Replace shifter cable

On Thu, 28 Mar 2019 18:14:15 -0700 (PDT), Steve Weeks
wrote:

On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 5:48:16 PM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:

The tech told me that my shifter cables were the metal type and that they stretched over time.

They have new ones that do not stretch.

Metal bike cables do not stretch to any measurable degree. Other stuff
can happen to them, but not measurable stretch.

While shift cables probably don't stretch, per se, I have noticed that
after installing a new cable and adjusting the shifting on the stand
that quite often after riding the bike for a few miles the shifters,
i.e. cables, require a bit of adjustment, usually tightening a click
or two on the adjustment.

Yes, I've noticed that too. I believe it comes from the cable taking
several shifting cycles to settle into its equilibrium position in the
housing where it goes around curves.

- Frank Krygowski

This^^
As the cable inner "beds in" to the plastic lining the outer sheath, around curves, the inner becomes relatively longer in relation to the sheath. After initial settling in has occurred and been compensated for, things can be quite stable for a long time. Metal cable inners (and AFAIK they're *all* metal) can stretch slightly, but as they're subjected to tension well below their elastic limit, the stretch is completely reversible and doesn't amount to much.

I doubt that a shift cable actually stretches in use on a bicycle as
it has a minimum breaking strength in the neighborhood of 240 lbs.

(or so says Loos & Co. cable company :-)



--
cheers,

John B.

On Fri, 29 Mar 2019 02:22:13 +0000 (UTC), Ralph Barone
wrote:

wrote:
On Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:04:44 -0700 (PDT), AK
wrote:

On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 11:27:08 AM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/28/2019 10:04 AM, AK wrote:
I took my bike to a shop to have the shifter adjusted.

Often when I shifted to a new gear, I would hear a clicking sound.

The tech told me that my shifter cables were the metal type and that
they stretched over time.

They have new ones that do not stretch.

I saw a video on replacing the cable and it looks like something I can do.

What are your thoughts?

Andrew and Jay have given your answers. I'll just add that I wonder
where the "tech" guy got his ideas.

It may be that he's like most guys, vulnerable to what Jobst used to
call the "male answer syndrome" - just make something up based on
whatever limited knowledge you may have, but never admit that you may
not know.

It also may be that he's got something he really wants to sell, and
recognizes that he can snag people with a fanciful sales pitch.

Metal bike cables do not stretch to any measurable degree. Other stuff
can happen to them, but not measurable stretch.


--
- Frank Krygowski

He told me it would be expensive to replace the cable. So I don't think
he was trying to sell me something.

He charged $10 for the adjustment which I thought was fair.

Andy

Well, in California the minimum salary is, I believe, $12/hour so $10
is nearly an hour's wages for a job that probably takes 10 minutes,
call it 15 minutes, that would be $40 an hour. Fair?
--
cheers,

John B.


Except if it's a shop, there's overheads. Typical rule of thumb is that an
employee costs twice what you pay them, so it's a half hour's costs for a
job that takes 10 minutes.

Our consulting Division supplied a lot of specialists in various
skills and the usual rule of thumb for calculating billing costs was
to use twice the individual's salary. This would normally cover
medical and life insurance, living allowance and air ticket to home of
record at contract completion as well as local taxes and profit and
overhead.

It wasn't a cast iron figure but did serve well when someone asked
what we'd charge to supply an XYZ consultant.
--
cheers,

John B.

On 3/28/2019 9:22 PM, Ralph Barone wrote:
wrote:
On Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:04:44 -0700 (PDT), AK
wrote:

On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 11:27:08 AM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/28/2019 10:04 AM, AK wrote:
I took my bike to a shop to have the shifter adjusted.

Often when I shifted to a new gear, I would hear a clicking sound.

The tech told me that my shifter cables were the metal type and that
they stretched over time.

They have new ones that do not stretch.

I saw a video on replacing the cable and it looks like something I can do.

What are your thoughts?

Andrew and Jay have given your answers. I'll just add that I wonder
where the "tech" guy got his ideas.

It may be that he's like most guys, vulnerable to what Jobst used to
call the "male answer syndrome" - just make something up based on
whatever limited knowledge you may have, but never admit that you may
not know.

