Replacing cables and housing

bing gordon

I'm changing shifters from a Dura Ace 7801 to a 7900 and re-routing the shifter cable & housing so it runs under the bar tape and replace both cables and housing while I'm at it

Do you have use different size housing for the gears and brakes ? 4mm and 5mm ? or can you use 4mm for both ?

ugo.santalucia

No, you can't

The brake cable won't fit in the gear housing... if it did, you would die, as the outer is not designed to be squeezed hard. Basically the gear outer is compressionless, but it's not clad in kevlar like a brake compressionless outer, so it would rip open the first time you brake hard

bing gordon

thanks, I've never installed new shifters, cable and housing at the same time so it's all new to me. The one thing I will miss is the little dura ace gear indicater thing from my old 7801 shifters, after all these years I would still look down at it when approaching a hill just to make sure I had another gear left to drop to

shortfall

Hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs but make sure you have some decent cable cutters. Pliers etc are usually crap and will flatten the cable and generally leave rough edges and make a pigs arse out of it.

keef66

Shortfall wrote:

Hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs but make sure you have some decent cable cutters. Pliers etc are usually crap and will flatten the cable and generally leave rough edges and make a pigs ars* out of it.

If not, a Dremel with a cutting disc is a very neat way of cutting and finishing outers. No crushing / sharp ends.

bing gordon

I have some good quality cable cutters I got from Screwfix awhile back

keef66

I still tidy up my cut ends with the Dremel; curiously satisfying!

on-yer-bike

bing gordon wrote:

I have some good quality cable cutters I got from Screwfix awhile back

You need bicycle cable cutters they are different and cost much more money. Otherwise you may well experience the cable unwinding and becoming useless. Especially the brake cable.