My commuter bike is an Sun EZ Sport. So it is my work horse. I go through components after a few hundred miles in a feaster time frame than most non commuters.
This time I noticed that about a week ago my shifting of the back derailleur was getting harder and harder until it locked a this week. All looked okay but inside the housing the cable was trashed. It was a mess and would not come out with out pliers. The bad new was all the LBS did not have the 70-inches I needed. (make that most, one of the newer ones had it but no service after waiting for 15 min.)
My point is when you notice the resistance on your shifters then it is time to take it apart.

I carry cables with me in my trunk bag, just in case.

On a side note: I’m not at all satisfied with the derailleurs on my wife’s new EX Sport CX.  They just don’t feel right and seem to shift poorly.  I’m going to talk with K&G;in Xenia about upgrading them.

Your right about that.  I had a few real good issues with mine.  I feel that the product could be better but you get what you pay for and today we all are dishing out a lot. I upgraded everything but the shifters and as of today I just might have to upgrade. The cable is not finding it’s way through. I have a cable that is too short that will go through but it does take some work. Then I read some reviews about the shifters and all that they said came true with mine. Poor product. 
It looks like back to the LBS and more time off the bike for me

Sorry about the problems you are having, Stephen.  I’m sure I’ll be upgrading my wife’s equipment now!

Well that is not the end of the story. I took the bike in to have the pro’s string the cable and then received a call later in the day from my LBS saying that my chain needs to be replaced because when they checked it with a chain tool it was way passed its tolerance. John never seen it so bad.  So that means that I have to get 2 complete chains for my bike, but wait, thats not all, the back sproket needs to be replaced as well   John said that it is all because of the amount of miles that I put on each mont that is the reason for the kind of wear he sees on the bike.

Randy,

Did you do the upgrade yet?  If so what did you decide to upgrade to?  I bought a Sun EZ Sport CX from K&G;four weeks ago and it shifts like butter.  It was the last 2007 they had.  Two days later I had to buy one for my wife and got it at Surfncycle.  Surfncycle has worked on it twice and it is not nearly as smooth as mine.  Both LBS have been great to work with.

Also a Randy

rperson - 14 July 2008 11:44 PM

Did you do the upgrade yet?  If so what did you decide to upgrade to?  I bought a Sun EZ Sport CX from K&G;four weeks ago and it shifts like butter.  It was the last 2007 they had.  Two days later I had to buy one for my wife and got it at Surfncycle.  Surfncycle has worked on it twice and it is not nearly as smooth as mine.  Both LBS have been great to work with.

Also a Randy

Nice to meet another “Randy”.  No, I haven’t upgraded the components yet.  I’ve been doing some adjusting and have got things evened out a bit.  Needed to adjust the brakes last weekend as they both were touching the rims.  Also, the left shifter came loose on a ride and I needed to tighten it.

All is OK for now.

~Randy