Spent 45 minutes chasing a ghost click on a customer's bike, turned out the shifter cable was one strand frayed inside the housing

Had a Trek Domane come in last Tuesday with the front derailleur acting up. I checked the limit screws, adjusted the cable tension three times, even swapped the cable housing before I noticed a single tiny strand poking through. That one little fray made the cable catch and slip just enough to drive me nuts. 45 minutes for something I could have spotted in 30 seconds if I had looked closer. Has anyone else had a hidden cable fray that took forever to find?

2 comments

2 Comments

seanh9120d ago

dude i literally watched a video from the park tool guys last month where calvin talked about this exact thing with road shift cables. said frayed strands hide inside the housing and you cant see em till you pull the cable fully out. honestly changed how i diagnose shifting issues now i just yank the whole cable out first thing if somethings acting weird. your 45 minutes sounds painful but at least you figured it out, i had a buddy spend two hours once on the same problem before he gave up and brought it to a shop. happens to the best of us man.

campbell.logan19d ago

Did you at least give him a discount or just laugh and hand him a beer?