[High Gear]

View attachment 276075 I'm getting ready for my anticipated bike build and read good things about the Yokozuna Reaction Cable System. I was just going to go with good ol' Campy cables, but these sound to be better. Are they better?

 

[cxwrench]

they're good. they're a pain to cut. similar in price to a campy cable set. IMO there is nothing at all wrong w/ the OEM campy cables/housing, and i use them whenever i work on a campy bike.
when you talk to mechanics that have been in the business for a while they've pretty much all been through the phase when you want to try every wacky aftermarket widget you can get your hands on. eventually you come back to realizing that the stock stuck supplied by the manufacturer really is the best in 99% of the cases.
my recommendation: campy

 

[High Gear]

Thanks!

they're good. they're a pain to cut. similar in price to a campy cable set. IMO there is nothing at all wrong w/ the OEM campy cables/housing, and i use them whenever i work on a campy bike.
when you talk to mechanics that have been in the business for a while they've pretty much all been through the phase when you want to try every wacky aftermarket widget you can get your hands on. eventually you come back to realizing that the stock stuck supplied by the manufacturer really is the best in 99% of the cases.
my recommendation: campy

 

[PaxRomana]

I have been using Yokozunas for years. My impression is this. They make HUGE difference over the SRAM cables. I don't see much difference over Campy. Plus, they are quite stiff and can affect steering ever so slightly when you are riding no-handed.

I would lean Campy as well. If you were building a Sram bike, I would absolutely go Yokozuna.

 

[High Gear]

The stiffness of the cable housing is probably overlooked by many untill that first ride!
Thanks, I just ordered the Campy cables.

I have been using Yokozunas for years. My impression is this. They make HUGE difference over the SRAM cables. I don't see much difference over Campy. Plus, they are quite stiff and can affect steering ever so slightly when you are riding no-handed.

I would lean Campy as well. If you were building a Sram bike, I would absolutely go Yokozuna.

 

[cxwrench]

I have been using Yokozunas for years. My impression is this. They make HUGE difference over the SRAM cables. I don't see much difference over Campy. Plus, they are quite stiff and can affect steering ever so slightly when you are riding no-handed.

I would lean Campy as well. If you were building a Sram bike, I would absolutely go Yokozuna.

not sure why you think campy cables/housing are so much better than SRAM cables/housing. they're actually very similar.

 

[PaxRomana]

not sure why you think campy cables/housing are so much better than SRAM cables/housing. they're actually very similar.

My own experience with both groups. Perhaps it has a lot to do with how the cables work in relation to the rest of the drive train. I have found the shifting to be markedly better on Sram with the Yokozuna cables.

 

[agm2]

Also something to keep in mind is if you are doing internal cable routing. We are installing this on a bike at work that had internal routing on the handlebars and bike, and because it's so stiff we are having trouble getting it to line up right.

 

[High Gear]

View attachment 276111 Good to know too. The rear brake cable is routed through the TT on my Somec Rex.

Also something to keep in mind is if you are doing internal cable routing. We are installing this on a bike at work that had internal routing on the handlebars and bike, and because it's so stiff we are having trouble getting it to line up right.

 

[looigi]

Have not used campy cables, but the main diff between Yokozun and Shim, Gore, Jagwire, etc. cables that I've used is that the brake housings use parallel wires instead of a spiral wire which makes the braking very noticeably firmer. Shifting is similar to others and better than Gore which tended to gum up. They are bit a pain to deal with because of the housing stiffness and larger OD. IMO, the brake housings and cables will essentially last forever so only plan to replace the shifter sets when the time comes, and then will use whatever decent brand name I can get a good deal on.

 

[aclinjury]

yeah I also read reviews about Yokozuna similar to those stated here.

1) because housing is stiff. Good for 2012 and older Sram shifting, particularly front.
2) also because of stiff housing, braking response is firmer, a good thing

However, the stiffer housing also means harder to route the cable, especially the brake cable housing as it is stiffer than the shifter-cable housing. Also, the stiff brake cable housing may push the brake calipers themselves out of "dead-center" position, apparently that's how stiff the brake housing is.

Also, like Looigi stated, the outter diameter of the brake house is larger than normal, so this may also present an issue too as you try to fit the housing into metal ferules and shifters, but apparently guys have found ways to still install them!

Having said that, I'd go with OEM cables.

 

[PaxRomana]

One more thing I wanted to mention is that Yokozunas may not be the best housing to use with bar top levers on cross bikes, since you have to route the cable over the bars due to the stiffness.

 

[Eric_H]

For the OP, I would likely just use Campy cables. The Yokozuna cables are nice but I find the brake housing overly stiff and kind of a PITA to set up properly as the stiffness of the housing can knock the brake caliper off center unless the housing is cut to an exactly correct length. Worth noting you can get just the Yokozuna shifter housing/cables in a package, and then get separate Campy brake housing/cables.

 

[davcruz]

Have not used campy cables, but the main diff between Yokozun and Shim, Gore, Jagwire, etc. cables that I've used is that the brake housings use parallel wires instead of a spiral wire which makes the braking very noticeably firmer. Shifting is similar to others and better than Gore which tended to gum up. They are bit a pain to deal with because of the housing stiffness and larger OD. IMO, the brake housings and cables will essentially last forever so only plan to replace the shifter sets when the time comes, and then will use whatever decent brand name I can get a good deal on.

I said this in response to this statement you made in another post recently, I just ordered a new set of Jagwire Racer cables and the brake housings were not the typical spiral housing of old, they are 5mm parallel wires just like the 4mm shifter housings. I am not sure when Jagwire went to this type of brake housing but the Racer set I received 3 weeks ago has this housing type.

 

[looigi]

....the Racer set I received 3 weeks ago has this housing type.

Did you notice a significant increase in brake lever firmness with these new parallel housing? Do you find them stiffer and more difficult to work with than the spiral housing?

 

[GRAVELBIKE]

Jagwire's reinforced housing will improve braking feel. I use it on all my bikes and it works really well. For inner (shift) cables, I generally use OE Campy or slick, die-drawn Jagwire cables. I've also had good results with Transfil's Campy-compatible shift cables. Brake cables are usually Jagwire or Campy.

 

[davcruz]

Did you notice a significant increase in brake lever firmness with these new parallel housing? Do you find them stiffer and more difficult to work with than the spiral housing?

I wish I could say, but the new cables came as a result of changing over from some older components to new 6700 stuff and the brakes are so much better now but I have no idea what 6700 calipers would feel like without these housings, they certainly are responsive calipers though! Also, as mentioned by others, this cable style is quite stiff, noticeably more stiff than the spiral wound Jagwire housings I replaced and thus makes it more difficult to work with initially and certainly susceptible to requiring the exact length needed to reach the caliper with no forgiveness for being a bit too long.

 

[looigi]

...the brakes are so much better now but I have no idea what 6700 calipers would feel like without these housings, they certainly are responsive calipers though! ...

I'm confident a big part of that is the new housings.

 

[RRRoubaix]

The guys over at MTBR seem to think pretty highly of the Yoko Reactions for Mech disc brakes.