dura ace coated cables : PITA?
Moderator: robbosmans
Guys, I'm I the only one thinking those coated cables are not that great on the long run? OK, they are smooth when freshly installed, but so are most cablesets, BUT, with use, I got more and more drag from my rear brake, until the brake caliper didn't return completely to its open position. Tought it was grime in the caliper, but unbolting the cable revealed it was smooth as when new. Pulled the cable completely out of the housing, and A lot of the coating was worn and even making some accumulations where the cable stops where and at the brake leaver (like the gore cables back in time) I understood where all the drag came from! Is that normal wear? Not having the possibility to pass by my LBS until a few days, I peeled off all the remaning coating, applied a few drops of oil on the cable and in the housings. Feels like brand new cables now But not really impressed with that coating.
Current bikes:
Scott Addict Premium Disc 2018
Scott Addict Orica Greenedge 2015
Retired:
Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2016
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013
Scott Addict Premium Disc 2018
Scott Addict Orica Greenedge 2015
Retired:
Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2016
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013
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I've just changed these out of a friend's bike where the coating had shed and bound up in the shifter housing along the bars, creating a lot of drag.
Pushing a regular cable through to clear the blockage displaced a plug of the coating material. He had picked away at the coating where it was exposed along the down-tube where it had started to become fluffy so perhaps it is reliant on being in traction along the full length of cable to work. Either way, they're very fragile.
Replacement with a teflon coated cable has worked flawlessly since.
Pushing a regular cable through to clear the blockage displaced a plug of the coating material. He had picked away at the coating where it was exposed along the down-tube where it had started to become fluffy so perhaps it is reliant on being in traction along the full length of cable to work. Either way, they're very fragile.
Replacement with a teflon coated cable has worked flawlessly since.
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Standard stainless cables + slick honey grease
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I had similar issues several years ago when I used Jagwire coated cable system on cross bikes with mechanical disc brakes. After only a month or two of 15-17 hours per week use, the coating began flaking off inside the cable liners, causing the return action to degrade to the point where sometimes the brake lever would not return. As for current cables, I use Shimano brake cables and housing and was under the impression that Shimano used a different process for applying the PTFE coating to the top level cables. While we have Di2 drive trains, our frames use internal cable runs and after a year of use with the '9000' level brake cables and housing, I observe only a slight bit of flaking of the coating at each brake caliper but have not perceived any degradation of cable action when braking.
- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"
If you use the proper ferrules with the lead in tubes, the coating lasts much longer and does not deteriorate in the same way. I have not had issues on builds where these ferrules are used. All the issues I find are when regular ferrules are used.
goodboyr wrote:If you use the proper ferrules with the lead in tubes, the coating lasts much longer and does not deteriorate in the same way. I have not had issues on builds where these ferrules are used. All the issues I find are when regular ferrules are used.
Scott Addict frames use 2 specific ferrules that eliminate the need for regular ferrules, so not much choise. They are also not that tight, but maybe the angle of them vs the cable causes some rub and wear of the coating. Remains the build-up at the brake leavers. Not much you can do about that. Yes, using regular steel cables.
Current bikes:
Scott Addict Premium Disc 2018
Scott Addict Orica Greenedge 2015
Retired:
Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2016
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013
Scott Addict Premium Disc 2018
Scott Addict Orica Greenedge 2015
Retired:
Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2016
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013
Nefarious86 wrote:Standard stainless cables + slick honey grease
This.
Any Madone/Domane/Emonda I build at work gets these cables swapped out first thing. Yes, a minor initial cost to the retailer, but it does prevent the inevitable return of the bike with excess cable friction and outer cables full of the polymer coating remnants. As soon as those cables need to be pulled back through a shifter or routed through a frame, they are doomed.
I remember dropping the ~$18AUD for the old Dura-Ace PTFE cables for my downhill bike back in the 2000's because they were that good!
Bring them back Shimano
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Yep. ViAS builds are the same. A good coating of honey and they work just as well as the coated ones and last much longer.
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