Shimano sti 5600 gear cable snapped again

johnnyL

Hi all,

The gear cable for my right hand Shimano 5600 sti gear lever snapped again for the 3rd time this year.

It snapped in the same place just inside the shifter itself. Its always seems to shift OK without any friction and I couldn't see anything in the shifter itself that might be cutting the cable.

Wondering if anyone else has had the same problem with these shifters? How long are cables supposed to last for?


Cheers

sungod

cables should last a lot longer than that!

if it's snapping in the same place inside the shifter, then assuming it's installed ok, if it isn't the shifter...

check that the end of the ferrule is smooth, no nicks or distorted edges

check the outer is cut cleanly, round not oval/other shape, no wires rubbing on the cable

BillyMansell

I had the same problem just yesterday with an Ultegra SL (6600?) shifter. Was 15 miles from home so screwed the rear mech up to the 7th sprocket so I had two usable gears to get home.

The cable had covered 4,000 miles and had been checked 1,200 miles ago when serviced before the bike was hung up for winter. No obvious signs for failure (i.e. sharp edges within lever, ferrule or outer casing) but clearly a gradual failure of wires from the outside in.

I've now installed a stainless cable with an extra drop of Rock and Roll Cable Magic ahead of the nipple to hopefully reduce the effects of cable friction and flex within the lever.

Monty Dog

It's a common problem with STI's - not that they'd ever admit as such.

johnnyL

Thanks for all the feedback.

After doing some research it does appear that I'm not the only one with the same issue.

I guess I'll have keep an eye on the cable. Lucky I had a spare one handy when the last one broke.

Is there different grades or strengths of cables? I just used the standard Shimano one and wondered if there's stronger ones out there and if cables from other manufacturers would fit ok?

Cheers