I'm trying to lay a back brake cable on this old bike. It has a hole in the frame to pass the brake cable to the back of the bike. At first I thought I was supposed to use two pieces of sheath, and let the cable naked inside the frame hole. But then I noticed the hole is just wide enough to pass the sheath inside. So what should I do ? Pass the sheath through the hole or let the cable naked inside the hole and use 2 smaller bits of sheath?
by Zormuche
6 Comments
The first thing to do is to cancel all your appointments and clear out a full weekend. Good luck to you sir.
Sheath through hole, one piece.
I’m trying to understand the question. Are you asking if you should run cable housing through the hole or just the bare cable with housing running to the entrance and stop, and then starting again at the exit?
If that’s the question, the hole appears large enough the housing should be running through the frame.
There’s a kit with a magnetic plug that attaches to the cable and a super magnet that can grab it on the outside of the frame to guide it through.
Push an inner cable through, then use that to guide the outer back along it.
If I ever have to thread anything blindly through a frame, I use the vacuum cleaner and dental floss method. Cover every hole except the two you’re working on with blue tape, stuff the floss partially in the feed side, stick the vacuum nozzle or homemade adapter of your choice on the exit hole and suck the floss through. Then the floss can be used to guide whatever sheath or housing through.
I know about the $70+ magnet kits, but as a rider who only works on his own bikes it always seemed a bit pricy. PS: don’t use waxed floss—that makes it much harder to work with. (Edited to add additional info.)