Without actually having it in hand, I summize the edge of the machining where the cable enters the barrel adjuster has a sharp edge to it, and so with every shift it's just widdling away at the cable. A couple things you may be able to do. I know they make them, but some sort of deburring tool is what you could use to smooth off the edge of the holes. Possibly even a slightly larger drill bit than the hole, rotating very slowly. Maybe a dremel/rotary tool with a small cone shape bit with grit to use to chamfer the edge !
Another possibility is to use some 1.5mm brake cable as a floss-type file though the barrel. Wear some leather gloves and work it back and forth. It works ! I did this on a steel frame that only had grooves in the metal for the FD cable. Over the years it created a sharp edge around the hole for the cable. So I used a old brake cable like floss, and worked it back and forth. It worked great. After you smooth the edges, you can also use some 1.2mm shift cable liner, from Jagwire. It may fit through the hole, may not. Brake cable liner is too big. I used it on some older Suntour thumbshifters that were also eating cables. So I cut a 2" section and slid it over the cable around the shfiter body bend and through the guide hole. Never had an issue with fraying again. On Sunday, September 28, 2025 at 12:22:41 PM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > Pics. > [image: image0.jpeg][image: image1.jpeg][image: image2.jpeg] > Sent from my iPhone > > On Sep 28, 2025, at 12:19 PM, Richard Rose <[email protected]> wrote: > > Recurring (twice) problem, But first a little background. I have had my > Clem for close to four years. Deore rear der. and Silver shifters. They are > mounted inside of the brake lever in "Riv style". I am on pace to have > 10,000 miles on this bike and zero cable / shifter problems. > > About two years ago I built up my Gus from a frame. I installed the very > same Deore rear der. but used the Silver shifters from Blue Lug instead of > from Riv. I did so to get the barrel adjusters that come from Blue Lug vs. > the adjustable cable exit angle you get with the Riv units. I did so > because I was looking at older Rapid Rise units that do not come with > barrel adjusters, which I presumed I needed. As a novice bike mechanic I > did not comprehend that a full friction setup does not really need barrel > adjusters. Anyway my rear shifter cable began to fray & eventually break > where it exits the shifter & enters the barrel adjuster. I installed a new > cable along with the Rapid Rise Nexave rear der. Now that cable has also > frayed to the point of likely breaking on my next ride. The Gus has only > two thousand miles on it. > I wrote here about the first one breaking and was informed (I think) that > others had reported similar issues with early Silver shifters. Can anyone > confirm that? Is my shifter unit the likely culprit or is it the fact that > I do not have the Riv supplied adjustable cable angle fitting? I will send > pics in a comment. Any help very much appreciated. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2bc7ff59-8afb-46a5-b66d-ea55fa95f415n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/2bc7ff59-8afb-46a5-b66d-ea55fa95f415n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/82b4db9e-88c8-4c27-933b-cdc75218b4ccn%40googlegroups.com.
