Road bike- short cable and hoses
Hi all. I’ve just got a new road bike that has been built up by someone else. I’ve noticed that I can’t turn the bar beyond 90 degrees as the cables and hoses are too short. In normal riding, this won’t be an issue of course, but should I change them out in case the bar does somehow spin beyond this point- I guess in a crash or similar. If I don’t, what’s the possible issue I may have? Thanks.
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Not being able to turn the bars all the way isn't a problem per se, as long as you can turn as far as you need for riding. In the crash scenario yes you may tug at the cables in a way that might cause damage but if there was enough force to do that it would likely cause further damage anyway e.g. crashing the bars against the top tube.
What would be more of an issue is if they were so short the bends were really tight - that would degrading shifting / braking (unless electic/hydraullic). Or rub against the frame.
Its a judgement call really - if you could turn the bars 75+ degrees and all the cables are nicely curved and don't touch the frame at most angles I'd leave it, if it was 45 degrees and the cables were tugged against the frame I would swap out, very difficult to tell without photos / videos. Mind you, if it is a second hand bike I'd probably swap out the cables anyway, as its cheap to do (especially if you're already changing bar tape) and it can make the bike feel that much "newer".
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Brilliant. Thanks for the reply. It can get to 90 degrees going left, but pretty close to 45 to the right. I’m trying to post a photo, but getting Validation Failed message, whatever that means. Think they may need replacing.
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Make sure the photo is no more than 1200 pixels on the long side.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Aha, thanks for the tip. Hopefully this works
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What bike is it ? Is it definitely the hoses ? As some bikes have stops inside to stop the bars from spinning to hit the frame.If they are short it's m9st likly someone has done it to make it look neater ,that said you can push enough spare ins8de tge bars to hide the spare you need so you can turn them through all angles
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Thanks for the reply. It’s a Cipollini bond 2. It's definitely the hose. I can turn left virtually to the top tube. When I turn to the right the hose pulls really tight against the headtube, it’s not against a hard stop, I can kinda bounce it off the hose tension if you know what I mean. I think I’ve convinced myself it needs replacing.
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Only issue that would happen is in a crash where it would rip it out and possibly damage the shifter too .If you change it and if its possible I would see how it looks if you switch it so it goes into the frame on the right side and the front at the left .
Work out what looks best and go from there .
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It's not about the handling or what happens in a crash. It's the inadvertent moving of the handlebars putting strain on hydraulic hoses. Repeated strain could cause failure. Failure of brakes can cause crashes or even death.
Change the hoses for longer ones...
Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.
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Thanks for the replies both. I’m convinced. It’s booked in to have the hose swapped out this week. Done the gear cables this morning already. Thanks everyone for the help.
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