I have a 2020 Salsa Rustler that I just bought used. I love how the bike fits me and handles but I have one main complaint. I just took it out for a 25 mile ride on very rocky terrain and the internally routed cables rattled the entire way driving me mildly insane.
I have heard of people filling the frame with expanding foam (I’m not doing that because I don’t want to do something permanent that will effect the serviceability of it) or sliding foam nerf darts down the cables into the bike(the darts wouldn’t fit in my case since the points where the cables enter/exit the frame are rather form fitted to the cable sheath). I could probably use the foam dart trick for the dropper post cable by sliding them in from the seat tube after removing the dropper post but what about the rear brake line and derailleur? Any ideas?
In case you’re curious more details about the bike are linked. It’s a size large on low mode.
by TimeAcanthocephala96
3 Comments
shout out to Phil Kmetz for this one: slide pipe cleaners down into the cable guides.
You can buy longer foam sleeves that go over the cable housings, have a look around online for that, way better than foam darts.
Derailleur you should be able to unhook on both ends and slide foam onto the housings for the top/down tube section and then on other end for chain/seat stay sections. Derailleur and shifter won’t be too hard to DIY.
Try that then see how bad the rattling is. Brake cables tend to be a bit more rigid so maybe they aren’t pining around inside your frame as much as the cable housing is (?). Worth a try.
Foam Cable Sleeves are an actual product for bikes. They sell sizes for both brake hose and cable housing. It works perfect. Any bike from a higher end brand comes with them pre-installed if it doesn’t have tube-in-tube routing.