FD cable rub

crescent

Can anyone suggest a cure for the following, please? My front derailleur cable seems to be fouling on my frame, just at the small hole where the cable is fed up from the bottom bracket. It's the usual arrangement whereby the cable travels diagonally down the frame and is fed around the BB on a small plastic cable guide. It then passes through a tiny hole and connects to the FD pinch bolt. The fouling seems to cause a clicking noise when the frame is under load - when pedalling hard, in and out the saddle. I have disconnected the cable just to prove that it is the cause and the noise disappears, only to return as soon as I reconnect it. I have tried repositioning the FD but because it is a SRAM yaw type arrangement I always end up returning it to the same place or it won't work properly. I have tried replacing the cable and extra lubrication (grease and oil) but no joy. It's a Ribble Gran Fondo frame.
Any suggestions? Am I missing something? Thanks for any advice.

mugensi

Would it possible to put some sort of little sleeve over the cable where it exits the frame? Something like the inside tube of a biro (cut to size and empty obviously) There is a sleeve on mine (Felt F5 - fitted in the factory) where the cable exits the near the bottom bracket, I thought they'd be on all bikes where the cables run internally to assist feeding the cable through?

crescent

Thanks for the suggestion, MugenSi. I can see where you are coming from and it is a good idea, but a biro tube would be too big. I have seen those little sleeves that some manufacturer seem to fit around the cable as it passes through the frame but to be honest there doesn't seem to be enough clearance on my frame, the hole is only fractionally bigger than the cable. I have a horrible feeling it is down to alignment but I can't see another way of fitting the derailleur without upsetting the yaw action. :?

StillGoing

There are thin rubber sleeves that you can place over the cable inner where it exits from the BB and travels up the seat tube to the derailleur. A ride buddy had the same issue when the dealer forgot to fit one to his Cervelo S2 resulting in the cable inner acting like a wire saw where it came through the cable exit point. Once the rubber sleeve was added, problem solved.

mugensi

Crescent wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion, MugenSi. I can see where you are coming from and it is a good idea, but a biro tube would be too big. I have seen those little sleeves that some manufacturer seem to fit around the cable as it passes through the frame but to be honest there doesn't seem to be enough clearance on my frame, the hole is only fractionally bigger than the cable. I have a horrible feeling it is down to alignment but I can't see another way of fitting the derailleur without upsetting the yaw action. :?

You could get a diamond tipped dremel (round one) and enlarge the hole slightly to allow you fit a little sleeve over the cable. Carbon is easy enough to file down and you'd be taking so little off it would have absolutely no structural implications. I'm sure bike shops should have lengths of the proper sleeve or similar that they'd sell/give you for the job.

diamonddog

Just a thought could it be your foot catching the excess sticking out from the pinch bolt, I had this on one of my bikes so trimmed the excess cable a bit and job done.

crescent

diamonddog wrote:

Just a thought could it be your foot catching the excess sticking out from the pinch bolt, I had this on one of my bikes so trimmed the excess cable a bit and job done.

No, I'm afraid it is definitely the cable fouling on the frame. I have experienced what you described, though.

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks. I will definitely try some form of sleeve. I'm thinking of removing some insulation from an electrical wire and trying that. Cheers.

Nick Payne

Cut off a couple of inches of modern gear cable outer and extract the plastic sleeve from it...