Before we go any further, please note that shifting cable should NEVER, EVER be substituted for brake cable. This could be a fatal mistake. Brake cable is thicker, and made for max strength with much less regard for stretch, while shifting cable is all about minimizing stretch. The cable housings are also completely different.
Note that road brake cable has a round-nose bullet shape, while shifting cable has a barrel shape. If there's any question in your mind, STOP. Get help. This is a serious matter that must be done with certainty.
If there were no factory ends on brake cables many of us would be dead, but it's also the reason you can't just reverse thread cables through the frame and fish them out with a hook. That bullet MUST be anchored in its place in the brake lever in your shifters, and everything that goes over it between those shifters and the front frame port MUST be threaded onto the cable before you fish it though the frame.
STOP! Before going any further, make damned sure you have EVERYTHING you need threaded onto the brake cable, including the housing, metal stop, and plastic frame insert, because once you start winding wire you can't put this stuff on - it's too late and you'll have to start all over!!!
After pulling the fork, which I highly recommend (have a clean plastic container with a lid for the headset so nothing gets lost, and maybe take a pic of the top bearing assembly just in case, but really it's pretty darned simple) if you want to fish the cable out of the top-tube with ease, use a dental mirror and an AAA penlight to see what's in there.
Find some cheap crafting wire, mine was something my wife dragged home from the 99 Cent store, something that is weak and bends easily. You'll need 4-5ft of it. Push the wire through the back hole near the back brake and fish it out of the slot revealed by removing the cable port near the top of the head-tube.
 | |
| A cable strand is much too hard, but ~ the right size |
Wind the wire tightly around the cable with your fingers, with a loose spiral near the end, AND, a very tight wind 2-3" from the end to form a good, solid anchor. Start from the end and wind backwards up the cable. This pattern of winding is important because when you pull on the wire you'll find it'll begin to unwind at the end of the cable in a way that makes the cable end "Hunt" in a circular pattern as it unwinds in a loose cage of spirally wound wire. This forms a kind of sheath that will guide the end of the cable into the slightly flared plastic end which covers the back brake cable port that's embedded in the frame at least once, which is all you need.
For under $10 you can get a magnetic fish from Lowes Depot Zone, and a lot of other places, but with the fork out you have plenty of room to just use your fingers to guide the wire & the cable through the front fitting cutout. BTW, there is a device made to fish thread out of holes, it's called a crochet needle. Ask grandma. I made a suitable hook years ago out of a piece of metal coat-hanger, but a crochet needle is tailor made for this job.
Now lets talk about the EASY way to thread cable, by slipping it through cable sheathing. Sheathing is really just a guide, and not a structural material meant to bear load when braking, although it can be left in place to stop frame rattles.
If your cable and cable-end is still intact, you can disconnect it from your rear brake and just slip the sheathing over it through the frame, after removing all the housing bits aft of the rear frame port, and the front plastic port insert. Pull as much sheathing as you feel you need and add a foot. You can reuse this hand-crafted tool again and again. Maybe put it in your cable doo-dad drawer/tub with a label so you can distinguish different lengths used for the rear brake from the shifter cables. (the front brake cabling has no interface whatsoever with the frame)
 |
| AFAICT these sheathings are the same size |
I bought 2 brands of sheathing, JagWire (great stuff) and XmomX (from naughty moms?) I like that you can see the cable when it's inside the XmomX stuff, but just now when I was putting it away it kinked badly. That won't do. If it kinks inside the frame it will not route the cable, so stick with the JagWire IMHO.
BikeTiresDirect had a sale on tools, so I finally gave in and bought a Park Tools cable cutter. Beautiful piece of hardware, and I'm thrilled I don't have to dig out my Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel every time I need to cut cable. As a practical matter, the new Shimano housing melts easily and becomes a bit of a mess when Dremeled. $31 with my Gold membership and 10% of that as a discount on my next purchase.
Sorry for the long delay, but I've been on an annual-mile grudge match with a Strava friend, so I've been putting in 120 - 135 miles a week lately - fueled by Social Security checks. Anyway, thank you for your patience.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment