I shredded my rear deraileur shift cable on last nights inaugural Middlebrook Road Ride. After holding 50-55kph down Middlebrooke, I was stuck in 53x11 for the rest of the ride.
So today, I disassembled the Shifter and pulled out that shredded cable.
Seems to be a common problem. I have had at least 4 cables break at this spot. Everytime, I tell myself I will change the cable before it happens next…
It’s a Shimano thing because of the way the cable routes through the rear shifter. Regularly goes on my dura ace 9000. It can be a real project to get the stubby end out if you shift it too far in.
Not the first time a Shimano rear derailleur shifter cable has frayed. You can feel the cable failing and you keep lightly shifting hoping it will last until you get home and then bang…cable snaps…and you jam the cable end cap way up into the ratcheting mechanism. I had to disassemble the entire shifter to retrieve that end cap.
My previous bike was an R3 and was all external cabling. You could change an entire rear deraileaur cable in 30 seconds. This S5 is all internal cabling. Took 30 minutes of fishing and fiddling. No internal housing within the frame.
Yes, there is a removable cable guide in the BB shell. But, I kept trying different paths around the BB with that magnet (above, below, around) until I found a clear path.
An interesting thing I noticed was some “shavings” once I removed the cable guide from the end of the chain stay.
The obvious solution is Dura-Ace R9200. Rumours say it’s gonna be semi-wireless. Derailleurs will be connected together to the battery, with the shifters wirelessly talking to them.
Can’t wait to build my war drone that will broadcast wireless signals to riders on climbs and shift them all into the hardest gears. How much do you think Sky Ineos would pay me to sabotage their competitors?
I can just imagine someone running along side riders up L’Alpe D’Huez posing as a fan with their phone while trying to jam wireless shifters at key attack points.
If tech companies can’t completely secure a wireless door lock, I’m sure there’s going to be vulnerabilities in cycling gear that is worth exploiting for someone out there.
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