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Nokon Slimline cable set

7
£69.99

VERDICT:

7
10
Undeniably lightweight and super refined cables but only justifiable on the most expensive bikes
Weight: 
0g
Contact: 
www.windwave.co.uk

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There's not getting away from it, Nokon slimline cables are expensive in relation to top-flight weather sealed Bowden type cables, they're even more expensive than standard width Nokons,and installation is very time consuming too. On the flip side, performance is superb and the design's malleable characteristics come into their own on bikes with torturous cable runs and or/unusual cockpit configurations (e.g. long but relatively high stem and narrow bars) plus they are claimed to last much longer than standard cables which goes some way to jutifying the price. However, rubberised cable cuffs or good quality electrical tape are essential to prevent the aluminium housing chafing pretty frame finishes.

These Slimline versions of Nokon's classic design are, say Nokon, 58 per cent lighter than traditional types, (Nokon claim their standard width cables are 30 per cent lighter). So these are very much aimed at the weight weenie wanting to put the finishing touch to a bling bike.

Open the packaging and you're presented with a beautiful anodised outer, Teflon inner sleeve and common or garden stainless inners. The housing is actually fashioned from segments that slot together like a beaded necklace, eliminating the need for cutting and theoretically mistakes. Creative types can also mix and match, adding other colours for the last word in customisation. Set to the correct tolerances, these segments provide stability for the entire system.

Before fitting take time to study and become familiar with the component parts and how they relate to each other. Offer it up to the bike a few times before snipping the Teflon inner sleeve but until then, because the outer can be added or subtracted at will, there's no risk of permanent or costly errors. Closer inspection suggested, other than the precision cut housing, there's little separating sleeve and inner wire from the very best traditional types and in the interests of thorough, investigative testing, I wired the Nokon to front and rear mechs and headed for the muddiest trails and wettest coastal roads I could find.

Credit where due, they've been fit and forget, marginally friskier up and down the block under load too. Despite my initial reservations, there's been no infuriating cable chatter over rougher roads and trails even forgoing nylon cable-cuffs. Swapping the OEM inners with a stainless Shimano made no discernable impression-other than needing a quick tweak to counteract some minor cable stretch on the first outing, leading me to conclude, the outers are key to the concept's success. While undeniably slick, I could only justify the considerable expense on top-flight, finest groupset money's no object steeds -which, again to be fair, is really what they are intended for.

Verdict

Undeniably lightweight and super refined cables but only justifiable on the most expensive bikes.

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Nokon Slimline cable set

Size tested: Red

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

The website proudly asserts "the future of bowden cables has arrived". Tested in the Tour de France, the slimline are clearly aimed at a competitive audience wanting the last word in low-weight, high performance systems. Credit where due, they've acheived all this but at a price.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Lightweight kit for derailleur

30% lighter than standard

Includes 2 x stainless gear cables

teflon liner and fittings included

Housing 1.8m

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10

Can be rebuilt, as removed fom replaced.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

Initial purchase cost is very hard to justify, despite the levels of performance. Although if they last much longer than normal cables it might start to become less eye-watering

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

There's no doubting the performance is sweet, slick and better than any system I've used to date. The design has distinct advantages for riders of unsual dimensions-say running long, higher rise stems and relatively narrow bars. Similarly, flexibility greatly improves shifting on machines with torturous cable runs. Used extensively through wet, muddy conditions, shifting has been impeccable without recourse to adjustment or lubrication on a mix and match Shimano drivetrain.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Bling, low weight and undeniably crisp shifting.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Prohibitive cost.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Possibly

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Only for top flight builds with unusual configurations/tight cable runs

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

Performance and weight are undeniably good but I have to balance this against the cost, hence the lower overall rating.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 1m 81  Weight: 70 kilos

I usually ride: Rough Stuff Tourer Based around 4130 Univega mtb Frameset  My best bike is: 1955 Holdsworth Road Path and several others including cross & traditional road

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, commuting, touring, fixed/singlespeed, mtb,

Shaun Audane is a freelance writer/product tester with over twenty-eight years riding experience, the last twelve (120,000 miles) spent putting bikes and kit through their paces for a variety of publications. Previous generations of his family worked at manufacturing's sharp end, thus Shaun can weld, has a sound understanding of frame building practice and a preference for steel or titanium framesets.
Citing Richard Ballantine and an Au pair as his earliest cycling influences, he is presently writing a cycling book with particular focus upon women, families and disabled audiences (Having been a registered care manager and coached children at Herne Hill Velodrome in earlier careers)

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2 comments

Avatar
brian21 | 7 years ago
1 like

Weightwise, the cable outers may be a little lighter.

However I note that the Nokon still uses steel inner cables. On a two brake plus two gear cable setup the steel inners weigh in at approx 70 grams. Aluminium alloy or kevlar cables weigh about 60% less, but are unsuitable because they are much more elastic than steel with its modulus of 200 GPa. Whereas Kevlar and alloy is at approx 70 GPa.

There is another material though with a modulus better than steel at 240 GPA and weighing 80% less at approx 15 grams for a similar 4 cable setup.

Carbon fibre. 24K strands, braided into a yarn of about the same diameter as a steel inner cable with a breaking strain much greater than steel seems the obvious way to go for weight watchers. But I guess that's just the engineer in me talking.

Now that's a product I'd buy.

Avatar
Sven Ellis | 13 years ago
0 likes

When I bought Nokon cables, I didn't notice the price or the weight. I just knew they were a lovely red.
PS They seem to be on the Windwave site for £89.95.
PPS I think I've had enough of "cockpit" for a while.

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