ls01

when the cable comes out is all covered in black slime like it's grinding itself to death? Or just a bunch of frayed wires? If it's all black and slimy. It's rubbing on something and lubrication may help. If it's just frayed wires, I would try the shimano coated D/a cables. And just change them every few months.

ls01

e tap is what I have on the 16 now rather than axs. It's getting tough to find because it's discontinued. Last set I saw was $1800.00 for shifters and derailluers

big john

I can't imagine you are shifting more than I do. I'm searching for that granny gear on most climbs, and all rides here involve climbing.
I have about 35K miles on the Gunnar, with 6600 Ultegra triple. I may have broken 2 rear cables while riding. I think I did replace the last one preemptively.

I have over 50K miles on the Seven with Chorus. Broke 2 rears and 1 front while riding and I did put new on both ends preemptively last year. So 4 rear cables in 50K and the 4th one is still on there. Never replaced the housings on either bike.

My CAAD5 had about 35K when I sold it. It was 9 speed Ultegra triple and I'm pretty sure I only broke 2 cables (rear) on that one.

My last downtube shifter bike I put the DA cable on the rear and never broke it. Those dt shifters didn't fray the cable as often.

LesterOfPuppets

Or even 9-speed. This reminds me I should set up an eBay search for hoods so I can get some replacements in the store room.

LesterOfPuppets

Also that it's time to wash the existing hoods.

big john

I bought some for my 10 speed Ultegra and several sources had them. Shimano calls them "bracket covers".

LesterOfPuppets

Has Benson been paddleboarding? Apparently large fluffy dogs enjoy it.

LesterOfPuppets

Bracket covers of course, what else would they be called?

datlas 

I am TOLD there was a service bulletin that came out from Shimano suggesting change RD cable every 1000 miles. That would solve my problem but NFW I am changing a cable every 6 weeks.

datlas 

To review:

The problem with Shimano RD cable breakage seems to have started with their "Under the Bar Tape" shifters which put the cable through a much tighter turn radius than previous shifters.

My cable breaks occur despite using Shimano D-A or Ultegra PFTE coated cables.

I am sure if I went to DT shifters or even poke-out-the-side shifters I would not have this problem, but that's not necessarily realistic.

I am sure if I went to Etap this would solve the problem, but it's a $3000 fix which is not cost-effective.

datlas 

See above. Just frayed wires. I could just swap out a new cable every 2 months but that is ridiculous IMO.

ls01

That has not been my experience. I love Sram equipment. I use it pretty much exclusively. The shifter battery dying thing can be caused by using batteries that have a "bitter" coating on them to keep Children from putting them in thier mouths. I've never experienced it just read about it. I'm sure axs Red is way lighter than force, But I have found e tap Red is just fine for me.

Bah Humbug

Great solution.

Bah Humbug

He wrote a post about those coatings when they came out, so I doubt that's his issue. Enough people whose opinions I respect dislike it that I would be very hesitant to have my wife use it.

big john

The Chorus is under the tape and it seems the rear cable lasts about 10k miles.

I was just thinking about the cables I have replaced, not suggesting you try those shifters. What I did suggest is trying the Jagwire cables. It's worth a shot, no?

I read your thread in the mechanic forum and people seem to think it's normal. Maybe not as bad as your issue but the cables don't seem to last very long. In the pic you posted the cable looks greasy.

Some guy said he was using an aftermarket cable with good results, so far.

genejockey 

You just need more bikes.

BTW, my Canyon, which has 7000 series 105 - so same basic stuff as R8000 - has gone 2 years and 4200 miles (real and virtual) on the original cables. I have had no shifting issues, either, so I think the cables are probably fine. I should probably replace them soon, but I'm concerned it might be fiddly, what with internal routing and all. Hopefully, there's cable liner the whole way. I know some bikes with internal routing require you to feed the cable through guides under the BB, and if you don't you might end up sawing through the spindle.

Litespeed's only gone about 650 miles with the Ultegra kit, so I'll keep an eye on it.

ls01

Saturday was the first time I ever abandoned a ride and went home. I couldn't hang on the first climb. They went way too fast for me, wasn't even warmed up yet. They didn't wait either. That left trailing off the back. They finally stopped at the first turn. I wished them well and split for home. I don't want to hold people back. But then again I didn't come out to ride alone for 80 miles and 3200 ft of climbing either. Just didnt feel like it would have been fun. I did my Belle isle ride from home and back instead.

ls01

Linda like this?

ls01

you need a cable that has more, finer wires in it, something supple that will follow the barrel easier. The current cables are just work hardening and breaking from the repetitive bending.

ls01

Locally we also had 5 people on a make a wish ride hit by a drunk driver. 2 are dead, one is in an induced coma. The other 2 are injured but less so. The strange thing for me is I follow the guy in the coma on Strava by mistake. His name is Roland and I followed him instead of a different a Roland I know by mistake. Turns out he is friends with people I know. It was very weird.

Mojo31

Stuck my hands into a bed of fire ants yesterday, and am feeling it today. About 10 bites, mostly around the webbing of my fingers.

datlas 

I suspect the Chorus setup does not have the same problem. This seems to be a problem with SHIMANO shifters.

I know the pic looks dirty but that's because I included the black plastic extension on the ferule/cap of the housing when I installed the cable, it was all gooey so for the replacement I got rid of that. I don't think it was a big player in the process, however. I am willing to consider other cables but have very low expectations.

see below for pics of housing ends:


I had used the lower type end initially but now using the upper one.

rjones28 

Who?

Eric F 

Damn. I don't think we have fire ants around here, but they don't sound like a lot of fun.

Eric F 

Following my buddy down a sweet singletrack on Saturday, he pushed aside a thin branch sticking out into the trail as he went by. I didn't see his evasive move, and the branch swung back just in time to for me to run into it. I'm not sure what it was, but it had long thorns and left two 3 inch long slashes across my forearm that oozed blood for the last half hour of our ride. Good times.