Delta Aztec Powerline Shifter Cable Set

Review Date
December 25, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: Walrus(Unregistered User) ,  Cross Country Rider , from South Korea

Price Paid:  $0.00 at somewhere online...d

Summary:
I've owned these before and when I finally needed replacement cables a year and half or so later, I regretted not buying the same ones again. I bought a set of Alligator "semi sealed" cables as I am referring to them. They work great but they do not offer the same performance as the Aztecs. The powerlines are a fully sealed design...i.e. if installed properly it is EXTREMELY unlikely that any foreign substance that would hinder performance will ever reach your cables. In addition to the compressionless housing, there is a liner that runs the entire length of the cable. The outer plastic casing around the little metal ferrules will eventually crack but that is only a cosmetic issue. It will not affect your cable performance thanks to the liner inside the housing. I need to buy another set of these because the semi sealed system I have now has allowed water/moisture to get in them this summer. The moisture never drained I guess and now it's winter in Korea and my 10-15 commute to work usually results in me not being able to shift after about 5 minutes outside...the moisture actually freezes inside the housing and effectively disables my shifter cables!! Thank God I have hydraulic brakes instead of mechanicals...LOL!

By the way...I noticed a lot of complaints here about poor shifting. As one reviewer already stated...you have to follow the instructions to the letter. This cable system requires that you install PRECISELY the right amount of cable or they will not perform as expected. You will typically need to use a little LESS housing with this system than with normal cable housings. On that note...when installing them don't forget to turn your bars through the full range of motion when measuring the correct housing distance. Yes...it IS that critical. Once you get the install down, these things are awesome.

Similar Products Used:
Alligator "semi-sealed" cables

Review Date
May 19, 2008

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Reviewed by: Dan (Unregistered User) ,  Downhiller , from Annandale, NJ USA

Price Paid:  $20.00

Summary:
This product absolutely stinks, don't get it, it isn't worth the trouble.

Similar Products Used:
Jagwire Pro L3 Ripcord, XTR, Avid Flak Jacket.

Review Date
February 27, 2008

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Reviewed by: Steve (Unregistered User) ,  Cross Country Rider , from Mountain View CA

Price Paid:  $30.00 at Performance

Summary:
So far very disappointing. There was insufficient housing to do my Superlight. If I didn't reuse some of my Gore housing I would have been out of luck. And it's not like my SL takes a lot of cable. What they provided would have been insufficient for my Trek 5200 road bike as well.

As well, these cables are taking a long time to seat. I've had to adjust them each of three rides so far. I don't know if it's the little aluminum links that are settling, for if it's the cable, which seems a bit on the thin side.

I noticed Universal Cycles has the Gore cables, so it looks like they are being imported again. I love having sealed shifter cables, so I'll go back to the Gore if these don't work. They are pricey, but they work well in my experience.

Similar Products Used:
Gore Ride-On

Review Date
February 23, 2008

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Reviewed by: Dave (Unregistered User) ,  Cross Country Rider , from Lincoln Univ, PA, USA

Price Paid:  $40.00 at local shop

Summary:
I have used Ride-On's for years on this and my other bikes. After >6000 miles the ones on my Jekyll finally failed (due to crashes, not wear). I always keep an extra set of cables in stock, but after I used my last set of Ride-Ons a couple years ago I was dismayed to find that Gore had stopped making them. When I saw the Power Lines, I thought they would be a good substitute and bought some. So, when finally I went to use them, the first thing I found was they came with grossly insufficient length of housing. The good news, when I complained to Aztec they acknowledged the problem and promptly sent me another set with enough housing. The bad news, who wants to leave the bike in the shop for two weeks waiting for stuff that should have come in the package? When the parts came I installed them carefully and found: 1) they start out pretty well, but the slop associated with the segmented cable housing means that you will need to make frequent adjustments for proper shifting (which never, in my experience, really settled in); 2) they don't come with a "grub" like the Gore system uses to keep water and mud from entering the ends of the liner (especially important on the front derailleur of the Jekyll, whose cable feeds from beneath the bottom bracket and thus tends to suck up mud), but fortunately I was able to reuse the grubs from my old Gore cables; and 3) the plastic housing tube on the Powerlines that contains the little aluminum segments kinks easily. This allows the segments to misalign, pinching the liner and resulting in friction on the cable that quickly feeds back on itself. So shifting gets worse and worse. When I finally realized the housing was source of the problem, I replaced it (with my old Gore housing that I had never thrown away). That made the rear cable barely usable again, but it was too late for the front one, whose liner had kinked too badly. The good news: Gore has finally brought Ride-Ons back into production, although at a grossly inflated price, $60-65, and the extra cost seems only to have gone into prettier packaging. Still, 6 months (tops) for $40 Powerlines that never really settle in vs. $65 for Ride-Ons that shift beautifully from the start and last indefinitely? Stick with the Gore.

Similar Products Used:
Gore Ride-On

Review Date
January 31, 2008

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Reviewed by: Mike (Unregistered User) ,  Cross Country Rider , from Chester County, PA

Price Paid:  $40.00 at Performance

Summary:
Look up "garbage" in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of these things next to this definition- "things that should be thrown away". First off, they don't provide you with enough housing to outfit a modern FS bike (they're on my Blur XC). You'd think for $40 (remember, most cable sets cost $15) they'd give you enough housing to actually use them (they instruct you to order and extension kit for an additional $20). Second- they're frustrating to install- I spent half the time chasing little aluminum barrels across my basement floor (my fault, but still a pain). Third, the cables BARELY fit in the black plastic inner liner. I could hardly push the cable through it- I'm surprised they work at all. Once I “broke them in” they seemed to work ok for awhile. They needed to be adjusted after a couple of rides like the instructions said- no problem. I almost decided I liked the cables until my bike started shifting horribly last night. It seems that the clear plastic outer tube isn't very durable. The tube on the loop at my rear derailleur cracked. I didn't crash, didn't hit it on a rock, it just cracked. Now the cable kinks at that location. $60 plus the hour for installation/chasing the aluminum bits around with a 1-month service life.. I'd have to label this one of the most disappointing purchases I’ve made in a long time. DON”T BUY THESE!!!

Similar Products Used:
Avid Flak Jackets, Jagwire, LBS specials, etc