Best road cable set (weight wise)?

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TMjpn
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Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby TMjpn » Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:10 pm

Lining up a future upgrade and looking to replace the bike shop provided generic brake and DR cable set on the bike to something else. (Current weighs around 250g all told).

Not too sure of whats out there for weight/performance. Bling factor is an added consideration but not an absolute.

Gore ride-on was suggested but they are something SRAM now I don't know what its called?

Thanks!

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toolonglegs
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby toolonglegs » Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:42 pm

Nokon cables... best bling for sure, plus very light.

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TMjpn
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby TMjpn » Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:45 pm

The aluminium linkage style that contador (for one) uses?

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toolonglegs
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby toolonglegs » Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:54 pm

Don't know if Contador uses them... but yes alloy outers
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/page/late ... hW1lrx6tn8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby jcjordan » Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:28 pm

TMjpn wrote:The aluminium linkage style that contador (for one) uses?
known as alligator iLinks.

I use they and they are fantastic

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby NhiTrac » Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:05 pm

jcjordan wrote:
TMjpn wrote:The aluminium linkage style that contador (for one) uses?
known as alligator iLinks.

I use they and they are fantastic

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And they cost an arm and a leg don't they! I've been looking to get some to replace my Yokos and I think they come in at about $150+ for gear and brakes... And that doesn't include the actual cables?!

Where did you buy yours from? I find eBay to be the only place for us Aussies.
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby trailgumby » Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:19 pm

But you never have to replace the outers, only the cable and teflon sheath from time to time and they are supposedly cheap.

Haven't used them myself yet but will be looking closely at Nokon now that Gore have discontinued their awesome RideOn cable system, the rotters :(

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby Fixie82 » Fri Aug 23, 2013 11:21 am

I have used Nokon and the Alligator I-links (using the mini link system now) and much prefer the Alligator system to the Nokon, its cheaper and easier to use and set up. Also depending on colour some of the Nokon outers are powder coated which can wear after a while. Alligators are all anodised. You should also look at the Aican Bungarus system if you are wanting the absolute lightest system, no idea on usability at all though. See the table below for comparative weights. It would also depend on what you are wanting out of your cable system, reduction in weight, increased performance, running tighter bends etc. Internal or external routing? All things to consider when purchasing.

Brand Shift Brake Total Weight
Bungarus 38g 40.1g 83.1 g
Alligator 34.9g 55.8g 102 g
Ashima 60.2g 63.5g 131.4 g
Gore UL 39.7g 78.2g 129.7 g
Nokon 66.7g 69.65 149.2 g
Shimano 54.9g 85.4g 147.3 g
Campagnolo 60.1g 85.9g 151.1 g

Trailgumby - Nokon are a full length outer essentially but they aren't a sealed system like the Gore RideOn cables, if you just wanted full length protection they would be fine. They just don't keep any debris out

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TMjpn
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby TMjpn » Fri Aug 23, 2013 1:01 pm

Nokon on wiggle is $73 for a complete universal set (1 std size for gear and brake), and Ebay prices for Alligator = ~$112 for 4mm gears and 5mm brake.

Anyway.. I just went for Alligator, but both seem to be pretty darn good!

Thanks for the advice guys!

Tho its seems a bit steep to pay that much, but the first time I went to an LBS for basic cables I got stabbed $50 - and the guy didnt end up cutting me enough cable to do the bike...

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Jonno
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby Jonno » Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:17 pm

http://www.shop-yishunbike.com/componen ... ord=i-link" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.shop-yishunbike.com/componen ... ord=i-link" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Alligator iLinks..

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby Pottsy » Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:41 pm


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TMjpn
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby TMjpn » Mon Sep 09, 2013 4:26 pm

Did the iLinks over the weekend.. slow start with a bit of familiarisation but after a short amount of time Its pretty easy to get the hang of...

All i can say is Wow - it's a decent system!

A few highlights include the abundance of extra links and linings - I was able to redo the front brake line of my commuter as well as some of the rear derailleur system line.

Only gripe is the lack of fit of the adaptors into things like the barrels of the shimano brake calipers. A bit of sandpaper was needed to work them down so they would even press fit.

Overall weight I achieved with generous cable lengths was 107g all told for a large size frame - I used generic brake cables along side the PTFE coated derailluer ones that came provided- and added some barrel adjustors.

Speaking of adjustors - i recommend the SRAM ones as the conventional style ones just spin about the ilinks and dont expand unless you secure the ends separately and twist.

