Snapped a cable housing in 90 degree heat at a group ride last Saturday

I was out in Austin fixing a rider's stuck shifter on the side of the road and the housing just cracked when I bent it. Turns out the sun had baked it brittle after sitting in a hot car trunk all summer. Has anyone else had cheap housing fail from heat like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

hernandez.brooke16d ago

nah im gonna push back here, that sounds more like a user error than a housing failure cause pretty much all cable housing gets brittle if you leave it baking in a car trunk for months on end. i've run the same generic shimano housing for years through texas summers and never had it crack like that unless it was already damaged or pinched from a bad install. probably just needed to store your spares somewhere cooler or replace them more often instead of blaming the heat.

wright.jesse16d ago

i get where you're coming from but i've seen housing crack in ways that had nothing to do with heat or bad storage, just cheap manufacturing from day one. had a buddy's bike lock up on a ride because the housing split right at the ferrule, and he kept his stuff in a cool garage. maybe you got lucky with your batches, but i don't think it's fair to call user error on something that can be hit or miss depending on who made it.