Originally Posted by big john

I broke the front shifter cable about 25 miles into a ride, had to ride back in the small ring. I put on an old one I had at home as a temporary fix until the new cables came in. That has to be more than a year ago and the new cables are still sitting on my toolbox.

Twice the rear one frayed and strands started poking me in the hand. It felt like a bee was stinging me when I gripped the hood to stand.
With my Shimano bikes the rear shifting gets all wonky when the cable frays.
Once we were out in the mountains and a guy broke his rear cable so he was stuck in the small cog, not ideal for climbing out of there. I pulled the cable from the shifter end until it was in the second biggest cog and tied it in a knot around the cable stop. He was able to climb like that.