clockworksimon
Über Member
- Location
- England
This week I have been driven slightly insane by my efforts to fit gears to my single speed folding bike. I have bought a Decathlon 6 speed twist grip (as fitted to their geared folding bikes), Decathlon outer cable and caps. Everything fits on the bike ok but after short test rides and attempts to refine the indexing I have found that the outer cable is 'coring' into the twist grip housing. The wires in the outer cable are being pulled out of the black plastic casing and into the gear adjuster. The black plastic outer is concertina'ing where it is being squeezed back.
The first time this happened I thought it was because I had scavenged some cable end caps from some old cables and there was some play in the fitting. Also, without a cable cutter tool I made a clumsy job of cable cutting using pliers and a hacksaw.
Today I bought a new cable cutter from Screwfix and Decathlon gear cable caps. Lovely cleanly cut cable outer ends now and we'll fitting caps. Got the indexing almost right. A check on the cable end reveals the coring starting again. Frustration!!
Thinking there are maybe 3 potential issues.
1. The cable outers are rubbish. The look a bit thin although similar diameter to Shimano SIS cables on my other bikes. However they look the same as on all the other BTwin bikes in the shop.
2. The twist grip is faulty (close examination of where cable fits shows nothing untoward)
3. The spring in the old Shimano 600 derallieur is too strong. (It feels just the same as all my other bikes)
I am losing patience! I was going to bin the twist grip and get a friction shifter. However maybe better outer cables are worth a try. I even wondered whether to try brake cable outers as they are thicker and cannot 'core'.
Any good advice or shared experience would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
The first time this happened I thought it was because I had scavenged some cable end caps from some old cables and there was some play in the fitting. Also, without a cable cutter tool I made a clumsy job of cable cutting using pliers and a hacksaw.
Today I bought a new cable cutter from Screwfix and Decathlon gear cable caps. Lovely cleanly cut cable outer ends now and we'll fitting caps. Got the indexing almost right. A check on the cable end reveals the coring starting again. Frustration!!
Thinking there are maybe 3 potential issues.
1. The cable outers are rubbish. The look a bit thin although similar diameter to Shimano SIS cables on my other bikes. However they look the same as on all the other BTwin bikes in the shop.
2. The twist grip is faulty (close examination of where cable fits shows nothing untoward)
3. The spring in the old Shimano 600 derallieur is too strong. (It feels just the same as all my other bikes)
I am losing patience! I was going to bin the twist grip and get a friction shifter. However maybe better outer cables are worth a try. I even wondered whether to try brake cable outers as they are thicker and cannot 'core'.
Any good advice or shared experience would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
