Ultra noob break/gear cable question...

cyclecon
cyclecon Posts: 15
edited October 2013 in Workshop
Hi all,
Well today my new shifter/brake lever combos arrived (mtb ones) and perhaps naively expected them to be pretty much plug and play.... but I only have two long cable covers and one short one where i need two medium length ones and several shorter bits. I have been sent some metal fixings with them, am i to assume that i need to cut the to size myself? O.o I also have way to much brake cable cover, would that double up as gear cable covering if i run short?

Part of me just wants to cut it and get on with it, but i keep getting that measure twice, cut once thing in stuck in
my head lol

Cheers,

Connor

Comments

  • cyclecon
    cyclecon Posts: 15
    couldnt wait so got on with it anyway :lol: went ok but ran out of gear cable cover so substituted with brake cable cover and it worked like a charm :) just have to tune the gears and it'll be ready for a test ride tomorrow!
  • Lewiy
    Lewiy Posts: 8
    I guess it’s a bit late now, but yes, you cut to length yourself and mixing/matching shouldn’t generally be an issue unless your brake and gear cables are different diameters. I’m surprised that you ran out of outer cable though, normally you get plenty enough supplied with the shifters. Did you measure up against the existing cable?
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    They generally supply cable kits like that so you can cut them to suit any bike. Brake cables are thicker than gear cables, and the brake outers are designed to withstand the greater forces they are subjected to. You can probably get away with using brake outer for the gear cabling in places, but never the other way round. Also if you have a mixture of metal and plastic ferrules, the metal ones are usually for the where the brake outers meet the frame stops.

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