changing gear cable advice

redvision

so whilst out on a ride today my gear cable snapped (right shifter) and so i had to bail out and get a lift home :oops:

i have new gear cable and am going to attempt to fit it myself.

i have watched this youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za3Z_GHXCAw
but he says you need to change the cable housing at the same time. is this necessary?? i assumed i could just thread the cable through and then tighten it??

any tips on how to make putting a new cable on would be much appreciated.

cheers

rpd_steve

Replacing the housing or 'outter' cable is not always required. They wear with time (as do the inner) as the low friction liner is worn away and dirt/muck ingress to prevent smooth movement. If the outer is in good condition then there is no reason you cannot simply thread a new inner cable through.

Snapped gear cables are rare though. They are not under great load - so look into why it broke. Look at where it did and check the outer is in good condition there. Once you re-fit it is a case of indexing the gears - loads of vids and demos if you search for 'rear gear indexing'

redvision

thanks for your reply.

it actually snapped in the shifter! i have finally managed to get the end of the cable which was stuck in the shifter out (has taken ages though).

everything in the shifter looks fine as does the cable housing - from what i can see anyway.
any idea why it would suddenly snap??

esd

I think it usually snaps at the shifter...its where the cable is under most stress...joint with the lead metal stopper at the end

If outer still fexible then no need to replace...if gone fairly solid replace ...cheap anyway..

Check the rear deraill outer cable for stiffness as well...it gets the most crud...

have fun....

redvision

esd wrote:

I think it usually snaps at the shifter...its where the cable is under most stress...joint with the lead metal stopper at the end

If outer still fexible then no need to replace...if gone fairly solid replace ...cheap anyway..

Check the rear deraill outer cable for stiffness as well...it gets the most crud...

have fun....

will do.

thanks for the advice.

desweller

I would always replace the outer housing if I'm doing any work on the cables.

1. It's the part that affects shifting the most as it degrades
2. It's virtually impossible to assess its condition by looking at it
2. When removing the old cable, you can easily draw contaminants into the housing and permanently affect shiftng with the new cable.

For the sake of a couple of quid, why wouldn't you do it.