ExBox reassembly problem...

[rafiki]

I looked at my ex box this afternoon and it was horrible so I took it apart and cleaned it. I had no problem winding the cables back onto the pulley but I am stuck putting it all back together. When inserting the pulley into the box I can fit one but not both of the barrel adjusters. I have tried different positions of the gear shifter but haven't found a way to equalise the adjusters so they fit in together. I have attached an explanatory photo. What am I doing wrong?

[Danneaux]

You can gain some room by rotating the adjuster beds so they are crosswise to the housing. As pictured, they are 90° from where they should be. The adjuster beds should fit the housing like this:
o) and not []).

It is also possible the last bit of cable has crossed over the part already wound.
EDIT: The cable housings may have come out of their stops at the upper part of the cable run, up near the shifters. Best to check that as well.

Best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

Agree with Dan on orientation of the cylindrical part that each of the adjusters go through.

Do you still have the Rohloff youtube link?  I have not watched it, but I assume it may help.

I do not remember if I left the box mounted on the hub or had it off like you have.  It has been a few years.

One possibility is that the cable stop in the twist shifter got out of position and is not seated right.  If so, that can shorten a cable by roughly 6mm or so until seated correctly.

Worse case scenario is that a cable(s) might have been cut too short.  But that is unlikely.

ADDENDUM

After looking at Dans photo of his EX box, it is clear that in my caution to avoid cutting my cables to short, that I cut them a bit longer than Dan.  I have more of each adjuster screw sticking out of mine.

Disregard the oil in the photo, I think that air pressure changes in airplane luggage compartment is the reason for the excessive oil leakage, the leakage has not re-occurred since I got home, cleaned it up and changed the oil.

[rafiki]

Thanks Dan. I just rushed to get a pic for this post but I was usually reassembling with them as you say they should be but they still wouldn't fit. I checked each time to ensure that the upper cables were in place and they were. I was running my finger around the pulley before inserting it into the box to check that the cables were in place. No crossovers that I could feel. I will recheck all those things at first light tomorrow.

[mickeg]

If your cables are cut just a bit too short, you can cut the cable outer housing a bit instead of having to buy new inner cables.  Maybe 8 to 10 mm on each.

If you do that:
 - you need a quality cable cutter.
 - you have to withdraw the inner cable out of that part of the outer housing first to avoid cutting the inner cable.
 - there has to be a slight bit of excess cable to start with, so that when the handlebars are turned, etc., that nothing pulls tight on the bike.
 - best to use an awl after cutting to make sure that any plastic liner in the cable is openned up.
 - I also use a file for a minute or two on the housing end if the cable cut is not nice and clean, and I have a quality cutter, yet I still do this.

[rafiki]

Thanks Mikeg. Much appreciated.Yes, I have watched the Rohloff video several times this afternoon looking for clues. I hadn't thought of the twist shifter causing the problem. I'll check that in the morning too. The cables didn't seem tight when I disassembled the box, it was the Thorn original build so, as you say, unlikely but I'll bear your suggestion in mind.

[rualexander]

Check you have wound the cables onto the pulley correctly.

[Tigerbiten]

Once you have the ex-box to that point, try and give it a good pull away from the shifter while holding the ends of the outers.
That will tighten up all the inner cables in the outer/shifter.
If you cannot see anything obviously wrong and you don't get any more slack then the inners are probably cut short.
Being slightly disabled I do that all the time and I tend to use the short inners as guides for the new ones.
My working average is close to 3 inners per twin cable change.

Luck .......... 

[rafiki]

I am very grateful to everyone for their helpful tips and advice.

I followed all your suggestions, some I had already tried but I tried them again but still no joy. It was still short. with the pulley in place cable adjusters wouldn't fit.

I had intended to do a complete reinstall in the Spring because gear changing had become mushy and the 9 year old twist shifter was due for replacement. I only opened the ex box after reading here of those who fill the box with grease. I thought it might help my old system but I made more work! [If it ain't broke don't fix it.]

I had most of the shifting parts at home so I made an express order to SJS for the bit I was needing and replaced it all today. Step by step with the YouTube videos and it was done. No issues with fitting into the ex box this time. Only a stupid mistake of mine not tightening enough one 2 mm grub screw in the pulley and the cable pulled free - twice! Fortunately there was no fraying so I could re-insert it. I hadn't forgotten Dan's super super-glue tip but the bottle I had was old and solid when I looked.

I have been for a short ride and the difference in gear changing is astounding! I didn't have much time and I am still a bit wary of pulling the cable free again so I shall do my next few morning long rides on the Dawes and keep testing the Sterling in the afternoons for a few days.

On reflection the previous install must have been just a bit too short. I recall there was no ajuustment available on the shifters, they were tight to the box and the twist shifter had no play. When I removed the original pulley it did seem quite tight in the box when I removed it. My new install has plenty of adjustment available and it slipped into the box easily.

Thank you all once again.

[mickeg]

Is the message here to cut the cables an extra 8 to 10 mm longer than specified to make sure they fit?

[rafiki]

Is the message here to cut the cables an extra 8 to 10 mm longer than specified to make sure they fit?

I don't know. In this case I cut them exactly 200 mm.

[mickeg]

... In this case I cut them exactly 200 mm.

Ok.  Thanks. 

I apparently was confused when it sounded like they did not work at that length in earlier posts.

[rafiki]

Ah, OK. I don't know to which length they were cut before as they were the original cables on the bike from new.

[rafiki]

Just to update: the Rohloff cables on the Sterling are working fine. No further pulley mishaps so it's my daily ride again. Thanks again everybody.