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New cables- How often?

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Thomas777:
Wondering how often cables should be changed? My wife's bike has the Rohloff and we rode across Canada last Summer. This year we will be in Europe for 2 months.
Thoughts?
Thanks!

PH:
Which type of shifter? 
If it's the internal mech, then it's something you really don't want to be doing at the side of the road, I used to change mine every other year, about 10,000 miles.  By that time the old one showed signs of wear, but never looked like it might fail.  The cables from the shifter to the connectors would be changed at the same time, or maybe earlier if they started to feel rough.  The inners are standard and I bought a reel of outer which will last my lifetime, so it's a cheap job.  Often you don't realise the deterioration in shifting because it's  gradual, then notice the improvement afterwards and wish you'd done it sooner.
With the external mech, I'm less sure.  I had mine converted six months ago, I'll have a look at it and probably replace before next winter.  Although never desirable, failure wouldn't be such a big deal.  I'd expect to be able to get something workable even at the roadside.

mickeg:
I have the EX box on my Nomad.  I changed the cables once, but only because I lengthened the outer housing when I moved the position of my shifter.  When I changed my inner cables, I found that the generic Shimano road shifter cables fit just fine.  Make sure you only use stainless, there are some cheap galvanized cables out there.

I never change cables by a calendar or by distance traveled.  Instead when I tour I carry a spare of each inner cable (one shifter, one brake) and a tiny little cable cutter.  The Rohloff EX box cable installation uses a 200mm tube to measure the cable length to cut off, I carry two 100mm plastic drinking straws in my spares kit on that bike, I also carry some electrical tape so I could tape them together.

The Rohloff cable is normally slack, not under tension.  I suspect that lengthens the life span.  When I shift, I am careful to not try to force things.  I suspect when I read of people that broke a shifter inner cable that they hit the stop and then pushed harder, that I never do.

I have never used a Rohloff that has the internal gear cable, thus you should rely on others for advice on that particular cable, if they suggest replacing it on a schedule then perhaps that cable is one where you should?

The last cable that failed on me, was on a bar end shifter.  When I had to adjust by cable adjuster a couple times within 20 miles, I knew something was up.  And then when the broken wires started stabbing me (bar end shifter, the fingers are very close to the cable), then I knew something was up.  I changed the cable when I still had three unbroken strands, thus I still had the ability to shift until I got home and changed it.  I just checked the photo, I took that in 2012 so I have not had a cable fail for six years.

PH:
From pg 24 of Living with a Rohloff

--- Quote ---Please note that the internal gear wire will
snap eventually.
----Snip-----
But prevention is much better than cure, so why not consider
maintaining the cable in the same way that you would the cam
belt in your car? That is, change it at regular intervals, these
intervals being shorter than the service life of the component.
I believe that, because our cycles have such a perfect line of entry
of the cable into the hub, the cable should fail at the upper end of
Rohloff’s 10,000-30,000Km projected cable service life... so
20,000Km service intervals should see very few, if any, of our
customers with broken cables.
To those poor, unfortunate individuals who always seem to have
bad luck with mechanical things, I would suggest that, even if you
changed it at 10,000km (i.e. every other oil change) it would require
but a fraction of your time spent in maintenance compared to a
derailleur system.
--- End quote ---
http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/ThornLivingWithARohloff_LoRes.pdf

geocycle:
Definitely replace the internal hub cable on a precautionary basis.  As PH says it is a PITA to do at the roadside.  I've done mine three times in something over 35,000 miles, once due to a failure, twice as a precaution.  I think I've only replaced the shifter cables twice, once due to a failure where the cable frayed in the shifter.  The shifter cable is much easier and it was possible to limp home ok. Hope this gives an idea of the frequency.  If I were setting off around the world I'd replace both in advance and carry a built up inner as a spare.

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