Shimano is recalling three road racing brake cables that were produced as after-market products between April 1st 2003 and March 31st 2004.

The company is offering free replacements to those consumers who purchased the affected cables, or whose bicycles have been fitted with them, however if your bike still has original cables fitted from a manufacturer it is unlikely that they have been used. Take your bike to the dealer that provided them and they will carry out the work for you.

These cables are a stainless steel brake cable and has only a road racing nipple, this is the only Shimano type effected by the recall.

Although Shimano cites “quality reasons” for the recall, the full official line is:

“It is possible that the tensile strength of the joint between the cable and the cable end (nipple) may not meet Shimano’s usual standards and that therefore the nipple, when under stress during application of the brake, could pull loose or detach from the cable. This could lead to brake failure. Shimano is not aware of any case in which the nipple has separated from one of these cables during use on a bicycle.”

The part numbers are Y80098300, Y80098400 and Y80098110. However it is highly unlikely that you have kept the packaging, so Shimano have produced a very easy to follow PDF Instruction sheet for identifying the cables, this can be found at
Shimano Europe.
UK contact details are also on this PDF.