It also may be that he's got something he really wants to sell, and
recognizes that he can snag people with a fanciful sales pitch.

Metal bike cables do not stretch to any measurable degree. Other stuff
can happen to them, but not measurable stretch.

He told me it would be expensive to replace the cable. So I don't think
he was trying to sell me something.

He charged $10 for the adjustment which I thought was fair.

Well, in California the minimum salary is, I believe, $12/hour so $10
is nearly an hour's wages for a job that probably takes 10 minutes,
call it 15 minutes, that would be $40 an hour. Fair?

Except if it's a shop, there's overheads. Typical rule of thumb is that an
employee costs twice what you pay them, so it's a half hour's costs for a
job that takes 10 minutes.


And property taxes, mortgage/rent, utilities, insurance,
tools/supplies/equipment and much more. The 'cost' is not
'employee take home pay'.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 29/03/2019 9:12 a.m., AMuzi wrote:
On 3/28/2019 9:22 PM, Ralph Barone wrote:
wrote:
On Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:04:44 -0700 (PDT), AK
wrote:

On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 11:27:08 AM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski
wrote:
On 3/28/2019 10:04 AM, AK wrote:
I took my bike to a shop to have the shifter adjusted.

Often when I shifted to a new gear, I would hear a clicking sound.

The tech told me that my shifter cables were the metal type and that
they stretched over time.

They have new ones that do not stretch.

I saw a video on replacing the cable and it looks like something I
can do.

What are your thoughts?

Andrew and Jay have given your answers. I'll just add that I wonder
where the "tech" guy got his ideas.

It may be that he's like most guys, vulnerable to what Jobst used to
call the "male answer syndrome" - just make something up based on
whatever limited knowledge you may have, but never admit that you may
not know.

It also may be that he's got something he really wants to sell, and
recognizes that he can snag people with a fanciful sales pitch.

Metal bike cables do not stretch to any measurable degree. Other stuff
can happen to them, but not measurable stretch.

He told me it would be expensive to replace the cable. So I don't think
he was trying to sell me something.

He charged $10 for the adjustment which I thought was fair.

Well, in California the minimum salary is, I believe, $12/hour so $10
is nearly an hour's wages for a job that probably takes 10 minutes,
call it 15 minutes, that would be $40 an hour. Fair?

Except if it's a shop, there's overheads. Typical rule of thumb is
that an
employee costs twice what you pay them, so it's a half hour's costs for a
job that takes 10 minutes.


And property taxes, mortgage/rent, utilities, insurance,
tools/supplies/equipment and much more.Â* The 'cost' is not 'employee
take home pay'.


And no one is in business to earn back only costs. There has to be some
profit. I typically work on POs where the client is billed 4 times my
salary. I think that's standard.

10 bucks to set the bike up and adjust the cable seems like a pretty
decent price. My LBS would probably not charge that little as I think
they have a 1/2 hour minimum labor charge. For some small adjustment
like that they would typically not bill me at all but I buy my bikes
from them.

On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 12:38:04 PM UTC-7, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 9:22:24 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/28/2019 11:49 AM, wrote:


The most successful lubricants I've used are wax based. They usually have to dry overnight as well. Some people such a Frank seem to have successfully used actual wax such as candle wax but my testing hasn't shown the least advantage.

The stuff I use is paraffin wax sold for things like canning jelly. Mine
is blended with a small amount of oil. I don't know if this wax is
what's used in candles - perhaps it is. But a one pound box of canning
paraffin is super cheap and lasts at least ten years, so I've never
fussed around with candles.

No wax on modern shift cables with lined housing. That would just gum it up. Usually nothing, and maybe some TriFlow or light, light non-gumming lubricant.

-- Jay Beattie.

Jay - that question on cables was answered and he had a secondary question on chain lube.

On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 1:04:46 PM UTC-7, AK wrote:
On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 11:27:08 AM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/28/2019 10:04 AM, AK wrote:
I took my bike to a shop to have the shifter adjusted.

Often when I shifted to a new gear, I would hear a clicking sound.

The tech told me that my shifter cables were the metal type and that they stretched over time.

