# installing sram shifter derailleur cables



## rielid (Dec 5, 2009)

Hi,
I'm building my first road bike, and I'm stuck. I am using SRAM shifters, and I am trying to install the derailleur cables, but they won't go in. Maybe I'm trying to push them into the wrong spot?

Take a look at these pictures and let me know what I'm doing wrong, if anything.

http://picasaweb.google.com/garymm/BikeAssembly?authkey=Gv1sRgCNCx8qemprWFHg&feat=directlink

Thanks a lot for your time.


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## farva (Jun 24, 2005)

Cable goes in the bottom hole, around the drum & then up thru the top hole. FYI - cables with non flash cut (welded) ends are just about impossible to feed thru SRAM shifters without unraveling (can't tell what you have from the picture)


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## rielid (Dec 5, 2009)

Hmm, too bad my LBS is closed for the day. Thanks for the tip. I'll try it tomorrow.


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## frdfandc (Nov 27, 2007)

The Sram cables work the best IMHO for fishing through the shifters. Inexpensive bulk cable, usually found at the LBS, is tough to feed through the shifting mechanism due to the welded end.


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## rielid (Dec 5, 2009)

I bought a jagwire cable set that had double-ended cables. I cut off the campagnolo end and was left with an unwelded tip to try to push through the shifter. Do I need something else or not? I seem to be getting contradictory advice.


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## farva (Jun 24, 2005)

SRAM cables are flashcut also. Almost all brands are with the exception of the "double ended" ones that have mountain swage on one end & road on the other. You have to cut these with cable cutters to get the desired end connection. Avoid this type for SRAM shifters.


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## ssing20 (Aug 1, 2007)

I found that pre-bending the cable end so that it has a curve in it helps with feeding it into the shifter.


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## bikencanoe (Aug 28, 2012)

ssing20 said:


> I found that pre-bending the cable end so that it has a curve in it helps with feeding it into the shifter.


I found this thread while searching for how to get the cable through the Sram Rival shifter for the rear derailleur . I tried to about an hour. The front derailleur cable was easy and went right through. 

I finally laid the bike down on it's side and I was able to get the cable through the shifter. Must have been a different angle that I could not get to work when the bike was in the repair stand. 

Also I was not using Sram cable but Jagwire sport cable. 

I hope this helps any future people in the same boat.


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## Dave Cutter (Sep 26, 2012)

I haven't re-cabled but only a couple bikes. But both times I used the double-end cables and I put a bit of solder to the cable before cut it and threw away the other end. It made the cable easier to thread and handle.


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

Dave Cutter said:


> ...I put a bit of solder to the cable before cut it ...


What solder/flux/heat?


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## matfam (Jul 13, 2012)

I use a drop of super glue to keep the cable from unraveling.


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

I use Sram cables and have never had a problem installing them. Sram cables are 1.1mm while other cables are 1.2mm.

Good shops should have Sram cables in stock. I have them and I know several other shops do too.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

PlatyPius said:


> I use Sram cables and have never had a problem installing them. Sram cables are 1.1mm while other cables are 1.2mm.
> 
> Good shops should have Sram cables in stock. I have them and I know several other shops do too.


^ this ^ the main reason i don't like jagwire cables is that they're double ended in an effort to cut costs. you always have to cut off the end you don't use, and that can make it hard to get a cable through a shifter. 
SRAM cables are a breeze to get through double-tap shifters and are also quite smooth. we use them for everything except campy.


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## Camilo (Jun 23, 2007)

cxwrench said:


> ^ this ^ the main reason i don't like jagwire cables is that they're double ended in an effort to cut costs. you *always have to cut off the end you don't use*, and that can make it hard to get a cable through a shifter.
> SRAM cables are a breeze to get through double-tap shifters and are also quite smooth. we use them for everything except campy.


I dont think this is true. I installed a Jagwire "racer" set, and I don't recall that they were double ended. Regardless, the installation into my Sram shifters (2011 Red) was dead easy.


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

*bikencanoe has to buy beer for reviving an old thread.
*
But since we are on the subject...............
I only use cable that have brazed or soldered ends. My top choice has always been the Shinmano cables. I oddly only use SRAM shiters on my road and mtb bikes though.

I never cut cables until everything is dead on perfect. I can imagine trying to get a freshly cut cable through the shifters is a pain in the.....


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## drmayer (Mar 24, 2009)

I found it helped to remove the plate on the shifter to give a slightly more vertical angle going into the shifter. Don't loose the little screws.


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

drmayer said:


> I found it helped to remove the plate on the shifter to give a slightly more vertical angle going into the shifter. Don't loose the little screws.


What? Why? It takes 3 seconds to feed a new cable into the shifter.


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## Dave Cutter (Sep 26, 2012)

looigi said:


> What solder/flux/heat?


Last time I used my silver solder and my big soldering gun. _Always use flux_... even when using flux core solder (the heavy thick tin stuff often used for plumbing). Super glue would work as well.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

drmayer said:


> I found it helped to remove the plate on the shifter to give a slightly more vertical angle going into the shifter. Don't loose the little screws.


you can see right through the hole in that plate to the drum that hold the cable...why are you removing the plate? it's pretty hard to miss the right spot, you'd have to try.


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## drmayer (Mar 24, 2009)

The first time I tried new cables on sram shifters, it took 10 mins to get it fed through the shifter. I took the plate off on the 2nd shifter and it fed the first try. Subsequent changes have involved trying without removing the plate, and if I don't get it right away off comes the plate. 

Works for me.


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