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A crusty old mechanic told me to stop using brass ferrules on index shifters and I finally get it
About 4 years back I was working at a shop in Tacoma and this older guy named Dale, been wrenching since the 70s, told me brass ferrules on shifter cables are a mistake and I basically blew him off. I had been using them for years, never had a comeback, so I figured he was just set in his ways. Then last summer a customer brought back a bike I built and the indexing was drifting after maybe 6 rides, super annoying. I cut the cable housing open and the brass ferrule had crushed into the housing end, it was mushroomed and the cable was dragging inside it. Swapped to plastic ferrules on his rebuild and mine, and the shifting has been dead on for months now. Dale was right and I never told him, which I feel a little bad about. So what are you all running on alloy or steel housing ends, plastic or brass, and has anyone actually seen brass hold up long term on a 11 speed setup?
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kelly.charlie2d ago
Dale's probably seen a million mushroomed ferrules since '74, curious if humidity in Tacoma speeds that up.
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