Originally Posted by
Chuck M
I have never had a cable break in over a half century of riding bicycles...
Your experience is certainly at odds with Koyote's earlier comment that an internet search (I didn't do one) would reveal that it's a good idea to replace shifter cables at regular intervals. But it appears, from your experience and others, that breaking shifter cables is unusual, although it's happened to me twice. I've been riding less than five years so you have ten times the experience that I have, and I appreciate your sharing it.