Smoothing my Droopy

I know sometimes, this is an infomercial.  What feels like a paid advertisement.  Talking about sponsor stuff.  I get it.

I talk about stuff that works tho.  Stuff I like.  Surprise, surprise... I pay for more stuff than I have handed to me on a golden serving platter. 

So a bunch of time ago, I read this article on Bike Tumor about a drooper specific cable.  My jaded POS brain said, "whatever."  How can one improve such a simple component?  Is it even worth considering a "component?" 

Fast forward many months of forgetting and way more months of just doing what I do, and I start thinking.  My drooper activating thumb is acting up again.  So much drooping since the Van of Constant Sorrow trip.  Loads of cold weather riding. 

Then I see this chatter on FaceBook:

I (kinda) trust Andy at New River Bikes.  He touches more things than I do.  A lot more things.  I can honestly say that I've been drooping longer than most people, and I'm very aware of the difference that a reduction in cable friction can make.

So, I'm in.

I've been running a standard 1.2mm Shimano cable inside a Jagwire shifter housing for years.  Things have been great.  For the most part.  Sorta.  At least as good as I thought it could get.

Too much exposure to goopy conditions and things act sluggish with my setup on the Vertigo Meatplow V.7.  My cold (and mebbe wet) thumb gets the sadness.  Extra effort becomes required to make my droops.  And I make a lot of them.  Ask anyone who rides behind me.

Anyhoo,

I had a fair amount of time to invest during a rainy Saturday to get my crunk-less bike ready for a trip to Ohio, so why not make so many things happen?

The Jagwire kit comes with elephant trunk ferrules, so I trimmed one down to fit the external drooper bit.

Extra contamination control is buenos,  I had to trim the trunk a bit to work, but...  small stuff.  I sweat it.

I can't believe how long it took for me to apply this kinda thinking to my non-external and also non-internal external setup.  It was some extra PITA, but I heat shrunk my housing/brake line for cleanliness.

So hot, right now.

No more nine zip ties messing up my curb appeal.  All tight and wrapped like a Christmas present.

Whence the work was all done, the reduction in effort to push my lever was very noticeable.  Much less of a concerted effort and slightly more like turning on the TV. 

Color me impressed and also sold on the concept.

Now, my real "problem."

I was only gonna do the Vertigo Meatplow V.7, but yesterday I was out riding the Vassago Meatplow V.8 in the Pisguh.  Not the most descendy gnar gnar loop, but my favorite seasonal route that's only connected Oct 15 - Apr 15. 

With one bike being totally crunkless since Nov 3, I've done all my riding on this bike.  Coincidentally, it's been cold and my droopy thumb pain has been on the rise, forcing me to really consider if the effort required to get droopy is too much.

It truly is.

Which means I need to double down and set this bike up with the Jagwire droopy kit.  It has an even tighter bend in the housing at the bottom bracket, so despite my lack of desire to mess with its internal routing (and to spend another $20), I'm pretty sure I need to do this.

I know it's been a long time since I dropped this in, but I fully give this my Seal of Semi-Approval.

It works as advertised, but it is a bit pricey when compared to bulk cable/housing available at your local bike shop.  But it works better, so you get what you pay for?  Mebbe I'd bitch about the inability to buy the .8mm cable alone as I'd like to have a replacement on hand, but if I believe that conversation I mentioned all the way back at the beginning of this post, my prayers might have already been answered (or will be soon).