Frayed cable caused entire shifter failure?
02-21-20, 07:57 AM
#52
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I have had two RD cable fray issues with Shimano 9000 and 6800. Both times I was able to fish the cable ends out of the shifter. One cable broke and another I had to cut. In both case I had to remove the shifter and spend a lot of time with some dental type pic tools to get the cable end out. I have started to put silicon grease in the track inside the shifter that the cable runs through in an attempt to reduce the friction on the cable. Time will tell if this really makes any difference.
02-22-20, 05:02 AM
#53
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I am a little late to the thread, but it does get my goat.
I am one of "those" guys who frequently breaks my RD shifter cable. I have been running Ultegra 6700 since it came out 10 years ago. I would estimate that I break a cable every 2000 miles, which is every 3 months based on my riding.
I have learned to notice the first signs of cable fraying, which is the RD getting finicky going to the smallest few cogs. I try to finish up the ride before cable breaks (which sucks when it happens as you are stuck in your smallest cog in back for the rest of the ride. My poor knees!) and change cable.
I do suspect it's mainly a design flaw with tight turns inside the shifter as previously posted, but also clearly going to be a bigger problem with people who shift more.
Every time I have another cable frayed, I curse the system and think it's time to move up/on to electronic shifting. But will stick with it for now. I had heard that the newer generation 11sp shifters are not quite as prone to fraying, but I suspect that may not be true.
I am glad the OP got his problem fixed and would remind him to watch for tell-tale signs of shifter cable starting to fray.
I am one of "those" guys who frequently breaks my RD shifter cable. I have been running Ultegra 6700 since it came out 10 years ago. I would estimate that I break a cable every 2000 miles, which is every 3 months based on my riding.
I have learned to notice the first signs of cable fraying, which is the RD getting finicky going to the smallest few cogs. I try to finish up the ride before cable breaks (which sucks when it happens as you are stuck in your smallest cog in back for the rest of the ride. My poor knees!) and change cable.
I do suspect it's mainly a design flaw with tight turns inside the shifter as previously posted, but also clearly going to be a bigger problem with people who shift more.
Every time I have another cable frayed, I curse the system and think it's time to move up/on to electronic shifting. But will stick with it for now. I had heard that the newer generation 11sp shifters are not quite as prone to fraying, but I suspect that may not be true.
I am glad the OP got his problem fixed and would remind him to watch for tell-tale signs of shifter cable starting to fray.
02-22-20, 06:33 AM
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I have learned to notice the first signs of cable fraying, which is the RD getting finicky going to the smallest few cogs. I try to finish up the ride before cable breaks (which sucks when it happens as you are stuck in your smallest cog in back for the rest of the ride. My poor knees!) and change cable..
