On Monday, April 17, 2017 at 5:54:52 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 4/17/2017 7:38 PM, wrote:
Could be a bike cable problem but actually a guitar string problem. In another life I repair guitars and play them. I hold a thought give I see this happen.

Guitar strings when new stretch out and eventually are at yield. Then they stay pretty stable. But I have seen guitar strings left on guitars many years never played and over time through corrosion the strings actually will pull more tension against the neck.

I base this on some observations but do I have a leg to stand on from science. I say strings start going bad, rust and corrosion cause them to be less flexible and they can start exerting more tension.

What do you think. Could apply to cables on bikes too or even chain.


I wouldn't know about guitar strings but bicycle control
cables do not stretch.

Wires do fray and corrode, heads pull off (rarely now),
casing suffers a host of maladies but wires do not stretch.

This is because they are under nothing like the forces on a guitar string. And of course they stretch a little. If you recall after mounting them and going through the gears under pressure you have to take up a turn on the adjustment.

No twisted wire - even Campy or Shimano DuraAce - are pulled tightly after being finished. So there is a slight amount of give though because of such small loading it is difficult to notice after you've been around them for awhile.

I now use only the highest grade and when first mounted I do it by eye and they work perfectly. Then after one ride you have to take a turn on the adjustment screw without fail. But the front derailleur has more spring tension on it and doesn't appear to require these adjustments.