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- CommentAuthoreaglerock
- CommentTimeMay 17th 2009
Having heard/read a number of enthusiastic recommendations for Nokon compressionless cable housing, I picked up a few partial sets on eBay to experiment on a Fuji Roubaix SL I'm building up with late-gen Campy components. I think I've worked my way around the installation instructions, which are in a bizarre English-German pidgin; but there are still some stumbling points.
The system works with a continuous Teflon inner liner, to shield the lubed steel cable from scuzz (as the head wrench in my LBS said when I brought the project in last week: "Continuous inner lining? How quaint"). The outer housing is modular, made of bits of aluminum anodized in a variety of colors; the idea is that the modular housing allows you to run much tighter curves, and the weight is much lower than standard housing. I finally figured out the modular housing process by ignoring the instructions entirely. But there's an alarming instruction regarding the derailleur cable adjusters mounted on the downtube:
If required, drill out the housing screw to 2.7mm.
WTF? Leaving aside the question of why these weird-beard Germans are releasing a liner that doesn't fit into the cable adjuster screws that people already have, and ignoring the scary implications of advising consumers to fire up power tools to modify standard parts, this seems like a lot of extra work that could be eliminated with an existing product, if anyone already makes it.
Are there derailleur cable adjuster screws available that have larger bores? The Teflon liner definitely doesn't fit through any of the adjuster screws I have now; they all have some kind of inner sleeve restricting the bore to about 2.2/2.3mm, which is probably sized for a bare cable. I'm thinking the bore could be drilled out with a drill formulated for tool steel, but you'd need a drill press to do it safely/cleanly. I don't think I have access to a drill press.
The used kits I have show that the way other people got around the problem was to cut the liner into shorter pieces. But I hate the idea of doing a duct-tape job just to get it running, because I know that I'm likely to end up leaving it that way. I'd really prefer to do it right the first time.
Does anyone have any experience with this stuff, or with comparable sealed, continuous-lined systems like Alligator or Gore RIDE-ON? -
- CommentAuthorLoneWolf15
- CommentTimeMay 17th 2009
Every shop wrench I've known that has installed Nokon wires has done so at the insistence of a customer, not because they wanted to. And they all said it was a b!$@%#, and resulted in little to no performance gain. You're also spending a lot of coin.
I have Gore cables on my bike --that's mainly because they came with my SRAM Red kit. They're really nice cables, and they shift great. That said, don't know if I'd pay the extra above Shimano SIS cables had they not come with. The system isn't fully sealed (though it does have relatively sealed ferrules), but the cables themselves are coated.
If I was paying the big bucks, I'd be tempted to look at PowerCordz. They are made of a proprietary DuPont fiber that does not stretch, and since they aren't metal, no rusting either. Mount them once, and you're done, for a long long time. The one caveat is that tightening the cable fixing bolts cracks the exterior coating of the fibers, making them difficult to re-mount, so you need to get your cable tension right the first time. -
- CommentAuthorOtto Rax
- CommentTimeMay 17th 2009
i think it's a joke. we had a customer demand it on his bike, and i couldn't tell a lick of difference. i was excited to ride it before and after, having never dealt with it, but it wasn't that grand. He also demanded we use it on his brakes, but I've been told that compressionless for brake cables is bad news bears. Anyone want to chime in ? -
- CommentAuthorwhysamsam
- CommentTimeMay 18th 2009
I installed them a few years ago on my bike. Can't really say if I noticed any difference in performance or not but they do look pretty slick. Installation wasn't that difficult as I remember. I did have to get rid of down tube barrel adjusters to get the alu end bits to fit in the frame though. All the installation woes aside, I've had them on my bike for 5+ years now and they work exactly the same today as they did when I first put them on. Haven't had to touch them, lube them, or even think about them for that matter. They work how all good things should work, as if they aren't even there.
And as for the snarky shop techs, would you rather a customer bring you a top end road bike to fuss over or a Wal-Mart super special? I work in a shop and would kill for people to ask for top end "upgrades" to blow money on rather than insist I resurrect their 'Next' piece of crap. -
- CommentAuthorLoneWolf15
- CommentTimeMay 18th 2009
Posted By: whysamsamAnd as for the snarky shop techs, would you rather a customer bring you a top end road bike to fuss over or a Wal-Mart super special? I work in a shop and would kill for people to ask for top end "upgrades" to blow money on rather than insist I resurrect their 'Next' piece of crap.
Actually, the shop techs I know would rather do top end upgrades that make good use of a customer's money. So their advice was to use the same money for something cool that made a difference. They weren't snarky about it; rather, they told the customer they felt they could get more for their money in another sort of upgrade.
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