small plastic washers on wires
 

On my racer, there is a wire under the
top tube. On this wire hangs three very small
plastic washers. Unless someone forgot to
remove them, the only thing I can think of is
they are there to prevent the wire from
rattling against the tube. Not that that would
happen very often for a stiff wire, right?

--
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

small plastic washers on wires
 

On Thu, 11 Oct 2018 09:07:36 +0200, Emanuel Berg
wrote:

On my racer, there is a wire under the
top tube. On this wire hangs three very small
plastic washers. Unless someone forgot to
remove them, the only thing I can think of is
they are there to prevent the wire from
rattling against the tube. Not that that would
happen very often for a stiff wire, right?

You'd be surprised. I bought a new (second hand) bike that had the
rear brake cable run from the brake lever to the rear brake in the
cable housing with two tiny little metal clamps to hold it to the top
tube, The first time I rode it on the road there was this funny little
"ding, ding" every time I hit a rough place in the pavement. I stopped
twice to check and couldn't find anything loose. Later I was doing
some work on the bike and dropped the bike about a foot (onto the
tires) and "ding, ding". It was the center section of the cable
banging against the underside of the top tube. A third clamp at the
middle of the cable stopped the noise.
--

Cheers,

John B.

small plastic washers on wires
 

On Thursday, October 11, 2018 at 3:07:39 AM UTC-4, Emanuel Berg wrote:
On my racer, there is a wire under the
top tube. On this wire hangs three very small
plastic washers. Unless someone forgot to
remove them, the only thing I can think of is
they are there to prevent the wire from
rattling against the tube. Not that that would
happen very often for a stiff wire, right?

In my experience, it happens very often. Leave those little donut things in place.

- Frank Krygowski

small plastic washers on wires
 

On 10/11/2018 12:07 AM, Emanuel Berg wrote:
On my racer, there is a wire under the
top tube. On this wire hangs three very small
plastic washers. Unless someone forgot to
remove them, the only thing I can think of is
they are there to prevent the wire from
rattling against the tube. Not that that would
happen very often for a stiff wire, right?

I'm guessing you mean a brake /cable/ runs under your top tube. ("Cable"
is the common term for brake and derailleur-control wires.)

If the washers are soft and rubbery, vaguely doughnut/torus shaped, yes,
these are commonly used to keep cable from rattling. If the length of
exposed cable is long, it doesn't take so very much bouncing of the bike
to get the cable to bounce against the frame tubes. Brake cables aren't
all that stiff.

Mark J.

small plastic washers on wires
 

On 10/11/2018 12:21 PM, Mark J. wrote:
On 10/11/2018 12:07 AM, Emanuel Berg wrote:
On my racer, there is a wire under the
top tube. On this wire hangs three very small
plastic washers. Unless someone forgot to
remove them, the only thing I can think of is
they are there to prevent the wire from
rattling against the tube. Not that that would
happen very often for a stiff wire, right?

I'm guessing you mean a brake /cable/ runs under your top
tube. ("Cable" is the common term for brake and
derailleur-control wires.)

If the washers are soft and rubbery, vaguely doughnut/torus
shaped, yes, these are commonly used to keep cable from
rattling. If the length of exposed cable is long, it
doesn't take so very much bouncing of the bike to get the
cable to bounce against the frame tubes. Brake cables
aren't all that stiff.

Mark J.


You're not wrong but we have found that using 'wire' and
'casing' specifically, separate from 'brake cable system' or
'gear cable system', helps when talking with consumers.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

small plastic washers on wires
 

Mark J. wrote:

I'm guessing you mean a brake /cable/ runs
under your top tube. ("Cable" is the common
term for brake and derailleur-control wires.)

If the washers are soft and rubbery, vaguely
doughnut/torus shaped, yes, these are
commonly used to keep cable from rattling.
If the length of exposed cable is long, it
doesn't take so very much bouncing of the
bike to get the cable to bounce against the
frame tubes. Brake cables aren't all
that stiff.

Great, thanks!

--
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

small plastic washers on wires
 

To round out the discussion:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowden_cable

small plastic washers on wires
 

On 12/10/18 12:14, Tim McNamara wrote:
To round out the discussion:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowden_cable


And there is a section to answer Emanuel's question.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowden_cable#Donuts

--
JS