Jagwire Hyper Brake Cable Kit

Jagwire Hyper Brake Cables are a low compression design aimed at the entry level to mid range road and mountain bike rider that with a bit of careful prep also make sound choices for winter and cross duties too.

The 4mm thick plastic coated conical outers have Teflon linings and the stainless steel inners feature snip to suit pear/barrel heads to suit drop or flat levers. Detailing is generally very good right down to the anodised aluminium ferrules, crimps and those nifty silicone cuffs that prevent the outers gnawing through paintwork.

Playing devil's advocate I'd still be tempted to pay the extra and plump for their more refined racer siblings but nonetheless, ours have greatly improved modulation and feel from my Univega's otherwise dependable Tektro/Dia-Compe configuration these past nine months or so.

Let's tackle this compression issue. Low compression is good since it minimises friction and therefore mushiness when engaging the brake. However, zero (essential for crisp gear shifting) isn't since this counteracts braking efficiency (as a hapless housemate studying engineering discovered during our second year at Polytechnic! Happy days... well, not a particularly happy day for him). A choice of seven colours should be fine for most tastes with brand specific Kelly Green and Bianchi Celeste offering the last words in coordination.

Installation and set-up is pretty straightforward so long as you've half a hour's peace, decent cutters and work methodically. Being a daily driver, my Univega sees the elements in all their glory year round so I decided to keep maintenance to a minimum by carefully stripping the cables to their individual component parts and running the linings the complete length, thus protecting the otherwise exposed inners. This has worked wonders, although doesn't quite match the sealed type of cable when fed a diet of salty coastal roads in the middle of January but then run these and you'll have saved a bundle and a few grams to boot.

Achieving smooth, graceful lines where they exited the levers proved pretty simple too and it wasn't long before modulation and feel were spot-on. Cable stretch is a moot point so feel free to trim quite short-being over cautious and leaving the rear slightly longer saw ours brush against the mudguard, fraying annoying during our first outing. Thankfully there was sufficient to crop short before I went all belt 'n' braces, soldering the ends for good measure.

Verdict

Cost effective upgrades for lower to mid range brakesets.