Durability Of Aftermarket Shifter Cables?

Can anyone comment on the durability of aftermarket shifter cables?
These would be for a Shimano 10S system. I have recently had one
nearly break that was less than a year old and I think it was
aftermarket. I can't recall having this problem with my other bike
with 9S which used Shimano cables.

The failure mode was broken strands near the shifter. It worked
surprisingly good until a mechanic who was inspecting the bike for the
upcoming MS-150 ride "adjusted" it. I had to readjust it on the way
home. Later I decided to check the cable and sure enough found the
broken strands.

Should I only use Shimano cables in the future?


Thanks,

Steve

On Sep 25, 8:23 pm, Steve Sr. wrote:

The failure mode was broken strands near the shifter. It worked
surprisingly good until a mechanic who was inspecting the bike for the
upcoming MS-150 ride "adjusted" it. I had to readjust it on the way
home. Later I decided to check the cable and sure enough found the
broken strands.

Sounds to me like one of the two recent "adjustments" hosed the cable.

Should I only use Shimano cables in the future?

Shimano is not immune from bad cables:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml05/05102.html

though this recall was for brake cables.

I've used various brands of aftermarket, stainless steel (some Teflon
coated, some not) shifter (and brake) cables and they've all been
fine.

Most of the problems I've had in this area have been with derailleur
housing, not the cable within.

Steve Sr. wrote:
Can anyone comment on the durability of aftermarket shifter cables?
These would be for a Shimano 10S system. I have recently had one
nearly break that was less than a year old and I think it was
aftermarket. I can't recall having this problem with my other bike
with 9S which used Shimano cables.

The failure mode was broken strands near the shifter. It worked
surprisingly good until a mechanic who was inspecting the bike for the
upcoming MS-150 ride "adjusted" it. I had to readjust it on the way
home. Later I decided to check the cable and sure enough found the
broken strands.

Should I only use Shimano cables in the future?

Not necessarily. It usually isn't the wire itself, rather the crunched
plastic ferrule or some such. Check that and maybe replace the complete
cable, not just the wire.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Sep 26, 9:23 am, Steve Sr. wrote:
Can anyone comment on the durability of aftermarket shifter cables?
These would be for a Shimano 10S system. I have recently had one
nearly break that was less than a year old and I think it was
aftermarket. I can't recall having this problem with my other bike
with 9S which used Shimano cables.

The failure mode was broken strands near the shifter. It worked
surprisingly good until a mechanic who was inspecting the bike for the
upcoming MS-150 ride "adjusted" it. I had to readjust it on the way
home. Later I decided to check the cable and sure enough found the
broken strands.

Should I only use Shimano cables in the future?

Thanks,

Steve

I replace my rear shift cable every 4 months and front every 6 months
unless I notice broken strands earlier (800km/month, all weather
commuting). If I let them go longer than that, they will break within
a month or two. Maybe I just shift too much...

Steve Sr. wrote in
:
Can anyone comment on the durability of aftermarket shifter cables?
These would be for a Shimano 10S system. I have recently had one
nearly break that was less than a year old and I think it was
aftermarket. I can't recall having this problem with my other bike
with 9S which used Shimano cables.

How many miles in 1 year? If you ride a lot, replacing cables every year is
a good idea. Indexed shifting cables do have a tendency to snap inside the
shift lever, where you can't easily inspect it.

Steve Sr. wrote:
Can anyone comment on the durability of aftermarket shifter cables?
These would be for a Shimano 10S system. I have recently had one
nearly break that was less than a year old and I think it was
aftermarket. I can't recall having this problem with my other bike
with 9S which used Shimano cables.

The failure mode was broken strands near the shifter. It worked
surprisingly good until a mechanic who was inspecting the bike for the
upcoming MS-150 ride "adjusted" it. I had to readjust it on the way
home. Later I decided to check the cable and sure enough found the
broken strands.

