Originally Posted by
FBinNY
BTW- [/B]a reminder. High helix Index housing is totally unsuited for use on brakes. It depends on the support of the plastic outer cover for strength which will degrade over time with UV and oxidation leading to potential catastrophic failure (burst) in an emergency braking situation.
Just an FYI:
Aztec makes a brake cable housing that uses the "compressionless" type of housing similar to the kind used for indexed shifting. It has kevlar threads wound around the longitudinal strands of the housing then it is has the plastic outersheath like normal housing.
I had purchased some for some folks here in Morocco while I was on a business trip back to the US. I did not reallize until I cut it that it was of this design. I was skeptical and called Aztec to double check to make sure I did not buy shifter housing in the wrong packaging...other than assuring me it was indeed brake housing, they were not really helpful or knowledgable about the product except saying it works and there is no problem with it exploding under compression due to the kevlar strands between the metal and the plastic sheath. Sending it back to them would have been a huge PITA, so I installed it on the bikes I was working on. It has been working as good as normal brake housing.
-j