Gear cable replacement

[Mikerb]

I intend replacing the gear cable on my Whyte E180RS as part of a general service on the drivetrain. Its not something I have done before so thought I would check on best practise here.

I assume I can feed a new inner cable through the existing outer but what is the best cable to buy and are they all the same length with the same stop ? Shifter is Sram x01.

Having unscrewed the cable tension adjuster at the lever, is it then just a case of cutting the existing cable inner at the mech, pulling the exisitng inner cable out, and then feeding a new inner cable through the existing outer?

Routing is fairly standard.........from the mech it runs through the chainstay then out behind the motor casing and into the motor casing and up the downtube exiting just behind the headtube and then looped to the bars/lever.

thanks.

 

[RustyIron]

Sounds like you've got a good basic understanding of how to go about it. I'll toss in a couple suggestions, but you can do whatever works for you. It's not rocket science.

1. I start with the barrel adjuster turned all hte way in, then 1/4 of its travel out.
2. I do it all in the lowest gear.
3. Before clamping down on the cable, take out ALL the slack in the system by pulling on the cable as hard as you can.
4. Clamp down on the cable EXACTLY where you want it to be. If you clamp it, loosen it, and reclaim it, the cable will be deformed and can fail prematurely.

 

[Mikerb]

Sounds like you've got a good basic understanding of how to go about it. I'll toss in a couple suggestions, but you can do whatever works for you. It's not rocket science.

1. I start with the barrel adjuster turned all hte way in, then 1/4 of its travel out.
2. I do it all in the lowest gear.
3. Before clamping down on the cable, take out ALL the slack in the system by pulling on the cable as hard as you can.
4. Clamp down on the cable EXACTLY where you want it to be. If you clamp it, loosen it, and reclaim it, the cable will be deformed and can fail prematurely.

Good tips thanks.
By lowest gear I assume you mean smallest cog (highest gear)
Do you smear some grease on the cable first?
I have ordered Sram inner cable...stainless and 1.1mm and 2200mm length.

 

[RustyIron]

By lowest gear I assume you mean smallest cog (highest gear)

No, I like to do it on the largest cog (lowest gear), pushing against the spring and pulling on the cable. It's fine to do it on the other side, as well. Just keep in mind that you want do clamp it with all the slack pulled out. You don't want to tighten the clamp, and then have to RECLAMP it. Dumbass spell checker changed my previous suggestion from "reclamp" to "reclaim."

Do you smear some grease on the cable first?

Many top-shelf cables come pre-lubed. I'm not sure if the expensive ones are any better than the cheap stainless ones. For those, I'll put a bit of oil on my fingertips, then pull the cable through my fingers. I'm not a fan of grease on cables, especially that multi-purpose NLGI 2 stuff that is the favorite of folks who shop at the auto parts store. It adds drag and can create sluggish shifting.

Have you considered the cable housing? The housing has a plastic liner, and with every shift, the steel cable rubs against it. They wear.

 

[Mikerb]

no...the gear change is fine as is, but the mech end of the inner has frayed so I want to replace it before it causes an issue on the mech pulley run.

Yep a light smear of oil sounds a good idea.