are gear cables different from brake cables?

GordonFreeman
GordonFreeman Posts: 120
edited May 2012 in Workshop
are gear cables different from brake cables or can I use them for the same thing on a road bike?

Comments

  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    Different
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • jomoj
    jomoj Posts: 777
    if you're talking about outer cables then you can probably use brake outers with gear inners but its not ideal, wont work the other way because the cables are different diameters. Also different nipple ends, gear cables have less twist per length so they run smoother through the outer.

    in short, yes.
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    Brake cable outers are compressible to a small degree when curved (the wire in the outer is wound like a spring). If you use one for indexed gears, the cable pull could vary slightly as the outer compresses across a curve in it's route. That's why indexed gear outers have metal strands running parallel to the inner and not around it.
  • GordonFreeman
    GordonFreeman Posts: 120
    g00se wrote:
    Brake cable outers are compressible to a small degree when curved (the wire in the outer is wound like a spring). If you use one for indexed gears, the cable pull could vary slightly as the outer compresses across a curve in it's route. That's why indexed gear outers have metal strands running parallel to the inner and not around it.

    Not indexed gears though, it's just the old style friction gears on a lever.
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    GordonFreeman wrote:
    g00se wrote:
    Brake cable outers are compressible to a small degree when curved (the wire in the outer is wound like a spring). If you use one for indexed gears, the cable pull could vary slightly as the outer compresses across a curve in it's route. That's why indexed gear outers have metal strands running parallel to the inner and not around it.

    Not indexed gears though, it's just the old style friction gears on a lever.

    Not sure. Sorry.
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    brake cables are thicker with a bigger nipple.

    the outers are also different, as already said.

    you could use them interchangeably in a bodge situation but in any other situation then just get the right stuff :wink:
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • GordonFreeman
    GordonFreeman Posts: 120
    My gear cables don't have an outer apart from near the rear dérailleur and that's the same width as the brake cables I think.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    DON'T use gear cable housing for brake cables.

    Under heavy braking, the cables places a large load on the housing; if you use gear cable housing on your brakes, the cable can conceivably push between the steel strands, leaving you with no braking at all.
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  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    I agree but it's rare that would actually happen in reality. I've used gear cable outer for brakes in the past (bodge when touring) and it was fine. But this is all irrelevant - why would you want to use the wrong stuff anyway?
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • balthazar
    balthazar Posts: 1,565
    I'll enforce the warning by DesWeller. Gear housing is not designed to handle the compressive force of braking and may fail dramatically. Such a failure is effectively the same as a brake cable snapping without warning. I wouldn't even consider doing that as a bodge- and I've managed some pretty impressive bodges on bikes..!

    Gear housing is designed to be constant-length, regardless of bend (it's composed of longitudinal wire strands in a long open coil, whose lengths cancel out when the housing is curved). This is critical because of the delicacy of indexing adjustment. Brake housing is a tightly wound square section steel coil, which can handle high compressive loads.

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