Hi all,

I just purchased my first road bike, a CAAD12 105.
The rear brake cable seems to "rub" somewhere in the top tube, making a lot of noise and quite a bit of friction.

It's my first time dealing with internal routing, so I wanted to make sure this is not normal before bringing it back to my LBS.

Thanks for your help !

Does it just make noise when you pull the brake, or all the time? If its just when you brake, maybe you could have them put some sort of plastic sheath over the cable. Or have them try reaming out the little holes that the cable runs through, slightly. Or you could check out the Jagwire Pro series brake cables and housing- those kits have sheathing and ferrules that might help with friction where the cables enter/exit the frame.

I have an internally routed bike- my brake cable taps the frame when I'm on rough roads. Gotta remind myself to put some cable donuts on the brake cable next time I have it apart. This kind of stuff doesn't generally have an official fix, its just about getting creative and solving the problem.

If it is a new bike I would suggest going through the dealer rather than doing something which might invalidate your warranty. Besides it is their obligation to deliver a correctly-functioning bike, or make it so.

Thanks for the advice.
The cable does not rattle when I ride, there's just a lot of friction when pulling the brake lever.
I'll bring it back to my LBS to get that fixed.

Increased friction is a common result of internal routing. Sometimes it the inner cable rubbing at the port/casing ends. Replacing both inners and casing loops with care as to the casing paths and the entry/exit with the frame ports might be a fix... Andy