Which inner cables remain smooth for a long time?
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 11:38 pm
Hi ww's. I don't know if this has been covered before.
I'd just like to know what you have found needs less maintenance and provides smoother shifting for a longer time.
There are two kinds of setups in mind.
1. Cable and housing come as a system and should be matched regardless of weight penalty. Shimano SP41 and SUS cables ftw, or similar you might say.
2. I already have a housing I like that is light. I'm looking for the best(ish) possible cable for that housing.
Some people treat cables/housings like dirty clothes and just replace them yearly but what if you're running more expensive kind or have really annoying complicated internal routing that you'd just prefer to spend as long a time as possible from having to deal with.
What's best for longevity?
Some say coated cables are crap because it falls off and clogs the liners. (I've recently used noname teflon cables and got maybe one year out of them before they started to feel grippy).
Looking at shimano I see even ultegra and "105" sil-tec level cables are both coated. Only two aren't and it seems to be duraace and standard SUS stainless (which is one step over the simplest).
It appears that both duraace and sus have the polishing done but duraace more so than sus. Price is around 6 times more for duraace.
The only place where I'd run a special cable is the rear derailleur and maybe the rear brake. Those cables can sometimes be reused and cut down at the next change to fit the front brake/derailleur and so you have a matching set.
What are your thoughts about all this? The topic is smoothness+longevity.
(I'm leaning towards using stainless polished but not duraace level cables = shimano sus together with my favorite noname light housing for my next build)
I'd just like to know what you have found needs less maintenance and provides smoother shifting for a longer time.
There are two kinds of setups in mind.
1. Cable and housing come as a system and should be matched regardless of weight penalty. Shimano SP41 and SUS cables ftw, or similar you might say.
2. I already have a housing I like that is light. I'm looking for the best(ish) possible cable for that housing.
Some people treat cables/housings like dirty clothes and just replace them yearly but what if you're running more expensive kind or have really annoying complicated internal routing that you'd just prefer to spend as long a time as possible from having to deal with.
What's best for longevity?
Some say coated cables are crap because it falls off and clogs the liners. (I've recently used noname teflon cables and got maybe one year out of them before they started to feel grippy).
Looking at shimano I see even ultegra and "105" sil-tec level cables are both coated. Only two aren't and it seems to be duraace and standard SUS stainless (which is one step over the simplest).
It appears that both duraace and sus have the polishing done but duraace more so than sus. Price is around 6 times more for duraace.
The only place where I'd run a special cable is the rear derailleur and maybe the rear brake. Those cables can sometimes be reused and cut down at the next change to fit the front brake/derailleur and so you have a matching set.
What are your thoughts about all this? The topic is smoothness+longevity.
(I'm leaning towards using stainless polished but not duraace level cables = shimano sus together with my favorite noname light housing for my next build)
