Changing cables is a quick and easy job. It is one of
the best bike maintenance jobs. Often you don’t realise
how your shifting has deteriorated as it is a gradual
process. Changing your cables makes your gear changes
crisp and smooth, just like a new bike. If you can
master the
setup
and adjusting gears then you can change your own
cables. The process is the same for front and rear
derailleurs and very similar for brake cables, but
obviously the cable lengths and outers are different.
Gear cables vs Brake
cables whats’ the difference?
Now days with hydraulic brakes many bikes only have one
set of gear cables on them and no brake cables. But for
v-brake type set-ups and cable discs there will still be
a set of brake cables. These two types of inner cables
are different with the gear cables being a little bit
thinner than the brake cables. They also have a
different locating head, with the gear cables having a
small cylinder shaped head, and the brake cables having
a larger barrel/keg shaped head. The outer housing is
also different, if you look at the end of the cable
where it is cut you will see it. The inside of the gear
cable housing is made up with several parallel strands
of wire running parallel to the length of the housing.
This compresionless cable is designed to maintain a
fixed length when the housing is curved, to prevent
ghost shifting. The brake
outer housing is made up with a single spiral or helix
type of structure using one piece of metal. This cable
housing is designed to resist the compression that
occurs when the brake cable is pulled by the lever.
Tools ( check the
MTB tools section
to see how useful these tools are)
Allen keys
Cable cutter
Pliers
Parts -cable set
consisting of;
Gear inner cable
Gear outer cable
Ferrule for cable ends
Cable outer caps
- Adjust the shifter to
the high position with no tension on the cable.
- Loosen the cable bolt
at the derailleur, cut the end of the cable off
- Pull the cable out. On
some shifters you may need to loosen a cover at the
shifter to pull the cable out.
- Remove the old cable
outers and use them to measure and cut the correct
lengths from the new cable outers.
- Put the new outer end
caps on the cable outers and fit the new outers to the
frame.
- Thread the new cable
inner starting at the shifter through the cable outers
upto the derailleur. Don’t forget to fit the frame
protectors if you have them
- Tension the cable and
tighten the cable bolt at the derailleur. Then pull on
the exposed cable by hand or shift a few times to get
the cable to settle in.
- Then re-tension the
cable by loosening the cable bolt and at the
derailleur and taking up the cable slack.
- Now check the gears
and adjust the cable tension with the barrel adjuster
if necessary.
Tips:
- If your gears were set
properly before changing the cables then you should
not need to do anything extra, and your gears should
work perfectly after changing cables. Often with no
adjustment at all.
- For improved water and
dirt resistance you can consider fitting outer cables
for the full length of the inner cable, so that there
are fewer exposed pieces and less open ends for water
and grime to enter. Also consider using some of the
top end cables like Shimano XTR with sealed ends or
Nokon with a closed system.
If you need major
adjusting then something has gone wrong and you had
better re-check the whole gear setup.
Gear
Shifting Problems
Gears
setup and adjusting
Check out our
Mountain
Bike Maintenance and Repair Guide for the next step in
maintaining your bike. Join
our mailing list and we will let you know when we
update this section
If you have comments on
this article or want to share experiences
discuss the article here
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