Cable replacement with a one-piece axle ring

The one-piece axle ring was fitted until early 2003 (up to serial number 25,300). You can tell by the six screws holding the axle plate and by the two cable guides pressed into the ring. To replace the cable, the axle ring has to come off together with the cable drum (repair kit, Art. no. 8271). It is fiddly work — if you would rather not, leave it to us: book an appointment.

Dismantling

1. Remove the wheel, cut the four cable ties at the ends of the bellows, unscrew the bayonets (M4×4, 2 mm) and pull off the bellows.
2. Note the axle plate position relative to the cable guides and remove it with its six screws (M4×25, TX20). Hold the axle meanwhile — by the long arm, or with a 10 mm spanner on OEM and OEM2 plates.
3. Lay the wheel axle-ring-side up and, holding it between thumb and forefinger, rock the ring off. If it sticks, use pipe pliers over a strip of cardboard.
4. Do not tilt the wheel towards the axle ring: oil can run out, and the two freewheel springs can fall out.
5. Shift to gear 14: holding the aluminium nut with a 17 mm spanner, turn the shift shaft anticlockwise to the stop with an 8 mm spanner.
6. Remove the old paper gaskets (new ones go in later), and push the cable drum out from the back of the ring — pulling the cable so the drum turns rather than jams. Remove the old cable, clean everything, and deburr the drum if needed.

The new cable

1. Thread the new cable from the inside of the hex through the lower hole to about halfway, the other end through the upper hole; both ends the same length. Hold the drum and pull the loop tight into the groove.
2. The orientation matters: the back has a step in the inner hex, the front does not. Put the drum on an 8 mm Allen key, front up, bend the wires into the groove, and wind the upper one about 2¾ turns.
3. Hold the wires between thumb and forefinger, squeeze them together with the other hand, and pull the drum off the key. The inner groove faces the cable ends, and the grooves must be completely filled.
4. Run the right (long) cable through the right guide and the left (wound) cable through the left guide — a second pair of hands helps a lot.
5. Pulling both cables evenly, draw the drum up to the ring’s bore, and keeping them taut, push it straight until it “pops” in. Pulling the cables, the drum should turn easily back and forth.

Reassembly

1. Fit new paper gaskets: the small one in the recess on the back of the ring, the large one on the protruding dowel pins, lined up with the holes.
2. Lay the wheel so the two dowel holes (not the threaded ones!) point to 3 and 9 o’clock. The two freewheel springs must sit in their holes.
3. Pull the right cable to the stop (the groove points to about 2 o’clock), then the left one briefly so the drum turns back about half a turn — the groove is now between 7 and 8 o’clock, the gear 14 end position. That half-turn reserve keeps the cable from being bent back, which would shorten its life considerably.
4. In this position, fit the ring with its dowel pins into the axle holes so the drum’s inner hex slides onto the shift shaft. Put a little grease between drum and ring, fit the axle plate in its noted position and tighten the six screws crosswise (TX20, 3 Nm).
5. Pull the cable ends alternately with pliers: both must come out the same distance, through 13 clicks.
6. With the rear cable fully out, measure 165 mm from the top edge of the rear guide, cut it, carefully slide on the bellows, and fit the bayonet tip pushed fully home (2 mm, 1.5 Nm). Do the same with the front cable pulled out 13 clicks (gear 1). The 165 mm brass tube (Art. no. 8711) makes it easier.
7. Even up the cable lengths by tightening the bayonets, and fix the bellows with cable ties in the grooves of the guides and bayonet tips.