Compressionless brake housing?

Is this stuff better than regular brake housing. I ask because rear brakes are at times spongy on some bikes. My Wilier has buried cables and the brake housing rear does not go all the way. At the rear exit to the brake the housing sits in the hole. The hole is too small for ferrule and housing just squeezed in. Makes for less than perfection not critical but given the ****ty weather i look for things to get perfect. If you can ride this stuff comes to mind.

Deacon mark cleary

On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 2:42:59 PM UTC-8, Mark Cleary wrote:
Is this stuff better than regular brake housing. I ask because rear brakes are at times spongy on some bikes. My Wilier has buried cables and the brake housing rear does not go all the way. At the rear exit to the brake the housing sits in the hole. The hole is too small for ferrule and housing just squeezed in. Makes for less than perfection not critical but given the ****ty weather i look for things to get perfect. If you can ride this stuff comes to mind.

Deacon mark cleary

Mark, several companies made a "step down" ferrule for exactly that case.

Brake outer cables used to be 6 mm if memory serves. Now they are 5 (??). So you have to get the proper size.

https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Hous...3P5AA3Q5PC7QQK

On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 2:42:59 PM UTC-8, Mark Cleary wrote:
Is this stuff better than regular brake housing. I ask because rear brakes are at times spongy on some bikes. My Wilier has buried cables and the brake housing rear does not go all the way. At the rear exit to the brake the housing sits in the hole. The hole is too small for ferrule and housing just squeezed in. Makes for less than perfection not critical but given the ****ty weather i look for things to get perfect. If you can ride this stuff comes to mind.

Deacon mark cleary

And while we're at it - these smaller outer cables also do not cut as easily as the older cables did. I had the perfect outer cutter that cut the cable perfectly clean. Not so with the cutters on the market these days. After several tries the Park Tool Cutter seems to be the best of a bad lot. They tend to crush a portion of the outer spring wound cable leaving a portion in the way of the inner cable unless you can get the cutter in under that piece and sheer it off. The other tools couldn't do that properly but the Park Tool cutters seem able to do that.

I tried cutting them with Brand X and then grinding the ends down but that turns out to be a great deal more difficult than you would think using a power grinder.

So getting in under the bent piece and sheering it off appears to work best..

On 2/26/2020 4:42 PM, Mark Cleary wrote:
Is this stuff better than regular brake housing. I ask because rear brakes are at times spongy on some bikes. My Wilier has buried cables and the brake housing rear does not go all the way. At the rear exit to the brake the housing sits in the hole. The hole is too small for ferrule and housing just squeezed in. Makes for less than perfection not critical but given the ****ty weather i look for things to get perfect. If you can ride this stuff comes to mind.

Deacon mark cleary


I don't know of such a product which works better than
spiral casing w/liner[1]. That said, some are odd looking
but don't work any less well; if it suits your aesthetic
values, no harm in it.

Cable setup is rigor, not magic. A new quality wire/casing
set is so cheap ($5) that I wouldn't hesitate to start over
if the lever return isn't snappy. Other riders ride for
years with draggy sticky brake cables and it doesn't seem to
bother them.

[1]Terminology: If by 'compressionless' you meant 'gear
casing', don't do that. If you meant 'spiral and liner
double layer', that's expensive but does work equally well
for either.

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

On 2/26/2020 5:04 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 2:42:59 PM UTC-8, Mark Cleary wrote:
Is this stuff better than regular brake housing. I ask because rear brakes are at times spongy on some bikes. My Wilier has buried cables and the brake housing rear does not go all the way. At the rear exit to the brake the housing sits in the hole. The hole is too small for ferrule and housing just squeezed in. Makes for less than perfection not critical but given the ****ty weather i look for things to get perfect. If you can ride this stuff comes to mind.

Deacon mark cleary

And while we're at it - these smaller outer cables also do not cut as easily as the older cables did. I had the perfect outer cutter that cut the cable perfectly clean. Not so with the cutters on the market these days. After several tries the Park Tool Cutter seems to be the best of a bad lot. They tend to crush a portion of the outer spring wound cable leaving a portion in the way of the inner cable unless you can get the cutter in under that piece and sheer it off. The other tools couldn't do that properly but the Park Tool cutters seem able to do that.

I tried cutting them with Brand X and then grinding the ends down but that turns out to be a great deal more difficult than you would think using a power grinder.

So getting in under the bent piece and sheering it off appears to work best.


For wires and linear gear casing, use a V-shaped cutter or
ideally an actual Felco cutter:
https://www.felco.com/us_en/our-prod.../felco-c7.html

For spiral brake casing you want a simple edge like this:
https://www.channellock.com/product/357/

The wire V-cutter mangles brake casing.

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

AMuzi wrote:
On 2/26/2020 5:04 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 2:42:59 PM UTC-8, Mark Cleary wrote:
Is this stuff better than regular brake housing. I ask because rear
brakes are at times spongy on some bikes. My Wilier has buried cables
and the brake housing rear does not go all the way. At the rear exit to
the brake the housing sits in the hole. The hole is too small for
ferrule and housing just squeezed in. Makes for less than perfection
not critical but given the ****ty weather i look for things to get
perfect. If you can ride this stuff comes to mind.

