Cable wiring

lbmxj560

Hi all

Well, I am nearly there. I have built up my Planet X Exocet 2 TT bike and have only 2 jobs left before I can go and ride it, one is pretty vital, namely, cabling the brakes!

I have TRP RL970 brake levers and FSA aero bars (much like these http://www.visiontechusa.com/products/aerobars/trimax-team-si/). My questions are:

1. I am assuming i need road bike cables for the brakes?
2. How on earth do I cable them?

I have run a cable through the front of the brake lever and into the bars, that bit is simple. However, the exit point for the cable on the bars is on the bottom of the bars after the 90 degree bend. I just can't work out how to get the cable to do a magic move and bend 90 degrees to appear at the exit point. It just hits the "elbow" and no matter how much jiggery pokery i do, it can't get it around this bend...

Any tips greatly appreciated.

Thanks

dgunthor

yes, road bike cable

can you feed it through reverse i.e. do the 90 degree bend first?

rafletcher

dgunthor wrote:

yes, road bike cable

can you feed it through reverse i.e. do the 90 degree bend first?

Difficult to get it through the brake lever from that direction - I assume it's a standard arrangement where there is a hole in the lever for the cable to go thru and nipple to locate in...

Thread something else through from the bottom, attach it to the end of your brake cable outer and pull it through. I'd probably try some of that springy curtain wire stuff - stiffish but bendy.

rafletcher

rafletcher wrote:

dgunthor wrote:

yes, road bike cable

can you feed it through reverse i.e. do the 90 degree bend first?

Difficult to get it through the brake lever from that direction - I assume it's a standard arrangement where there is a hole in the lever for the cable to go thru and nipple to locate in...

Thread something else through from the bottom (or the bar end - whichever is easier), attach it to the end of your brake cable outer and pull it through. I'd probably try some of that springy curtain wire stuff - stiffish but bendy.

lbmxj560

rafletcher wrote:

dgunthor wrote:

yes, road bike cable

can you feed it through reverse i.e. do the 90 degree bend first?

Difficult to get it through the brake lever from that direction - I assume it's a standard arrangement where there is a hole in the lever for the cable to go thru and nipple to locate in...

Thread something else through from the bottom, attach it to the end of your brake cable outer and pull it through. I'd probably try some of that springy curtain wire stuff - stiffish but bendy.

I did think that. Will give it a try tonight - i like the thinking though, if i can get the outer into place, then i can then thread the inner through it...

lbmxj560

An update!

After half an hour or so with a torch, some excess cable and a lot of fiddling, i managed to get the front brake cabled properly

The solution appeared to be as follows (in case someone else has similar difficulties in the future)

1. Remove the brake lever
2. Shine a torch down the bull horn so you can see when the cable appears
3. Put a kink in the cable about an inch from the end (the end without the ball end)
4. Thread the cable in from the exit point and look down the bull horn until you see the kinked end appear
5. Wiggle around a lot until you get it to turn the corner and pull it all the way out
6. Thread the outer along the cable from the brake lever end until it appears out the back
7. Remove the inner cable, leaving the outer in place
8. Replace the brake lever
9. Thread the inner back through, the correct way round this time, through the outer
10. Tighten everything as per normal!

Job done.

Just the rear brake to do now...

Thanks for the help

southdownswolf

When installing cables onto new frames/handlebars with internal cabling, I normally attach a piece of cotton to the cable, then using a vacuum cleaner, suck the end of the cotton through the hole. You can then pull the cable through the hole with the cotton. Once the cable is through, you can then easily push the outer back along the cable.