Hey gang,
Having issues with progressive dropper cable pull/lever push stiffness.
I installed this summer a new oneup dropper and wolf tooth remote, along with new cable and housing. Followed installation instructions, care taken to avoid kinking, Torqued everything to spec, and have the psi near the upper end of recommended (I like a fast return). lever push was certainly stiff, but not terrible.
over the summer, Lever push/cable pull became progressively stiffer, causing blisters on my gloved thumb on long rides, to the point the cable suddenly went slack, and wouldn’t actuate the dropper, no matter how much I tightened the cable at the lever end. I pulled the dropper and couldn’t visualize anything untoward.
Removed cable (expecting perhaps grit or water had got in), it was pristine and slid smoothly in the housing.
Decided to replace cable anyways, now it’s back to baseline. Dropper has always lowered and raised smoothly throughout.
Any thoughts?
In retrospect, I had similar stiffness issues prior to my shitty original spec lever & dropper failing. I had the cables replaced ( by a bike shop at that time) as well, with no help at the time.
I would expect longer cable life if it’s a cable issue, especially with the cable looking so good, wondering if the cable might be kinking either due to installer error, or inherent design/routing flaw of the frame? Am I drinking the wrong type of beer when I’m working on it?
Do you have a bend in your seat tube and/or a pivot bolt through the seat tube that may be interfering with the cable/actuator? Had this issue with a previous dropper that had an insert length too long for my frame.
Nice thought, I hadn’t considered that. seat tube does have a bend in it, pivot bolt is very anteriorly placed on the seat tube.
Certainly possible ,although I felt I mitigated this possibility by measuring insertion depth at different points along the inner diameter, and rounding my measurements so that I would have a healthy margin for the dropper. I chose a shorter dropper length as well, again to build in a margin of error, and specifically chose oneup due to its shorter total length.
When inspecting the cable/actuator I also didn’t note any signs of rubbing.
Like @Rolls said it certainly seems like you’ve got the cable/ housing jamming somewhere. I’ve installed multiple OneUp posts with all sorts of levers with no issues. If the post is working correctly and smoothly and it’s just a stiff lever feel then I would look towards the cable and housing and check the routing.
Thanks for insight guys,
yes, post itself is working smoothly. So if I’m reading correctly, I guess my first course of action could be to try raising the base of the post within the frame. Failing that, I guess removing the cable and housing completely again and attempting to re-route?
I would definitely check you’re routing. The housing must be pinching somewhere or goes around a bend too tight.