They have new ones that do not stretch.

I saw a video on replacing the cable and it looks like something I can do.

What are your thoughts?

Andrew and Jay have given your answers. I'll just add that I wonder
where the "tech" guy got his ideas.

It may be that he's like most guys, vulnerable to what Jobst used to
call the "male answer syndrome" - just make something up based on
whatever limited knowledge you may have, but never admit that you may
not know.

It also may be that he's got something he really wants to sell, and
recognizes that he can snag people with a fanciful sales pitch.

Metal bike cables do not stretch to any measurable degree. Other stuff
can happen to them, but not measurable stretch.


--
- Frank Krygowski

He told me it would be expensive to replace the cable. So I don't think he was trying to sell me something.

He charged $10 for the adjustment which I thought was fair.

Andy


well, the best cable set - Campy Ultrashift entire set is about $50 without a commercial markup. It's about an hour's labor to install. I don't know what the going rate is these days but I would imagine in to out for $100.

On 3/29/2019 10:24 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 1:04:46 PM UTC-7, AK wrote:
On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 11:27:08 AM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/28/2019 10:04 AM, AK wrote:
I took my bike to a shop to have the shifter adjusted.

Often when I shifted to a new gear, I would hear a clicking sound.

The tech told me that my shifter cables were the metal type and that they stretched over time.

They have new ones that do not stretch.

I saw a video on replacing the cable and it looks like something I can do.

What are your thoughts?

Andrew and Jay have given your answers. I'll just add that I wonder
where the "tech" guy got his ideas.

It may be that he's like most guys, vulnerable to what Jobst used to
call the "male answer syndrome" - just make something up based on
whatever limited knowledge you may have, but never admit that you may
not know.

It also may be that he's got something he really wants to sell, and
recognizes that he can snag people with a fanciful sales pitch.

Metal bike cables do not stretch to any measurable degree. Other stuff
can happen to them, but not measurable stretch.


--
- Frank Krygowski

He told me it would be expensive to replace the cable. So I don't think he was trying to sell me something.

He charged $10 for the adjustment which I thought was fair.

Andy


well, the best cable set - Campy Ultrashift entire set is about $50 without a commercial markup. It's about an hour's labor to install. I don't know what the going rate is these days but I would imagine in to out for $100.


As Jay noted already, classic steel bikes or Bianchi carbon
bikes are one thing but many popular modern carbon frames
are quite another. Two hours is not an unusually long cable
installation nowadays.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 3/29/2019 1:02 PM, AMuzi wrote:

As Jay noted already, classic steel bikes or Bianchi carbon bikes are
one thing but many popular modern carbon frames are quite another. Two
hours is not an unusually long cable installation nowadays.


Wow, that surprises me. Can you tell us what, specifically, eats up the
time?

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 2:19:38 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/29/2019 1:02 PM, AMuzi wrote:

As Jay noted already, classic steel bikes or Bianchi carbon bikes are
one thing but many popular modern carbon frames are quite another. Two
hours is not an unusually long cable installation nowadays.


Wow, that surprises me. Can you tell us what, specifically, eats up the
time?

--
- Frank Krygowski

If I understand modern bikes it's the internal gear cable routing. Apparently feeding the cable through the tunnels is NOT he easiest thing to do. Ah, isn't progress great? LOL VBEG

My old school steel frames can have gear cable replaced withing minutes.

Cheers

On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 1:23:33 PM UTC-5, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 2:19:38 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/29/2019 1:02 PM, AMuzi wrote:

As Jay noted already, classic steel bikes or Bianchi carbon bikes are
one thing but many popular modern carbon frames are quite another. Two
hours is not an unusually long cable installation nowadays.


Wow, that surprises me. Can you tell us what, specifically, eats up the
time?

--
- Frank Krygowski

If I understand modern bikes it's the internal gear cable routing. Apparently feeding the cable through the tunnels is NOT he easiest thing to do. Ah, isn't progress great? LOL VBEG

My old school steel frames can have gear cable replaced withing minutes.

Cheers

Looks pretty straight forward.

"https://www.bicycling.com/repair/a20026583/replace-your-bikes-shifter-cables-in-9-simple-steps/"