Fitting Orbea rear derailleur cable

[mickdronnie]

Hi there, Has anybody successfully fitted a new rear derailleur cable to an Orbea Gain (D40) through all the internal headset routing without having to dismantle everything ie can you just remove the old internal cable and "thread" the new one back through all the routing? If not are there any tricks of the trade/bits of additional kit required to complete the job? I've fitted many new cables etc to all my previous bikes but this is first e-bike I'm about to attempt

 

[stompandgo]

Park IR1.3 internal routing kit

 

[mickdronnie]

Park IR1.3 internal routing kit

Hi there. Many thanks for the link to the Park Tool. Have you actually used this kit to replace your inner rear derailleur cable on an Orbea Gain? If so, was it as simple as seen in the Park Tool video? Cheers - Mick

 

[Base]

What are you going to replace? inner and outer cable? or just the inner?

 

[mickdronnie]

What are you going to replace? inner and outer cable? or just the inner?

Just the inner as the outers are fairly new (fitted at bike shop as part of major service) but I've noticed a strand of inner fraying at the derailleur end. I want to replace before it causes changing problems. Cheers.

 

[Base]

as far I can read, the outer cable is ongoing in the frame through the headset.

 

[mickdronnie]

View attachment 199229

as far I can read, the outer cable is ongoing in the frame through the headset.

Only one way to find out I guess

 

[stompandgo]

You won't need the Park kit to replace the inner wire as long as it's not torn up inside. Use a proper cable cutter to cut the derailleur end off cleanly. Open the brake lever and pull the inner wire out through the lever. Fish the new inner wire back in through the lever. New wires usually come with the ends soldered for smooth fishing. Once the wire is through to the other side, work the lever and pull on the end to seat the wire in the lever. Tension and adjust.

 

[mickdronnie]

You won't need the Park kit to replace the inner wire as long as it's not torn up inside. Use a proper cable cutter to cut the derailleur end off cleanly. Open the brake lever and pull the inner wire out through the lever. Fish the new inner wire back in through the lever. New wires usually come with the ends soldered for smooth fishing. Once the wire is through to the other side, work the lever and pull on the end to seat the wire in the lever. Tension and adjust.

Hi there - I finally got round to biting the bullet and giving it a go. The only problem was hitting either an outer cable narrowing or horrendous routing round the bottom bracket. Fixed by inserting a new inner cable from derailleur end and using it to clear a path through for the actual replacement. Next up is front derailleur to try and ease what is becoming increasingly hard to change from small to large chainring. Regards, Mick.

 

[stompandgo]

Great. Now you have some experience.

Front derailleur cables that don't have sealed cable ends often get jammed up with junk at the derailleur end. You can try backing the cable off and using a spray cleaner in the housing, but if the damage has been done, the housing will need to be replaced. If your cables have polymer coated inner wires, try replacing them first.

 

[mickdronnie]

Great. Now you have some experience.

Front derailleur cables that don't have sealed cable ends often get jammed up with junk at the derailleur end. You can try backing the cable off and using a spray cleaner in the housing, but if the damage has been done, the housing will need to be replaced. If your cables have polymer coated inner wires, try replacing them first.

Cheers and I'll be giving it a whirl at the weekend. The thing that's puzzling me is the Orbea left hand shifter has always seemed "heavy" to me. I've fitted dozens of cables over the years and my winter bike has Clarks components and a baby could shift the front derailleur it's so smooth. I'm wondering if the awful routing through the internal headset and round the bottom bracket is to blame and/or excessive spring strength on the shifter itself as it does seem strong. I'm also checking out the pinch bolt cable routing to make sure that's as it should be.

 

[mickdronnie]

Cheers and I'll be giving it a whirl at the weekend. The thing that's puzzling me is the Orbea left hand shifter has always seemed "heavy" to me. I've fitted dozens of cables over the years and my winter bike has Clarks components and a baby could shift the front derailleur it's so smooth. I'm wondering if the awful routing through the internal headset and round the bottom bracket is to blame and/or excessive spring strength on the shifter itself as it does seem strong. I'm also checking out the pinch bolt cable routing to make sure that's as it should be.

Cheers and I'll be giving it a whirl at the weekend. The thing that's puzzling me is the Orbea left hand shifter has always seemed "heavy" to me. I've fitted dozens of cables over the years and my winter bike has Claris components and a baby could shift the front derailleur it's so smooth. I'm wondering if the awful routing through the internal headset and round the bottom bracket is to blame and/or excessive spring strength on the shifter itself as it does seem strong. I'm also checking out the pinch bolt cable routing to make sure that's as it should be.

 

[stompandgo]

Cheers and I'll be giving it a whirl at the weekend. The thing that's puzzling me is the Orbea left hand shifter has always seemed "heavy" to me. I've fitted dozens of cables over the years and my winter bike has Clarks components and a baby could shift the front derailleur it's so smooth. I'm wondering if the awful routing through the internal headset and round the bottom bracket is to blame and/or excessive spring strength on the shifter itself as it does seem strong. I'm also checking out the pinch bolt cable routing to make sure that's as it should be.

I haven't built an Orbea with cables through the headset, but I've built plenty of Pinarellos with a similar design. Most (haha) worked out fine but I've had a few that were a real bitch. I had to get the housing lengths just right, with the proper amount of slack for movement, or there was either headset binding or derailleur movement. I wound up working the housing slack from the derailleurs towards the headset to free them up.

Do your best to get them as smooth as you can, but be prepared to replace the cables and housings, or just do what I did. Rip them out and go Di2.

 

[mickdronnie]

I haven't built an Orbea with cables through the headset, but I've built plenty of Pinarellos with a similar design. Most (haha) worked out fine but I've had a few that were a real bitch. I had to get the housing lengths just right, with the proper amount of slack for movement, or there was either headset binding or derailleur movement. I wound up working the housing slack from the derailleurs towards the headset to free them up.

Do your best to get them as smooth as you can, but be prepared to replace the cables and housings, or just do what I did. Rip them out and go Di2.

Hi there again,

Just a quick update. Fitted new outer and inner (I hate fully integrated headsets, never again!) and it was still not the best changing from small to large. I read that Shimano had redesigned Tiagra fronts to have longer arm and created more leverage so bought a new one (mine's 2021) and fitted. Way, way better. Thanks for your help.

 

[mickdronnie]

Hi there again,

Just a quick update. Fitted new outer and inner (I hate fully integrated headsets, never again!) and it was still not the best changing from small to large. I read that Shimano had redesigned Tiagra fronts to have longer arm and created more leverage so bought a new one (mine's 2021) and fitted. Way, way better. Thanks for your help.