shifting has been slightly smoother, but the real adavntage is the the tight curves that can be achieved for any awkward set ups. Worth the money? No. Do they look pimp? Definitely.
  • EKIMIKE
    EKIMIKE Posts: 2,232
    It seems to me that Nokons end up going all 'zigzaggy' after a while and they look sh1te then. Perfect example:

    Sam_Schultz_Superfly_Nokon-798-75.jpg

    Yokozuna Cables are supposed to be where it's at. Maybe not so bling but good quality shifting and particularly good brake housing from what i've heard.
    Canyon Endurace CF 2014 | Canyon Ultimate CF 2010
  • BigG67
    BigG67 Posts: 582
    You can smooth them out to be fair when they go like that....but do you really need that kind of hassle from cables?

    And you need to be careful on potential rub points, the metal casings will strip an coating off in a few weeks.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Rattling Nokons - that's down to poor installation / poor maintenance - get the cable tensions right and they'll sit tight and sweet. Have a set on my race bike - pretty impossible to get the tight cable runs with anything else - and haven't needed to touch them since - they are fit and forget. Big upside too is that they don't scuff your paint like conventional cables as they twist as they move. Downside is the time to fit them, but when you only do it once every few years, what's the problem? FWIW I run some i-links on another bike - they aren't anything like as durable and far easier to break - the liner is cheap and horrible too.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • APIII
    APIII Posts: 2,010
    Monty Dog wrote:
    Rattling Nokons - that's down to poor installation / poor maintenance - get the cable tensions right and they'll sit tight and sweet. Have a set on my race bike - pretty impossible to get the tight cable runs with anything else - and haven't needed to touch them since - they are fit and forget. Big upside too is that they don't scuff your paint like conventional cables as they twist as they move. Downside is the time to fit them, but when you only do it once every few years, what's the problem? FWIW I run some i-links on another bike - they aren't anything like as durable and far easier to break - the liner is cheap and horrible too.

    Not really Monty. The bike I had them fitted on has a pretty fat headtube and it's impossible to keep the cable away from it.
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Had them and they were a waste of money - see comments about bling etc above. If I still have them you are welcome to them (I'll pm you) but prob. better to use Gore cables or just replace the standard cables every 12-18mnths
    M.Rushton
  • synchronicity
    synchronicity Posts: 1,415
    I think the general consensus is that the nokon brand requires more maintenance. Have a look a vertebrae; we are specifically marketing them to be more durable with a longer service interval. There's no need to lube the cables for a start.
    vertebr.ae | precision braking & shifting

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