Cyclocross - Cable Conundrum

I'm building myself a Jake the Snake; however, I'm having trouble routing the front brake cable. The cable housing creates a very very tight bend from the cross top levers to get to the front cable hanger. The cable hanger is just too close to the stem. I haven't really found one that gives me the clearance I would like. Any suggestions? I noticed that the Redline's have a cable hanger that attaches to the fork, which seems like a great solution. Does any one know where I can get one? Even better, does some one have one of those little pieces they could part with?

Chuck

I had a similar problem and routed the cable up over the stem and into the cable hanger from the right side (lever is on the left).

I'm building myself a Jake the Snake; however, I'm having trouble routing the front brake cable. The cable housing creates a very very tight bend from the cross top levers to get to the front cable hanger. The cable hanger is just too close to the stem. I haven't really found one that gives me the clearance I would like. Any suggestions? I noticed that the Redline's have a cable hanger that attaches to the fork, which seems like a great solution. Does any one know where I can get one? Even better, does some one have one of those little pieces they could part with?

Chuck

i have the same problem with my new bike. i want to get the stem lower.
i was looking through the gallery of cx bikes and saw this:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=1508509&postcount=182

it looks like the cable routes over the stem and down the side of the stem off-centre. i handn't thought to do this. are their any issues setting up canti brakes to pull off-centre??



cheers


marty

They aren't pulling off center because they are still routed through the cable housing which is centered. You just need to use a little more cable length so that the breaks dont bind and stay shut or open back up very slowly. In this case to take up the extra cable length they just ran it up and over the stem which then loops nicely to the housing.

Found a pic of my setup.

I'm building myself a Jake the Snake; however, I'm having trouble routing the front brake cable. The cable housing creates a very very tight bend from the cross top levers to get to the front cable hanger. The cable hanger is just too close to the stem. I haven't really found one that gives me the clearance I would like. Any suggestions? I noticed that the Redline's have a cable hanger that attaches to the fork, which seems like a great solution. Does any one know where I can get one? Even better, does some one have one of those little pieces they could part with?

Chuck

You might see if Sheldon Brown at Harris Cyclery has one or maybe a suggestion. I have seen the Redline hanger but it is hard to find out who sources those things. I have seen that IRD sells a hanger that has a deeper drop so the cable housing doesn't have to bend so much. Also, I'm thinking about using Autocad and drawing one up then pass onto a machine shop to see how much cost to make one.

I had the same problem, but it hasn't appeared to be a problem in real life. Sure, it's a tight bend, but it feels fine and the cross lever still works great as well.
http://entirely-adequate.com/monkey2/front%20end.jpg

My bigger issue was shimming the cross levers to fit these 25.4 dirt drops. Thank you, tecate and scotch 33+ tape.

I'm building myself a Jake the Snake; however, I'm having trouble routing the front brake cable. The cable housing creates a very very tight bend from the cross top levers to get to the front cable hanger. The cable hanger is just too close to the stem. I haven't really found one that gives me the clearance I would like. Any suggestions? I noticed that the Redline's have a cable hanger that attaches to the fork, which seems like a great solution. Does any one know where I can get one? Even better, does some one have one of those little pieces they could part with?

Chuck

You might want to try a hanger with a longer drop.

http://www.interlocracing.com/cablehanger.html

You might want to try a hanger with a longer drop.

http://www.interlocracing.com/cablehanger.html

I dunno, I just feel weird about paying thirty bucks for a cable hanger. There's something I find kinda offensive about that concept.

I saw another bike that had an interesting idea. The owner found a hanger that attached to the stem bolt and allowed him to go directly above center on the rim. Very neat idea. I can't remember which bike forum i saw it though.

You might want to try a hanger with a longer drop.

http://www.interlocracing.com/cablehanger.html

Way to go!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Lectron/Nettbilder/th_hanger.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Lectron/Nettbilder/hanger.jpg)Clickable

Hey, this is new on Harris Cyclery:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/cables.html#brakecablehardware

It's the elusive fork-mounted front brake cable hanger!!!!!! Hooray!

(you might need to scroll down about halfway down the page)

You're my hero. thanks for the great find.

Problem Solvers makes a cable hanger that includes a metal noodle - a bit like the noodle on a V-brake. The cable housing fits the end of the noodle, which then fits into the hanger; the housing can come from the side. The cable runs through the noodle easily. They carry them at www.bikeman.com; probably other places as well.

Here's a picture of the hanger with the noodle - wasn't home before, and couldn't post it then. Works nicely.

Here's a picture of the hanger with the noodle - wasn't home before, and couldn't post it then. Works nicely.

Hanger with noodle works if you have spacers and/or a rising stem. I could not use it on my Airborne

The hanger has some drop in it, making some room for the noodle, but yes, if your stem is very low and angled down, there may not be a lot of room. Usually on a cross bike, you want the bars a little higher, so most stems are angled up...

I too have cable routing problems and would like to find a fork mounted cable hanger.

Does anyone know where to purchase the one that comes on Redline Conquest cross bikes?

Thanks,

Ed

Just found the one that "same time" pointed to on Sheldon Brown's website. I had looked there before but was looking in the wrong section.

Great item, thanks, it is exactly what I was looking for.

You can also have your LBS order it from Seattle Bike Supply, it only cost me $5.
http://www.seattlebikesupply.com/scripts/fccgi.exe?w3exec=CatalogDetail&SKU=121915