Cable length?

wilkij1975

How long should gear cable outers be?

I've just got my bike back from the shop after building it. I got some gear cables for them to fit for me and the outers from the shifters to the first stop seem too long. They touch my fork crown as does the rear brake hose. I did mention about the brake hose and they said it was ok. I just don't think the cables should sit on the crown of my forks.

Any thoughts?

Anonymous

I'd need to see it, really.

wilkij1975

I don't have any at the moment. I'll get some up tomorrow.

I just thought they shouldn't really go lower than the bottom cup of the headset.

Anonymous

They should be just long enough to not snap, if the bars get twisted in a crash, basically.

nicklouse

and they should not really touch the fork crown.

wilkij1975

Well I can turn the bars until they touch the top tube and the cables still touch the crown. I can sort the gear ones easy enough (even though I'll have to waste some brand new inner cables) but I can't do the brake.

Anonymous

In that case they do sound a bit long, yeah.

wilkij1975

It's annoying. I only got the shop to do it as I can't set the gears so was going there anyway. Wish I'd done it myself now.

Will I be ok to re-use the inners if they don't fray?

TuckerUK

Buy an extra long stem, that'll sort it.

wilkij1975

It would need to be about 200mm I think!!

wilkij1975

If i'm carefull with the inners when removing and re-routing, will they be OK to use again?

The Rookie

Yes, the only issue is if the cable has spread where its clmaped, but if you'r cutting that much off the front outer you'll need to shorten the inner by the same amount anyway - just make sure you have good cutters!

Simon

Almightydutch

If the ends have frayed too much then wrap a piece of electrical tape around it and then proceed with the cut. Helps it stay together

wilkij1975

I have a few pics to try and illustrate the length.





As you can see they are quite long and sittining on the fork crown. It all works OK so I suppose its just a matter of opinion if they are too long or nor.

I also read on the Park Tools website that the ends of the outers should go straight into the stops. Mine go slightly up into them suggesting that they may be too long.

warpcow

I'd say the gear cables are too long. I wouldn't want them rubbing on the fork crown.

The rear brake hose, I would route around the other side of the headtube.

Anonymous

warpcow not only has an awesome name, he's also bang on the money. Holy shite those cables look long.

warpcow

Why thankyou

Looking at it again, with some creative routing you could get rid of most of the slack. something like alternating it: e.g. front and rear mech cables going around opposite sides of the headtube.

Tbh, I'd consider making the LBS redo it since it's pretty ridiculous as it is now.

wilkij1975

Thats what I thought. I should get the shop to sort it but i'm too British to complain.

I'm not sure if the brake hose will go round the head tube because of where the first cable guide is. Its quite high up on the down tube. Worth a crack though.

warpcow

wilkij1975 wrote:

I'm not sure if the brake hose will go round the head tube because of where the first cable guide is. Its quite high up on the down tube. Worth a crack though.

Hmm, I see what you mean now. I hadn't thought about it being routed down the downtube before. Any chance of changing to toptube routing?

Deputy Dawg

I'm pretty sure your front brake hose routing is wrong too. Mine have always gone inside the fork leg from the caliper then up infront of the crown after being secured near the top of the leg with a clamp or cable tie.

wilkij1975

Warp - It can be routed on the top tube but the Elixir doesn't have a movable hose thingy on the caliper. On One do have a drop out so you can mount the caliper the traditional way.

Deputy - The front hose has to go where it is as the fork has a reverse crown and the fixing is on the reverse.

wilkij1975

Well, I got myself some decent cable cutters and shortened the gear cable outers. I took about 4 - 5 inches from each side! And that was being conservative with it too. I could have maybe taken another inch out but they now sit about 1cm above the lower headset cup. It's amazing that the LBS thought they were the right length when they fitted them. Just need to sort the rear brake line now.

.blitz

Bit too late now but if you ever want to DIY, Shimano SP41 gear cable outer is approx £3/m from the lbs and the ferrules are like 50p each. The outer can be easily cut with pliers, the internal braid doesn't compress like it does with cheaper outers.

kdawg74

They are way to long and will soon wear through from rubbing on the fork crown, i would definitely take it back to the shop to sort out.
Any mechanic with any sense would have realized they are to long, hard to understand why they have done this as avid hoses are some of the easiest to cut down, maybe they are after repeat business from you when they wear through.

wilkij1975

They won't be getting repeat business from me thats for sure. I could maybe understand if I hadn't asked for it to be done but hey ho.

You say Avids are easy to cut down How easy? Would I need to bleed them or can the cutting be done carefully and not need bleeding? Are there any good guides on the web on how to do it (apart from the Sram website as they'll tell me to use the propper bleed kit which i'm not spending £30 on)?

kdawg74

They would need bleeding you cant get around that, and you would need the bleed kit.
With the old juicy's you could get around that but not now as they dont have a reservior cap anymore, it might be worth doing a wanted ad to see if anyone has an old kit or try here www.reddogracing.co.uk , they have kits for less than £20 including fluid.

wheelygood

That much too long is outrageous - go back and demand they do it properly for free - they just haven't bothered shortening them at all. Lazy so and so's - and I can say that as I have my own bike business!!!