Cable Setup
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.