Roadies_Rok

Hi All, with the ever increasing complexity of the shifting systems on bikes these days I realize that setting them up right is more important that ever and I want to make sure that the shifting system on my bike is good to go.

I have an older bike that has served me well and I have no plans to retire it. My bike is set up with the Campy Athena 10-speed shifting system. I am getting ready to re-cable the bike and I want to get it right the first time. I have read in a few places about the importance of using cable ferrules to insure proper brake and shifter operation but I am a little confused. The outer brake casings are 4mm diameter. The inner brake cables are 1.5mm. The outer shift casings on my bike are 4mm. The inner shift cables are 1mm.

On many of the bikes that I have had with integrated shift/brake levers the slots where the outer casing fits into are not large enough to take both the cable and a ferrule and I am talking about both the shift casing and the brake casing. Also, on the actual brakes the point where the brake casing fits into the brake adjuster in many instances is not large enough to take a ferrule. The derailleur stop where the shift casing goes is large enough to take a ferrule and so are the shift cable stops/adjusters that are brazed onto the down tube. With all of this said there are several points that do not have ferrules simply for the reason that they will not fit. Am I missing something here? Am I using the wrong size cable casings or am I just plain missing something? Also, I am noticing that the metal ferrules are becoming harder to find and not seen as much as they used to be. Mostly what I am seeing on bikes is the black plastic ferrules. Do the plastic ferrules do a good job or should I search around and find the metal ones?

Thanks everyone.

Iride01 

You old cables served you well for this long. Why not use the same or stuff similar to what they used. Though Athena was from way back in 1990's or even late 80's isn't it? Not much has changed, cables got thinner at some point. Don't know if that was before or after your Athena.

Don't over think it. It's just a bike. If Campagnolo has a good support website with manuals and instructions for their individual components then consider their recommendations. Park Tool has a good bit of information on stuff. I've never watched any of their stuff on cables though. Sometimes their horsing around gets annoying. But their info always seems to be correct. https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/...le+replacement.

And depending on what type of bike shops you have locally and their attitudes, you can come up with a lot of good info just jawing with them if you visit. Sometimes they are so lonely and in need of conversation, it's hard to get away once you get them talking. And many old shops will have bins full of ferrules of all types and cable stops that they've accumulated through out the years. Maybe they'll look through them and give you the one you need if it didn't come already with your set of replacement cables.

I used both plastic and metal ferrules on my previous bike. Plastic vs metal isn't as important as which one fits and is proper for the purpose where it's used at that cable point on the bike.

deacon mark

I personally only use brass ferrules that allow the least amount of movement they are not plastic. The critical area of concern is the rear loop to the rear derailleur. This needs to be smooth and not too tight but flowing if that is the best word. Use good quality housing either jagwire or shimano and top quality die drawn cables. Campy requires campy cables shimano will not work. To be any more specific need to know the frame you have and the size of the stops. Brake stops usually are fine and take 5mm brass ferrules fine. Sometimes derailleur stops can be different. A picture of you bike is worth a 1000 words.

Also buy bulk cable and housing to save money and then you can re-do as needed.

mpetry912 

yes there are a few places down inside the lever where there is no room for a ferrule.

in those cases, in fact in all cases, after cutting the housing, touch the cut end to a fine wheel on a bench grinder to get a perfectly even 90 degree end on the housing.

in fact, when experiencing sloppy or vague shifting on an index bike - just pull the housings and even if not worn out, give them this treatment, it will improve things considerably

/markp

dsaul

Step down cable ferrules are the answer to your problem. https://velo-orange.com/products/tap...cap-5mm-to-4mm