ok, i've just read a few previous topics on gear cables and what not but couldn't find the answers i was looking for.

every six months or so my inner cable will pop out of the outer at what is a weak spot near the headset. not sure if that's due to the frame design or if it's normal and this seems to happen with any gear cable set that i use (usually XTR).

anyways, i'm thinking about switching to either a NOKON set or Alligator I-Link. can anyone who uses or has used either of these systems give me a little feedback on whether they are worth it or not. what life expectancy can i expect from them? i've heard they are serviceable, is this easy (ie can you replace the inner waterproof sheath easily)? heard some people mention creaking – is this common/annoying? what are they like for frame rub? anything else???

cheers

I've used em for years now.

Things to watch out for;

The basic Nokon beads are not anodised and oxidise quickly.

The coloured ones last much longer. They do creak as the anodising wears, but a quick spray with TF2 or GT85 soon sorts that.

The carbon ones are amazing though. Horribly expensive but last forever. Available from starbike.de.

Inner sleeves from here (CRC)

Do a search on the weight-weenies forum, lots of info about the pros and cons of each.

A friend of mine has NOKON's on all of his bikes and has done for some time, the white colouring flaked off on one bike and they were pretty noisy, though you could oil them I guess. I'd been lent the bike to race on and didn't notice any difference in shifting performance, but then again I was only riding it for a few hours, so can't say much for long term.

I keep meaning to buy a set of I-Link's, but only because they look good and are cheaper than NOKON's.

Ciao

I-links are superior to Nokons in all possible ways!

Cheaper
Lighter
Don't creak
easier to fit
much better finish

I would never use Nokons again, I've got a couple of bikes worth of bits kicking about in fact. I'm currently using I-links and I'm impressed with them, would use them again.

Where do you get the I Links from?

I used Nokon cables for the barkes on my (now departed) Kona Jake – they totally tansformed it but were an absolute arse to set up.

Can't comment on the gear ones though

Running Nokon brake and gear cables on 2 bikes. One set is 6 years old now, still in great nick. No creaking, no flaking with either. Superb bit of kit.

Silver are the worst colour for flaking, black are the best but they all creak.

They are OK, but not really that light. I-links get far better reviews, but not tried them myself. Prefer to use standard cables replaced more frequently.

black are the best

That's worrying, my black Nokons looked absolutely appalling after about 2 months!

I-Links available from Clee Cycles.

That's worrying, my black Nokons looked absolutely appalling after about 2 months!

Did they flake, or just dis-colour?
Either way, not worth the hastle IMO.

cheers for the info people. it seems that they have both positive and negative reviews across the board. i've been on mtbr.com that some people had problems setting up system and the i-link was prone to ghost shifting when the bars were turned due to the ball and socket joint compressing. any experience of that NJEE20?

White Nokon cables on the Mojo. Paint has worn off and they creak. I oil them up with GT85 but it doesn't stop the creak for long. For the price they are I would say that's pretty bad.

Goodridge system on my Ragley Ti works a treat.

Did they flake, or just dis-colour?

The anodising was incredibly thin, so it just wore off.

I-links are a bit of a hassle to fit in that the housing does compress more than you may expect, I initially set mine up nicely, then when I first shifted on the stand the housing got about 6" shorter, so I had to take it all apart and put some more 'beads' in! At least it's not like Nokon when you're fitting individual ones, they all clip together.

I find they shift very well though, I did have problems with ghost shifting on Nokons, but it wasn't a good cable run, I've got full length outers on my Epic with I-links.

yeah that's exactly what a few people have said on other forums. i presume that once you have got it sorted and compressed into place it'll stay there and eliminate the possibility of ghost shifting. i'll be running full outer on the rear, did you get enough links to stretch the distance?

If your running full length why not cheapest you can buy and just replace it once a year after winter? I am a convert to full length and its great, just trying some middleburn cable oilers out now too, should get years out of £5 cables now.

as i said, i seem to go through at least a couple of sets of outers a year. i have no problem with shifting using XTR or the like but i was just wondering whether systems such as the NOKON/i-links would, at a price roughly double that of the XTR, far outlive them. if i can pay £40 for the initial set up now and get a few years out of them as some people do i would be interested!

If your running full length why not cheapest you can buy and just replace it once a year after winter?

Because I-links are lighter and I only keep bikes for a year!