Author Topic: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?  (Read 4330 times)

Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« on: 03 November, 2012, 10:50:36 pm »
I've been having trouble with the front and rear gear cables on our tandem; everything shifts fine with the machine on a bike stand, or when ridden solo, but when ridden by both of us, shifting is less reliable, and often I cannot use all three chainrings when underway with two of us.

8-speed cassette, TA 52-38-26 chainset, XT rear derailleur and suntour front derailleur all working reasonably otherwise.

Various plans to try are: using a 9-speed chain instead of 8-speed, consider rerouting rear gear cable OVER BBs with new band-on or braze-on gear cable tunnels (or even a little wheel from a SA 3-speed set-up), all to mitigate against flex, but I was also wondering about the Nokon cable housing

Clearly housing of any length can be constructed, and it can be used with any length of ordinary cable.  Has anyone tried this and, if so, are there any things I would have to look out for (apart from bankruptcy, that is!)?

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #1 on: 03 November, 2012, 11:56:49 pm »
What shifters?
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #2 on: 04 November, 2012, 07:56:07 am »
Sounds very familiar.
Mr Smith can persuade middle and large chainrings with very little trouble, but granny just does not want to cooperate.
I'd (we'd) thought this was just to do with tension in the chain, as we've had it on all 4 tandems we've ridden. Or possibly flex in the frame that alters the tension in the cables.
As such, interested in your findings.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #3 on: 04 November, 2012, 08:34:18 am »
I've not found a problem with the tandems that I've ridden after I've adjusted them. Front mechs can be very sensitive to small tweaks. Of course, non-indexed front changing makes life much easier...

The major difference between workstand and on-the-road performance is not frame flex but pedal pressure. Tandem teams often don't change soon enough (get bogged down) or don't back the pedal pressure off enough to get a clean change. Jump Stops are very useful for shifts to the granny ring.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #4 on: 04 November, 2012, 08:42:06 am »
What is a jump stop LWaB (sorry if I am being dumb)?

We don't have issues getting granny - but we're not a hard charging fast team, so we are happy to ease pressure right off fairly early and drop into granny ring.
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #5 on: 04 November, 2012, 08:50:53 am »
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #6 on: 04 November, 2012, 08:51:47 am »
Before we got our tandem in 2007 I'd heard that gear changing on tandems was problematic so expected the worst. However, we never had a problem selecting the granny ring. We do have a jump stop and I always try to change early. I'd say it should be possible to resolve the problem without fancy gear cables.

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #7 on: 04 November, 2012, 09:00:52 am »
http://n-gear.com/whatis.html

Thanks! I thought it was some kind of advanced tandem technique!

We do need to add a chain catcher of some form - as despite earlier claims we never have issues getting granny, we did drop the chain twice on our last tour.
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #8 on: 04 November, 2012, 09:11:00 am »
Not used for gears, as have alfine on our tandem, but would like Nokon for our cable discs, as the run to the rear is a bit stretchy. LBS said it was a good system, but spendy. I was hoping someone would take a punt on one of the cheaper knockoffs available on ebay, so I could follow in their footsteps.

Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #9 on: 04 November, 2012, 12:49:33 pm »

Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #10 on: 04 November, 2012, 12:57:05 pm »
http://n-gear.com/whatis.html

Thank you - that's very interesting, and well worth a look at.

By the way, when I open that link in Firefox, it goes all haywire, with multiple bits of page reproduced everywhere.  When I open it in Opera, it's fine.  Had this before with some sites, but don't know why it happens - one for Ctrl-Alt-Del, methinks.

Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #11 on: 04 November, 2012, 05:12:12 pm »
We had a dog fang on the Swallow, but if the blimmin chain wont move in from the middle ring that isn't much help!

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #12 on: 04 November, 2012, 05:15:03 pm »
We had a dog fang on the Swallow, but if the blimmin chain wont move in from the middle ring that isn't much help!

For what its worth we have one of those on our tandem and I have one on my road bike.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #13 on: 04 November, 2012, 07:58:24 pm »
What shifters?

Sora 8-speed.

Sora brake/shift levers are not designed to index a Suntour front mech. The combination not working properly isn't surprising. I would replace the front mech with a Shimano road front mech, possibly a Tiagra triple.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #14 on: 04 November, 2012, 09:24:47 pm »
Didn't Charlotte use Nokon on their Santana?
Getting there...

Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #15 on: 04 November, 2012, 09:51:56 pm »
I'd also suggest that the range over the chainings may cause a bit of an issue too.

Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #16 on: 05 November, 2012, 09:04:43 pm »
What shifters?

Sora 8-speed.

Sora brake/shift levers are not designed to index a Suntour front mech. The combination not working properly isn't surprising. I would replace the front mech with a Shimano road front mech, possibly a Tiagra triple.

Thanks for that suggestion. :thumbsup:

Re: Nokon Gear Cable System on a Tandem?
« Reply #17 on: 27 April, 2013, 11:09:05 pm »
What shifters?

Sora 8-speed.

Sora brake/shift levers are not designed to index a Suntour front mech. The combination not working properly isn't surprising. I would replace the front mech with a Shimano road front mech, possibly a Tiagra triple.

Well, I went and acquired a Shimano Tiagra Triple FD, together with an adapter, as the mech could only be sourced with braze-on clamp, and have just not got it to work properly at all!  After lots of fiddling, fettling and swearing, and the mods mentioned below (so many variables here!), I tried the previous mech again, and it's working pretty sweetly. ::-)

I'd also suggest that the range over the chainings may cause a bit of an issue too.

You were quite right, PB.  I've acquired a 46T outer chainwheel, so the triple is now 46-38-26, and that's helped.  I've also applied rivets to the outer and middle chainwheels, which provide some purchase for the chain as it is shifted, as TA chainwheels are otherwise as flat and featureless as a pancake (more so actually, as pancakes aren't generally polished!).

I'm sure the set-up can be improved further, but this is a significant shift forward (no pun intended!).  I'm certainly leaving any ideas about Nokon cable outers until all else has been tried.  It's now time to give it all a try on the road (solo to start with).

Thanks for the help everyone. :thumbsup: