revtothelimit - motorbike forum

right the gear changes on my bike are horrendous, its 10 years old, when changing gears you really have push the levers hard to change, after riding a newer bike today it made me think i need to improve them, now I've not adjusted them in anyway but was thing about getting it new cables, i think that it might be a nice treat for it to get some, how involved is replacing the cables???

formula400 wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:56 pm right the gear changes on my bike are horrendous, its 10 years old, when changing gears you really have push the levers hard to change, after riding a newer bike today it made me think i need to improve them, now I've not adjusted them in anyway but was thing about getting it new cables, i think that it might be a nice treat for it to get some, how involved is replacing the cables???

Shimano or SRAM?

Both are easy enough jobs, just quite different.

Note, better cables are more expensive, more expensive cables are better.

You will need a decent cable cutter, pliers will just fray the end of the cable.

on the basis that it is 10 years old , I would replace the cable and the outer. You can get outers that have PTFE coast inside, which dose to run better.

Get some decent wire cutters - you need a clean cut at the end - and you need some compression ferrules to "seal" the end. To stop the wire unraveling before cutting a dab of superglue holds the strands together.

Are the cables external to the frame or internal?
If they are internal you will need to thread new inner / outers using the current cables to help guide.

Gear selection set up is fairly easy and accessed by YouTube vids ...

they are SRAM and they are external.

outers as well you say, cool, i just want them to change smoothly, my road bikes fine and its the same age and more un loved.

so after all that i just took it to my local bike shop and got them to do it, could't be arsed/have a few tools and know how.

£45 later, new inner and out cables, shifts like a dream. well pleased.