On 4/28/2016 8:38 PM, jbeattie wrote:
> So, I was riding to work this morning having trouble with front shifts, and then I just couldn't get the FD to shift at all. I figured my cable slipped, so I adjusted the barrel on the fly which helped a little, but not enough. I pulled the cable taut when I got to work and re-anchored it at the FD. Still didn't work.
>
> Then I looked more closely and saw that the cable housing from my STI levers had exploded and that the cable and PTFE liner had puked out and kinked up the broken housing. I guess it couldn't handle the compressive force generated by my super strong shifts and exploded. I know I changed it out in the not too distant past. Oh well, I have plenty sitting around the house. This will make me spin on the way home.
That "exploding cable failure happened to that other friend of mine that
I described a couple months ago.
In his case, it was apparent that the plastic sheath (around the
near-longitudinal wires of the housing) had rotted. In his case, it
certainly had nothing to do with miles ridden or lots of force while
shifting. The bike was a basement queen.
I understand the value of the longitudinal housing wires. But with
helical housing wire, the plastic is just to keep the weather out. With
the longitudinal version, the plastic is structural.
--
- Frank Krygowski