Should I only use Shimano cables in the future?

tiborg wrote:
I replace my rear shift cable every 4 months and front every 6 months
unless I notice broken strands earlier (800km/month, all weather
commuting). If I let them go longer than that, they will break within
a month or two. Maybe I just shift too much...

Gee, that seems extreme. 1-3 years is more typical.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

"A Muzi" wrote in message
...
Steve Sr. wrote:
Can anyone comment on the durability of aftermarket shifter cables?
These would be for a Shimano 10S system. I have recently had one
nearly break that was less than a year old and I think it was
aftermarket. I can't recall having this problem with my other bike
with 9S which used Shimano cables.

The failure mode was broken strands near the shifter. It worked
surprisingly good until a mechanic who was inspecting the bike for the
upcoming MS-150 ride "adjusted" it. I had to readjust it on the way
home. Later I decided to check the cable and sure enough found the
broken strands.

Should I only use Shimano cables in the future?

tiborg wrote:
I replace my rear shift cable every 4 months and front every 6 months
unless I notice broken strands earlier (800km/month, all weather
commuting). If I let them go longer than that, they will break within
a month or two. Maybe I just shift too much...

Gee, that seems extreme. 1-3 years is more typical.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

With my DuraAce I try to replace the right cable every 2500 miles. Never had
a left cable fail. If I forget, the right fails by 3000. I've had the same
experience with both 8 and 9 speed. Now I have a bike with 10 speed Force.
Any input on the cable replacement interval for the right shifter?

One footnote. Dripping energy drink makes a sticky mess under the bottom
bracket that can have a real effect on shifting. I have wondered in the
additional tension is a source of premature cable failure.
Bill

On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:49:52 GMT, Bill wrote:

With my DuraAce I try to replace the right cable every 2500 miles. Never had
a left cable fail. If I forget, the right fails by 3000. I've had the same
experience with both 8 and 9 speed.

My experience with 9-speed Ultegra is that the shifter cables were fine for
about 20,000 miles, at which point I replaced both of them; there was no
visible wear or fraying on the old ones.

But I clean and lube the cable paths about once a week, which might help
extend their life.

On 2007-09-26, Michael Warner wrote:
On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:49:52 GMT, Bill wrote:

With my DuraAce I try to replace the right cable every 2500 miles. Never had
a left cable fail. If I forget, the right fails by 3000. I've had the same
experience with both 8 and 9 speed.

My experience with 9-speed Ultegra is that the shifter cables were fine for
about 20,000 miles, at which point I replaced both of them; there was no
visible wear or fraying on the old ones.

But I clean and lube the cable paths about once a week, which might help
extend their life.

I must be fantastically lucky. I changed out the cables on my 9 speed
DuraAce bike this year just because they had 16,000 miles on them and I
thought that was long enough. They still looked fine to me. And
while I clean and lube the shifters and derailleurs when I feel the urge
to have a clean bike, I don't do much of anything in particular for
the cables. I haven't had a failure for a long time.

Dennis Ferguson

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:15:50 -0500, A Muzi
wrote:

Steve Sr. wrote:
Can anyone comment on the durability of aftermarket shifter cables?
These would be for a Shimano 10S system. I have recently had one
nearly break that was less than a year old and I think it was
aftermarket. I can't recall having this problem with my other bike
with 9S which used Shimano cables.

The failure mode was broken strands near the shifter. It worked
surprisingly good until a mechanic who was inspecting the bike for the
upcoming MS-150 ride "adjusted" it. I had to readjust it on the way
home. Later I decided to check the cable and sure enough found the
broken strands.

Should I only use Shimano cables in the future?

Not necessarily. It usually isn't the wire itself, rather the crunched
plastic ferrule or some such. Check that and maybe replace the complete
cable, not just the wire.

In this case it was the inner wire. The outer casing and plastic
ferrule was fine. I haven't had to replace an outer casing in a while
(ever on this bike) in about 13K miles.

Steve