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Hey guys,
I'm getting really sick of re-cabling bikes after these sloppy races and I'm thinking of dropping the buxx to get the Gore cables. BUT they won't solve the problem if they don't survive the mud and snow!

Can anyone share their experience with riding these cables? Do they withstand messy conditions and come out clean? Are the housing ferules as schnazzy and weathertight as the company claims? I know what they're supposed to do - I'm looking for real-life experiences on the bike for what they actually do in real life.

thanks in advance...

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hey pigtails,

as you might have seen in our issue 2, we liked em. gore is an advertiser, for full disclosure. but after almost a year, I'm still using the same rear shift cable and housing as well as brake cables and housing. granted, I didn't have that many muddy races (there were some), and don't wash my bikes that often, but the stuff works. def. get the sealed unit. compared to a dura-ace housing setup, it's not that much more, and should pay for themselves by lasting longer.

the ferules don't need to be weather tight, because the cable is sheltered by one continuous sealed sleeve end to end that goes in and out of the housing. At the derailleur (and brake) end, there's a rubber cover that keeps stuff out.

the only issue I had was a bit of fraying of the slick coating on the cable where it gets clamped - but it's not needed there. and that was after changing derailleurs a few times.

if you can only afford one, get the sealed gear set. ryan b of ben's team told me was starting to install them on bikes... they'd be perfect for nats, IMHO.
Get'em. They work. (no one paid me for that)
what i'm looking for here is someone who can tell me "i rode those cables, wiped out in a sandpit, threw my bike in a lake, and survived the USGP in Jersey this year and they still work." or something like that. sounds like Andrew didn't race 'em in a mudhole... has anyone?
even thought it's pretty dry during the summer and now, I have raced them in mudholes - just not throughout the year. our "peak season" races last jan were very muddy. they did fine - and I doubt I even washed my bike after the last race. we had some mud this year, esp on the trails, and still fine.
I put them on Stella's bike at the start of the season and they are still going strong, the we're a prek from the rep who wanted to see if we liked them. I saw them at KC Nats on a lot of the ladies bikes in the pits and they were getting great reviews from their mechanics
I have the rear derailleur cabled using the gore cables. No problems yet this year I think. I say that because at Lansing this year during warm ups I went down in the sand trying to avoid another rider. I didn't notice the lack of shifting until midway through the first lap. I have narrowed it down to either the rear loop getting fouled or the shifter itself. Both were cleaned so Ican't say for sure which it was.

I do wash my bikes after training and also on race day as a pre race inspection so they are typically very clean. Just my two cents.
put one of these on the rear noodle on every CX bike you own and your cables will last a looooong time

http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?id=986

best product out there
those are cool. the gore sealed housing comes with mini-versions of them for the end. very good at keeping the crap out at the clamp's end.
the gore ones suck comparatively. they only really work if there is something on each side of the grub to keep the gunk out.

i've got these on my mt bikes and cross bikes... always used them pretty much never have to change cables no matter how muddy, just wash and go.

but

i still run 8 speed on the mt bikes and 9 speed on cross... so maybe that accounts for my "success" and yeah i've raced in a decent bit of mud this year, washed the bike at least after every race (with water and soap even)... those nitecrawlers are worth their weight in gold... if you can still find them. They really do create a completely sealed rear cable. Heck I've got top mounted cables that still shift great after 14 races and numerous wet or muddy training races not to mention commuting in all sorts of rain and bad weather on the same bike.

fwiw i still have a set or two of gore cables i bought to put on, but never did because my plan was to wait until the bike stopped shifting well before I was going to install them....
I ran them in my gearing up for cross this year. They were working perfect until I ended up taking a flip over the bars warming up for the Ohio UCI-C1. Once something actually contaminates the inner liner, dont waste your time trying to make it work, they are done. Other than that I did have the freying on the end, which spread back into the section in the housing but it didn't seam to bother it.

Go sealed. Now that I am not, I realize how un-fun it is racing with crap shifting! Not to mention the 15-20 bucks I spend on housing and cables after a muddy weekend really gets old!
David - so, you were running the un-sealed ones, and those are the ones that got screwed up?
no, I was running the sealed. Thats the thing. Sand got in the sealed part through the shifter when I took the nose dive. Sand was barried down it it and eventually worked it's way into the cables. I guess they work great if you avoid noseplants in the sand!

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