Why does nobody talk about how bad cheap cable housings are for shifting feel?

I was helping a buddy tune up his old hybrid last weekend and he had this no-name housing from Amazon. I figured it'd be a bit stiff but man, it was like trying to shift through molasses. We swapped it for some basic Jagwire stuff I had lying around and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else run into this where cheap housing just kills the whole ride?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenixb668d ago

Three bikes, two different brands of cheap Amazon housing, and one full afternoon of my life I'll never get back. The first one had that weird plastic liner that just crinkled up inside the ferrule and made the cable feel like it was dragging through sand. The second one actually snapped at the cable stop after maybe 200 miles of gentle riding. I think my buddy still has the third bike sitting in his garage because we gave up and he ordered proper Jagwire online that night. Cheap housing is like putting dollar store oil in a lawnmower, it technically works until it doesn't.

blairstone8d ago

You ever read one of those old Sheldon Brown articles about housing compression? I remember him talking about how cheap housing lets the cable push through the liner instead of the liner staying put. Saw it in action helping a neighbor with his bike last fall, the housing was literally squishing flat under the barrel adjuster. That plastic liner stuff is the worst, it bunches up and makes everything feel mushy before it even breaks.