lads anyone using teflon coated cables with your sti leavers.
<nods> Yes, me for the last 15 years or so with my SunTour friction bar-end shifters.
I have found the Teflon did indeed wear off where the cables exited the stops, but was still good inside. I use lined cable housings, so the Teflon proved to be redundant and they feel no smoother than the drawn stainless cables I use on my other bikes.
Back in the Olden Days when Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth, I used greased cables in plain steel housings. In the Early Eighties, I went to SunTour braided derailleur cables, then finally to JH Stroh "Crystal Cable" a lined housing with large-diameter braided cables. These days, it is really hard to beat the die-drawn indexed shifting cables. They're just so smooth, and they don't stretch. Paired with lined housing, they work a treat for ages.
Anto, if your STI levers are working rough, I'd suspect worn linings in the housings before the cables themselves. Has it been awhile since you changed the housings? best bet would be to replace both, methinks.
All the best,
Dan.