Weight Weenies

I've just read this article at competitive cyclist
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=WHATS_NEW

And Yokozuna -- it will change your life forever. It's the closest you'll get to automatic shifting without having batteries hooked up to your drivetrain. And your braking will get an equally quantum leap in performance. In particular if you ride SRAM (since stock SRAM cables leave much to be desired), Yokozuna gives max ROI when you're in an upgrade state of mind.

I'm a big fan of compressionless housings (nokon, i-link, etc.) but I haven't heard of the Yokozuna cable they are raving about. I googled for it but cannot find ANY review at all. Are there anyone who have actually seen this product? At least they are quite cheaper than nokon/I-links...

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CC has some great copy writers.

I have to say, the price is right. $65 for a full set of inner cables and outer casing is way cheaper than any of the other after-market options.
Might be worth a try.

After reading that write up, I would be willing to give them a go but I would also want to know who they compare in weight to all the other housings and cable systems.

Do an online search, and you'll see that CC has them priced about 40% higher than other places.......no big surprise there...

Anyone wanting to try them with 2009 Campy needs cable housings that are no larger than 4.1mm in diameter to fit into the ergopower body.

The reaction housing appears to be 5mm.

They also make more common 4mm housing and cables sets that are a lot cheaper, so don't confuse the two when pricing.

I've used them on a couple of my bikes. Functionally they are very nice. I wouldn't agree with CCs description of them, but they are smooth.

The biggest advantage to them is that the brake housing looks really nice. But, at the same time I think the shift housing looks a little cheap.

The brake housing is stiffer than stock Shimano/Campag so it may be an issue with some brakes such as ZG. It's not as stiff as some of the other compressionless brake housings though.

Strangest thing to me is the weight. When you hold the brake housing in your hand you'd swear that it is made of solid lead, it just feels incredibly heavy. Even if you hold an equal length piece of Shimano brake housing in the other hand, the Yokozuna feels ridiculously heavy. However when you put them on the scale the weights are virtually identical. 1 foot pieces of brake housing were within 1 gram of each other. 1 foot pieces of the shifter housing were within 0.3 grams of each other.

The performance, price and weight is a very nice balance of characteristics though.

I just ordered a couple sets to try on bikes - hey, what the heck...

Madcow - what would you suggest as the ultimate cable setup - not weight dependent, but the smoothest, most effortless, compressionless cable setup you could put together - could be a wire from one guy, brake housing from another and derailleur housing from a third - it just has to be your ultimate...

Lance, I read that when I was out of the office and have had quite a while to think about the question. Funny thing is, like with most aspects of cycling there is no absolute answer for me.

First I believe that cables and housing are one of the most crucial aspects of a bike, if they don't function well nothing does. So with that in mind, I never consider weight for my own cables and housings.

I think regardless of what system you use, you would be best off to to replace them 3 to 4 times a year. So with that in mind I guess cost does play a role in it.

.... Edit.... I started typing out my thoughts on all the systems but realized that it wasn't the point. I think each system needs to be different based on the bike.

So I decided to just post some random thoughts on the subject.

Some compressionless housing pushes some lightweight brakes off center.
Some frames require tighter bends which makes Nokon/I Link a good choice.
Alot if not all of the coated cables work great at first but as the coating scrapes off inside the housing tend to clog.
Galvanized cables should be avoided as they corrode quickly.
5mm shift housing with aluminum ferrules works better than 4mm with plastic
Campag shift housing uses non-standard ferrule sizes
Shimano cables usually require a bit of head reducing to fit Campag
Neither Shimano or Campag cables are easy to feed through Sram shifters
Powercordz have compatibility issues with some brakes and also the shifter cable is a larger o.d. than stainless meaning it doesn't work well with Sram shifters or some housings.
Nokon can corrode and creak and in some cases just not work well.

I could probably continue on with the list, but I think that gives you a good idea of my thoughts.

I guess in the end if I had to choose one setup that had the widest application combined with the highest performance it would be Clarks. It's unfortunate that so many people have never heard of Clarks(although I believe they are the manufacturer of Campags sets), but I think they have the best performing system by my criteria. The prelube set is nice. They are innovative with their lubed inner wire which is then wrapped with the other individually teflon coated wires so the grease will slowly move from the core of the cable to the outside over time keeping it lubed. They have a decent sealing system, it's inexpensive making it practical to replace regularly. It's also easy to install and always just seems to work.

So I guess I'd choose Clarks as my starting point unless there is a reason to go to some other based on the components or aesthetics.

Here's a couple pics of the yokozuna on my new ride.

Thanks a lot madcow!

Is there a link to Clark's website? Then I can see if there is a distributor in OZ etc and check out thier product more.

I never really understood why my own ceramic housing hasn't sold better. In a word -it's amazing- it's the sort of thing you could take from bike to bike, but no one on this forum seems to want to give it a chance...

I'm currently using 1.2mm brake cables & I can go down 20% slopes braking with 2 fingers... from the hoods.

synchronicity wrote:I never really understood why my own ceramic housing hasn't sold better. In a word -it's amazing- it's the sort of thing you could take from bike to bike, but no one on this forum seems to want to give it a chance...

I'm currently using 1.2mm brake cables & I can go down 20% slopes braking with 2 fingers... from the hoods.

sent as PM instead:)

synchronicity wrote:I never really understood why my own ceramic housing hasn't sold better. In a word -it's amazing- it's the sort of thing you could take from bike to bike, but no one on this forum seems to want to give it a chance...

I'm currently using 1.2mm brake cables & I can go down 20% slopes braking with 2 fingers... from the hoods.

Your post made me curious so I checked out our product. 250 euros for cables/housing? I think I know why people dont use them...

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