I’m all about the go faster. But of all my perusal of product catalogues, new bike stores and what’s online, cable outers barely feature in my reckoning (unless I’m trying to be a fashion victim by colour co-ordinating).
Vertebr.ae is a Spanish company run by an Australian Doctor producing what they believe to be is the best quality cable outers you can get this side of Barcelona.
The cables themselves are made of small non-corrosive ceramic discs which are then shrink wrapped into a housing and lined internally with a full length Teflon liner. The ceramic discs are what give the housing its flexibility but also its compression rigidity. They believe that have achieved a veritable Chris King status for cable outers with longer life, less maintenance, no lubrication and better performance.
They manufacture both gear and cable housings for both the road and mountain market. They are certainly attractive with 16 different colours available ranging from hot pink to Tour de France yellow, and even one that will glow in the dark. This fact alone may appeal to proud bike owners anywhere.
Because of the nature of the housing some smarts and specialist tools are required for you to cut to length at home. Alternatively you can pre-order your desired length and it will be delivered to your door ready to be installed.
We have been using both the brake and gear cable solutions. Brake cable outers are less relevant to us mountain bikers these days so I had mine on my commuter. Its performance was certainly impressive with a firm sold feel to the brake lever and no softness after continued use. I’ve been using this for 6 months with nothing but exceptional performance with not even a consideration for replacement on a bike ridden five days a week.
The gear outer offered fantastic flexibility with tighter corners but initially had some frustrating friction resulting in ghost shifting, but after some investigation and consultation I discovered I had cut the Teflon liner too long and it was interfering with the shifter. Since then it has worked flawlessly with quick fluent shifts, no signs of wear and certainly no risk of the ends failing like on traditional housings.
I expect these outers to be used for a long time yet (like another year if not longer) with occasional replacement of the cables themselves. They are pretty expensive for cable outers running at 99 Euros for 1.5metres (on special) but if you want the best and want something that will last, then the Vertebr.ae solution could be right up your alley.
Find out more at www.vertebr.ae.
