Originally Posted by
Greenfieldja
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.
Yes, that's possible, though in my opinion of no added benefit, and possibly dangerous. As I said longitudinal or high helix steel strands, need to be buttressed to keep from buckling or bursting. The normal plastic cover is adequate for gear housing, and if it were reliably buttressed by a structural material such as carbon fiber or Kevlar then it would also be OK for brakes.
But we should also consider the mode of failure. Low helix steel coils are relatively failsafe. If kinked or damaged the housing may cause spongy braking, but that's the worst of it. If the Kevlar supporting winds of high helix housing get weakened by kinking there'll be no early warning before a total failure of the housing, probably during an emergency stop. This isn't a high risk if housings are cared for, but IMO introduces an extra risk, however low, which isn't offset by any benefit.