Subject: Shift/Brake Housings Dilemma Posted by: Quip on December 19, 2002 at 21:27:08:

Message: hey folks... hoping a few of you can help me out. i have a tri-bike set up with shimano aerobar-end shifters (indexed) and i need to replace the shifter housings. i've already swapped out the brake cables without an issue, but as i look at the existing shifter housings, they are as thick (diameter) as the brake housings. sort of looks like the previous owner used brake housings instead of the smaller shifter housings. the new shift housings i ordered from shimano (SIS) are much thinner. now comparing this to my road bike set up (much newer bike) i see that my road bike has smaller cables for the shifters and larger for the brake. it also appears to only have a metal ferrule in one place: on the chainstay housing, only on the end that goes into the derailleur. everywhere else is just the plastic ferrule that came with the cables. so back to my tri bike. the shift housings are large and have a ferrule at every housing stop. i'm totally confused. do i have to replace the larger shift housing with a larger brake housing. or do i swap out the big housings for the small housings and if so, do i use only one metal ferrule in the rear derailleur? one last note, the plastic ferrules are not as large as the existing metal ones... will there be excess room between the plastic housings and the cable stops? many, many thanks! Quip