Jagwire Hyper Derailleur Cable Kit

Jagwire Hyper Derailleur Cable Kit hasn't wowed me in the same fashion as its more glamorous racer sibling but it successfully fills the void between budget and bling. Cheap enough to replace on a seasonal basis, the generous, sturdy and yet compliant housings go a long way to overcoming the problems presented by convoluted cable runs and ensuring the Teflon liners' uninterrupted flow maximises foul weather performance when combined with a monthly blast of PTFE spray.

Bursting into the packet and hastily uncoupling the wire ties, the prodigious outers stretch for over two metres – sufficient for tandems, recumbents and other specialist configurations so STI/Ergo systems and very big frames are a walk in the park. Be careful not to lose the sealed goody bag though, since this contains the nine sealed ferrules, crimps, donuts and protective rubber boots. The LEX outer differs from the brake kit in that it employs linear rather than coiled strands, thus ensuring completely compression-less performance.

In common with other Jagwire housings, this seems very resistant to cutting – great news for the rough and tumble of spirited singletrack but a swine in the workshop on a Saturday night. A slightly dulled set of snips nearly ruined ours but the bench grinder came to the rescue with a precision cut... From here it's just a question of slotting the outers in place and feeding the other components through accordingly. Sweet cable flows are a cinch, even at the final loop to the rear mech, but remember to position the cuffs carefully since wet undergrowth and cable rub spell trouble for paintwork.

My crosser with its Tiagra mechs and original equipment cables was arguably the ideal guinea pig and even though the original cables weren't in bad shape, installing the Hyper saw front and rear mechs shift crisply back and forth, seemingly unaffected by split-second changes, even under load. Aside from a momentary glitch on the workstand, the absence of tell-tale chattering suggests last there's no issue with cable stretch, thus making them a good choice for last minute pre-race pit-stops too, especially if you use a modified MTB as a spare bike during cross meets.

Verdict

Versatile derailleur cables with an excellent performance to cost ratio.