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My friend in the shop told me he never pre-stretches new cables and I had to think about it.
We were building up a Trek Domane for a customer and he just ran the housing, cut it, and threaded the cable straight through. He said, 'If you set the barrel adjuster right, it's a waste of two minutes.' I've always done it as gospel, but his bikes never come back with shifting problems. Is pre-stretching just shop ritual at this point?
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ivanl7612d ago
Honestly, that's a fair point. Modern cables and housing are way better than the old stuff. The stretch is so minimal now, a couple clicks on the barrel adjuster after the first ride fixes it. It feels like one of those old shop habits that just stuck around, like toe strap drills. If his bikes work fine, maybe it really is just extra steps.
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emma_rodriguez3412d ago
Totally agree, it's like we're all still acting like it's 1998 with steel cables and plastic housing. I remember stressing so much about pre-stretching everything on my last build, only to tweak the barrel adjuster maybe twice and then it was solid. Feels like one of those things old mechanics pass down without questioning if it's still needed. Honestly half the "proper" steps I learned seem more about tradition than actual results these days.
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