As for Ti cables.. not right now i think!! :O Though one could imagine you'd have decent tensile strength for the weight!

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby Dimis » Mon Sep 09, 2013 4:46 pm

TMjpn wrote:Did the iLinks over the weekend.. slow start with a bit of familiarisation but after a short amount of time Its pretty easy to get the hang of...

All i can say is Wow - it's a decent system!
You know the rules... it didn't happen without pics... :twisted:

Just a little heads up: You might need a little extra protection on the frame around the head tube.
In my experience, over time they tend to chew into and scratch up the paint or clear coat on the frame.

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TMjpn
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby TMjpn » Mon Sep 09, 2013 5:16 pm

Dimis wrote: You know the rules... it didn't happen without pics... :twisted:

Just a little heads up: You might need a little extra protection on the frame around the head tube.
In my experience, over time they tend to chew into and scratch up the paint or clear coat on the frame.
Pics to come!

I hear you with the frame protection - thankfully the ilinks come with rubber cable sleeves for contact points on the frame - though I used my OEM ones. A small bit of blu-tack to keep the sleeves in place on the cables paired with some frame protectors should do the trick.

Only thing I can think of looking at the set-up is that the brake and shift cables could rub each other should you do a sharp turn and slowly wear the anodizing off.

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby jcjordan » Mon Sep 09, 2013 7:46 pm

NhiTrac wrote:
jcjordan wrote:
TMjpn wrote:The aluminium linkage style that contador (for one) uses?
known as alligator iLinks.

I use they and they are fantastic

Sent from my GT-I9305T using Tapatalk 4
And they cost an arm and a leg don't they! I've been looking to get some to replace my Yokos and I think they come in at about $150+ for gear and brakes... And that doesn't include the actual cables?!

Where did you buy yours from? I find eBay to be the only place for us Aussies.
Got mine from eBay and they did not cost anywhere near $150

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TMjpn
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby TMjpn » Mon Sep 09, 2013 10:28 pm

I ended up with black & Silver as black colour wasn't available for shifters (out of stock :( )

Image

It can also get a bit untidy - the Scott is set up to run the rear brake at the right lever (crazy euro folk) - but as I'm a motorbiker as much as a cyclist - I prefer my front on the right lever.. hence the messy lines.

Image

Image

Image

Image
It looks a little tider at the rear with a std cable cap that isn't as long as the stock item.

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby Mulger bill » Tue Sep 10, 2013 1:35 pm

Looks great to me, the line of the rear brake cable from the frame back is beautiful.

Any chance of a close up of the inline adjusters on the shift cables?
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby AUbicycles » Tue Sep 10, 2013 1:46 pm

Worth throwing into the mix vertebr.ae - while they are not competing on weight, like nokon they focus on braking efficiency.
My contact with them dropped suddenly at one point so not sure if they are still in business.
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TMjpn
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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby TMjpn » Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:42 pm

Will put up some pic's for you later Mulger Bill :)

In the meantime I must say I think in hindsight a pair of these adjusters would work best:

Image

The std ones I used cant defeat the amount of slip the links have in the ends of the adjuster and you just end up spinning the whole barrel assembly. You can use 2 hands and get the desired result - but for mid ride tweaks I can imagine that'd be pretty hairy!

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby Mulger bill » Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:48 pm

Thanks mate, appreciate it :D

Pretty sure that jagwire do that adjuster too, may save a few shekels that way.

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby jcjordan » Tue Sep 10, 2013 6:15 pm

I normally never put adjusters on as I never seen the point. One I have the cables set, with the exception for the odd tweak during general maintenance never needed to do it on a ride

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Re: Best road cable set (weight wise)?

Postby pawnii » Sun Sep 15, 2013 10:38 am

if you want to save more weight wack some powercordz in.

I've used nokons, alligators (both), shimano, gore, campeg and yokozuna

IMO
nokons - become sticky, the inner sheath gets worn quickly and the anodizing/powdercoating chips and rubs off...but they can hold the tightest radii
alligators - wants to straighten out as they come under compression. Over time, from heavy braking each link flairs out to the point where they don't click together any more...but they are very light
shimano PTFE - heavy...but fantastic performance
campeg - same same
Gore ride-on - inner cable coating is very fragile and strips away...but is probably the lowest friction cable
yokozuna - very rigid out makes it hard to setup, break cable outer diameter is large so it doesn't work with every frame (specially internal cable routed frames) and probably the heavest...but the best shifting and braking cables i've ever used.
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