Deacon mark cleary

And while we're at it - these smaller outer cables also do not cut as
easily as the older cables did. I had the perfect outer cutter that cut
the cable perfectly clean. Not so with the cutters on the market these
days. After several tries the Park Tool Cutter seems to be the best of a
bad lot. They tend to crush a portion of the outer spring wound cable
leaving a portion in the way of the inner cable unless you can get the
cutter in under that piece and sheer it off. The other tools couldn't do
that properly but the Park Tool cutters seem able to do that.

I tried cutting them with Brand X and then grinding the ends down but
that turns out to be a great deal more difficult than you would think
using a power grinder.

So getting in under the bent piece and sheering it off appears to work best.


For wires and linear gear casing, use a V-shaped cutter or
ideally an actual Felco cutter:
https://www.felco.com/us_en/our-prod.../felco-c7.html

For spiral brake casing you want a simple edge like this:
https://www.channellock.com/product/357/

The wire V-cutter mangles brake casing.


I’ve used a diamond cutoff wheel in a Dremel with pretty good results. You
just need to jam something through the inner liner after you cut and before
the plastic cools to ensure it doesn’t deform too much.

On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 3:08:30 PM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote:
[1]Terminology: If by 'compressionless' you meant 'gear
casing', don't do that. If you meant 'spiral and liner
double layer', that's expensive but does work equally well
for either.

I think he's referring to Jagwire's KEB-SL housing, or something like it. It's like gear casing, but with a layer of braided kevlar to contain it from bursting.

https://jagwire.com/products/housing...-brake-housing
https://thecyclemechanic.co.uk/compr...s-a-difference


I'm not convinced that it's really any better and in fact feel a little wary about it.

-Luns

On Wed, 26 Feb 2020 18:51:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 3:08:30 PM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote:
[1]Terminology: If by 'compressionless' you meant 'gear
casing', don't do that. If you meant 'spiral and liner
double layer', that's expensive but does work equally well
for either.

I think he's referring to Jagwire's KEB-SL housing, or something like it. It's like gear casing, but with a layer of braided kevlar to contain it from bursting.

https://jagwire.com/products/housing...-brake-housing
https://thecyclemechanic.co.uk/compr...s-a-difference


I'm not convinced that it's really any better and in fact feel a little wary about it.

-Luns

Somehow I had always thought that the spiral wound casing was intended
for brake cabling while the spiral wound was intended for shifters.
--
cheers,

John B.

On 2/26/2020 8:35 PM, Ralph Barone wrote:
AMuzi wrote:
On 2/26/2020 5:04 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 2:42:59 PM UTC-8, Mark Cleary wrote:
Is this stuff better than regular brake housing. I ask because rear
brakes are at times spongy on some bikes. My Wilier has buried cables
and the brake housing rear does not go all the way. At the rear exit to
the brake the housing sits in the hole. The hole is too small for
ferrule and housing just squeezed in. Makes for less than perfection
not critical but given the ****ty weather i look for things to get
perfect. If you can ride this stuff comes to mind.

Deacon mark cleary

And while we're at it - these smaller outer cables also do not cut as
easily as the older cables did. I had the perfect outer cutter that cut
the cable perfectly clean. Not so with the cutters on the market these
days. After several tries the Park Tool Cutter seems to be the best of a
bad lot. They tend to crush a portion of the outer spring wound cable
leaving a portion in the way of the inner cable unless you can get the
cutter in under that piece and sheer it off. The other tools couldn't do
that properly but the Park Tool cutters seem able to do that.

I tried cutting them with Brand X and then grinding the ends down but
that turns out to be a great deal more difficult than you would think
using a power grinder.

So getting in under the bent piece and sheering it off appears to work best.


For wires and linear gear casing, use a V-shaped cutter or
ideally an actual Felco cutter:
https://www.felco.com/us_en/our-prod.../felco-c7.html

For spiral brake casing you want a simple edge like this:
https://www.channellock.com/product/357/

The wire V-cutter mangles brake casing.


I’ve used a diamond cutoff wheel in a Dremel with pretty good results. You
just need to jam something through the inner liner after you cut and before
the plastic cools to ensure it doesn’t deform too much.

+1


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 2/26/2020 5:42 PM, Mark Cleary wrote:
Is this stuff better than regular brake housing. I ask because rear brakes are at times spongy on some bikes. My Wilier has buried cables and the brake housing rear does not go all the way. At the rear exit to the brake the housing sits in the hole. The hole is too small for ferrule and housing just squeezed in. Makes for less than perfection not critical but given the ****ty weather i look for things to get perfect. If you can ride this stuff comes to mind.


I'd first spend time observing the details of cable motion as I squeezed
the brakes. I think it's more common to lose motion by having cables
flex or unflex when going through bends, vs. simply compressing the
housing itself. In particular, if the cable's open-air bends aren't the
optimum length, you can sometimes get the excess lost motion I describe.


--
- Frank Krygowski