Rohloff gear cables - am I being simplistic?

[Philq]

I'm about to change the rohloff shifter cables on my 5/6 yr old Raven Tour. I've read all the posts with dire warnings of the difficulty of the measuring the required cable lengths.

Given that I'm only doing this as a preventative move in preparation for a tour across Spain in the summer and given that the old cables and outers still seem in entirely reasonable condition is there a reason why I cannot simply just measure the old inners and outers and cut the new ones the same length?

[Danneaux]

...is there a reason why I cannot simply just measure the old inners and outers and cut the new ones the same length?

Nope. If the old inners and outers are in good shape and not binding (too short) or in the way (too long), then making both the new cables and housings the same length should present no problem.

You might have to fiddle with the cable adjusters to accommodate any cable stretch, but it should be very minor in my experience.

Best,

Dan.

[Philq]

That was my thinking but always nice to have it confirmed! Many thanks Danneaux, it's much appreciated you taking the trouble to reply

[Matt2matt2002]

Please let us know how you get on.
I have the same bike and it's a job I should know how to do.

Matt

[mickeg]

As long as you do not have any kinked outer housing or have any accumulated dirt inside the housing to cause more friction, I would keep the old outer housing instead of replacing it.

I have a Nomad, not a Raven, so my bike has the EX Box instead of the internal cable.  Perhaps there is something about the cable run on a Raven that I am unaware of that would suggest that new outer housing is recommended after several years?

[il padrone]

You might want to check out this useful video from Rohloff about the procedure involved (for the external shifter, there is another for the internal cable model) - https://youtu.be/9_ha9__3VLg


Internal shift mech model - https://youtu.be/4GSsp4wJp_E

[Donerol]

For the internal cables SJS sell measuring aids for £6 - or you could buy some brass tubing from a model shop and make your own.

[mickeg]

For the internal cables SJS sell measuring aids for £6 - or you could buy some brass tubing from a model shop and make your own.

I cut plastic drinking straws to the correct length to use.

[Tiberius]

My new hub (ex box...one year old) came with a plastic drinking straw thing to use for measuring the correct length of the inners......It must have added 0.0000001 pence to the cost of the hub package...

Top Tip (you MAY have heard it before) Measure twice, cut once...Check out the videos above and it's a doddle.....

[il padrone]

.......and DON'T forget to refit the cable adjustors before attaching the cables to the cable pulley 

So very easy to do - I've managed to do it twice myself. Luckily the anchors were not done up too tight and I was able to refit the cable ends.

[JimK]

ha ha - and have the cable adjusters oriented correctly! Experience is a hard teacher!

[Donerol]

If you use large end cutters like mine, be careful when you cut the second cable to length, that you don't also cut the first one that you have just carefully installed... DAHIKT.

 

[Philq]

Thanks for all the replies and helpful suggestions.

In the end the female connectors had corroded and could not be removed from the cables so I had no other option other than to cut them off and replace these too. This meant that while I could use the old outers as a guide I needed to measure the inners as per the Rohloff and Thorn guides. It was much easier than I anticipated and it seems that the measurement of 5mm from the end of the male connectors has quite a bit of tolerance either way.

On inspection of the old cables it does look like it was largely unnecessary: the shifter cables and the internal hub cables all look in near perfect condition. For the future though I will be lavishing some love and attention on those connectors!