Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
  • 1x Gear Cable – What's best..?
  • Stan_Dingup
    Free Member

    I may be missing something obvious (has happened) but there doesn’t seem to be much around for 1x gear cables.

    Have just ordered a Pace RC127 so need full length outer to run a 1×11 XT rear mech. I can only find the XT M8000 gear cable set as a front/rear set and while I appreciate I can just take the rear cable out of the pack and use that it seems a bit of a waste.

    I’d prefer to go for something premium like a Nokon or Jagwire Elite set up but again these only seem to come as a set including front and rear unless I buy separate parts (Links/Outer sheath/inner cable) from ebay which come out more expensive that a full set!

    Am I missing something obvious or should I just get over trying to bling up a gear cable and get some SP41 and a stainless inner and use what has been the standard (for good reason) for the last decade or so..?

    daern
    Free Member

    Being honest, I use a big box of Clarks sleeved cable and change it really often. Dirt cheap and works really well. I’ve used expensive outers in the past, and honestly, find that frequent changes are better than expensive cables.

    YMMV.

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    Last paragraph! 😀

    as per daern, get a roll of SP41 and a small stack of gear cables and ferrules and you’re sorted for ages, for about the cost of 1.5 fantsy pants sets.

    Edit – just checked daern’s link. looks good! 1/3 the price of SP41 last time I looked.

    steel4real
    Free Member

    Exactly !

    Shimano SP41 can be bought by the metre online and paired with the stainless inner wire has never let me down – on most of my bikes it stays in place for 2 years or more before replacing.

    You don’t need anything special for 1x.

    spawnofyorkshire
    Full Member

    SP41 outers + whatever PTFE coated inner is on offer

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    Not worth buying online by the metre – you’ll end up paying more for the cable per m you buy, more for the postage, and keep chucking away 30-40cm every time.

    Spare inners, outer are well worth having at home. Along with brake pads, chain and cassette.

    Stan_Dingup
    Free Member

    Fair enough; I had a suspicion I was over thinking it.

    I’ve looked at fancy pants cables for every bike build I’ve done over the last 10 years or so and always decided that the price didn’t justify the longevity over changing cables regularly.

    I though 1x would be half the buy in cost (not to mention adding some bling to my new bike) but it appears not…

    Looks like SP41 it is then.

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    Or the Clarks! I’ll be getting that when I’m through my current lot of SP41, probably in about 48 hours’ time when my new shifter arrives.

    DezB
    Free Member

    I’ve got the polymer coated Dura Ace cable on my Tripster – used pretty much every day in all weathers and the shifting is as smooth as when I fitted it nearly 2 years ago. It doesn’t even look tarnished.
    Thinking I should change it just cos it’s old!

    [edit]Bling? Get coloured ones 😆 http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-road-gear-cable-set-with-polymer-coated-inners/

    Stan_Dingup
    Free Member

    They still come as a set though!

    I appreciate 1x is relatively new but it’s hardly bleeding edge bike tech is it?

    Just seems weird as the sort of people that have gone 1×11 are likely to be the sort of people that would be the target market for fancy pants cable kits yet no one seems to be selling a 1x kit.

    And Ned, I fully appreciate that the Clarks kit is probably functionally indistinguishable from Shimano (and better value) but my bike snob side just won’t let me.

    Right now, back to google image search to work out whether Hope or Thomson’s particular shade of black stem better offsets Pace’s baby blue paint…

    cp
    Full Member

    SP41 outer and shimano stainless inners at 1.69 works a treat for me:-

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-stainless-steel-gear-inner-wire/

    dannyh
    Free Member

    Whatever you can get plenty of that’s relatively cheap. If you store it carefully, it should last ages. A quick blast through the outer with WD40 every so often helps (make sure the other end isn’t pointing at any braking apparatus).

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    but my bike snob side just won’t let me

    Fully understood! 😀

    How will you be able to enjoy the delightful sheen of beuatuful babby blue paint and immaculate Thomson machining on your stem if all you can think is “But my cable outers are… Clarks.”

    orangeboy
    Free Member

    Not sure how easy it would be to find online but at work we use a lot of halt branded cables and casing and it works far better than the Clark’s we used to use as that seemed a bit variable in quality.

    For inner cable sram pit stop stainless 1.1 mm has always been my preference other that gore but that’s less comonn now

    andy4d
    Full Member

    +1 for wot cp said. Always worked for me. That said, I have just gone for some Shimano optislik cables and outers for a change.

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