In Jagwire’s Ripcord semi-sealed cable sets,which I reviewed back in December,
“fairly standard (but smooth) L3 housing runs where cable housing usually runs. At the cable stops, special ferrules with little straws that stick out of the stops are used, over which stretches of “sealing liner” fit, covering what would otherwise be bare cables runs.”
This setup makes the Ripcord set an easier-to-install and less expensive alternative to fully-lined cable systems, while offering much of the same protection from the elements. After wearing out my first set in about a year and second set in seven months- but having grown attached to the SID Blue housing- I re-upped and bought a third set for my go-to trail bike. Unfortunately,
“When installing [my third] kit, I found that the little straws on the ferrules had shrunk, allowing them to fit into cable stops much more easily and presumably reducing drag. Unfortunately, while this was a step in the right direction, the failure to shrink the tubing [which seals the cable between housing stops] correspondingly represents two steps back. The revised Ripcord sets now have sizable gaps where the tube meets straw, with no o-rings or other seals to back them up.”
Ever vigilant, Jagwire USA were quickly in touch. They’d identified the same issues as I had and already revised the supplied tubing to better fit the set’s ferrules. Click through to see photos of the revised interface…
Given my experience with earlier sets, I thought that
“If Jagwire were able to close the very visible gaps in their system, they might have in the Ripcord a reasonably priced, attractive cable set that could compete with other high-quality non-sealed cables and housings.”
At the moment, I’m having good luck with Jagwire cable sets on three full suspension bikes, including one with a long stretch of unbroken housing. Though they still don’t seem to stay slick quite as long as Shimano’s XTR cable sets and suffer from a good bit of compression when new, the fact that Jagwire do not pre-cut housing lengths makes their housing a good choice for full suspension bikes or anything with long housing runs. At $30, an annual cable replacement is easily the most cost-effective way to make a well-used bike feel almost new. Jagwire’s revised Ripcord sets, available in several fashionable colors, are a reasonably priced, attractive cable set that can once again compete well with other high-quality non-sealed cables and housings.
marc
