J_Climacus 

I'm trying to install Suntour barcon bar end shifters on my drop bar road bike and the Shimano road bike cable kit came with multiple types of ferrules. And more confusingly, there's 3 of one kind, two of another kind, and one of a third. None of them really sit flush in the chainstay cable stop, but it seems like they'd all work in the downtube cable stops, and all but the ones with the thin pointy part would work in the shifters themselves.

Can anyone advise me on which ferrules to use at which cable stop?


There are illustrations of the different ferrule type on the bottom of the package (the cable crimps are the outline on the far right)




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rccardr 

You need the metal ones I’ve got here on the bench.
Shoot me a PM and I’ll drop them in the mail to you.
Or ask at your LBS.

Andrew R Stewart 

The usual way to determine end of cable fit into stops and such is to trial fit the various options. Will the cable housing you have fit snuggly in any of the "stops" (as in shifter, frame and der)? Can you test fit a housing ferule (which fits that housing) into any of the stops? It's less a rocket science and more a what fits best thing. Andy

Kontact

That packet of ferrules includes two specifically made for Shimano STI shifters - the ridged ones. Chuck those.

I would assume that the three that are the same would be for the two shifters and the derailleur. The other one is likely for the chainstay, and has a seal in it to keep it cleaner.

SurferRosa

The barcons aren't indexing, right? So you can use brake housing with shift cable and regular metal ferrules for brake housing. Also sounds like you need a stepped-ferrule for the chainstay.

Kontact

They are indexed.

J_Climacus 

I believe they can be either, and I have them set to friction at the moment.

Kontact

This is the kind of stepped ferrule you need for your older style chainstay stop:

J_Climacus 

Thank you all, this has been very helpful. One follow-up question I have: a number of folks have mentioned getting metal ferrules. Is there a reason that metal ones are superior to the provided plastic ones? I might be missing something but plastic seems like it would be less prone to rust and corrosion.

pdlamb

As Andrew wrote, try the provided ferrules and leave the best fit in. Just did this last month, and it's pretty easy (except for pulling the cable out to try another ferrule).

Jeff Wills

The plastic ones, when used with index-type housing, are prone to breaking and allowing the housing strands to bind up the cable. Metal ferrules are usually more durable and better ones are made of brass so they are corrosion-resistant.

J_Climacus 

Helpful - thank you

veganbikes

Also for the future I highly recommend the Jagwire Pro or Elite kits. Jagwire uses uncoated polished stainless steel cables which I think provides much better shifting vs. coated Shimano cables. Pretty much all of my builds are running Jagwire in fact probably all of them aside from one which is a used bike from my former shop owner who passed and that is getting a wireless AXS groups (because Shimano won't be ready with 12 speed Di2 MTB stuff for a LOOOONG time and I don't want to have to wait a year or two while they drag their heels and wouldn't mind building a 11 speed group Di2 but that is hard to come by as well these days).

Also agreed on the metal ferrules, we only use brass and occasionally aluminum at the shop and I have no interest in anything else except maybe titanium but that is a silly part to make ti.

SurferRosa

"At the moment"? Have you ever run Suntour stuff in index mode? It's not for the faint of heart.

J_Climacus 

I have not. I am also not positive that these are set to friction since I couldn't find an installation guide for these shifters so I was basically winging it. But they had a notch that says "friction" on one side, and "index" on the other, and I was able to turn the body so that the arrow is pointing at the friction option.

pdlamb

I don't think this is applicable for bar-end shifters. There's not much of an angle coming out of the shifters, so there's approximately zero radial force on it that would break the plastic ferrule.

Kontact

Oh come on. Suntour indexing works fine. I had a road bike with those same barcons, and a MTB with X-Press 7 that also shifted great. Suntour works even better with modern ramped cogs.


J_Climacus, the plastic ferrules work fine. One trick that will help prevent problems with them is to cut your housing curved to match the way it will be on the bike, rather than cut it in straight sections. Then check it and see if the ends need to be trimmed. After that it will be pretty stable and unlikely to mess with the ferrules. Idealy, metal are better, but nylon ferrules are the industry standard.

Andrew R Stewart 

When used with indexed housing metal ferules can be the source of creaking as the handle bars are turned side to side, The ends of the housing strands are contacting the ferule's seat (deep inside the ferule) at a near 90* angle. As the housing tries to slightly twist with the bar's steering side to side the strands will want to also twist within the ferule. A metal ferule can have a ticky sound as the strand ends slip and try to slide against the ferule's seat. A plastic ferule lets the strands dig into the ferule's seat somewhat and not have any relative movement between the ferule and the housing. The older 5mm SIS housing which nearly always have metal ferules suffered from this frequently. The slightly more modern 4mm SIS housing with it's far more common plastic ferules sees this ticking far less often. Note that this is only an issue for the housing stretch between the levers and the frame stops, which see that rotational housing force. Andy

Another not well known aspect of the 5mm housing ferules is that the SIS shift ones are not the same as the brake housing ones. Specifically the SIS metal ferules have a more solid and robust seating end which resists the SIS housing strands from punching through the base//seat. Brake housing ferules generally have a far less substantial seat/base which with the tightly spiraled housing is good enough. But when a brake ferule is installed on a SIS housing the housing strands can often be pulled through the relatively this brake housing ferule base. Using a SIS ferule on a brake housing is fine and what I prefer to use. This is a rookie mistake if done by a shop, one I see more often than should happen, no surprise what with the lack of good base knowledge being taught about this stuff.

Kontact

I feel like the unplated, exposed brass ferrules don't do this, perhaps because they are softer. But I could be wrong.

Andrew R Stewart 

I would agree with you but with so few bikes coming with them and their higher cost resulting in few shops install them as the default I just don't get many data points involving them. Andy

J_Climacus 

Thank you all! I ordered some brass ferrules from Rivendell after your helpful feedback, and will see if those are a snug fit. They were able to throw in some step-down ferrules for me as well, which hopefully will work for the chainstay stop.