Replacement of brake sleeves when wound steel exposed?
 

Hi all, hope this is the right place.

I have a brake cable sleeve removed from a junked bike that has the steel winding coils exposed. Does this make it dangerous to use and warrant its scrapping, or does it not have any effect on braking performance? If it does potentially have an effect, can some winds of duct tape fix it, or is it repairable in a short amount of time, or simply not worth bothering with?

Thanks all,

Wumpsdad.

Troll?
 

Or just cheap?

Replace the housing with new , It's only $1.50 a foot..
get new cables too


@ Bike Shop.





...

If the housing doesn't have a plastic sleeve inside, it's cheap junk.

If it's lacking the outer plastic, meh. It's more aero. And if it goes rusty, it'll help provide a rat rod aesthetic.

Proper shift housing on the other hand, won't last thirty seconds without the outer.

Thanks for the answers. Yeah, cheap. I am not spending big on my knock around bikes: I live in Amsterdam, its flaaaaaaaaaaat so I don't need a beast.

Its only exposed over a few centimeters on 1 side and otherwise looks fine.

I like to reuse materials when I can, to save money and resources [only 1 planet after all], so any tips on maintaining cables are welcome. Of course, I don't want to take risks with the brake functioning, so I came to you online pros.


Thanks again,

Wumpsdad

Wumpsdad,

If you don't care about appearance, I would go ahead. Tape to keep the rain out sounds a good idea, followed by oil.

I rode for several weeks this year with both brake cables almost bare of outer plastic and thoroughly rusted.
I oiled the original stainless steel cables first; pleasingly, the oil stayed inside. No problems at all.
l
Giles

Sorry but I vote to replace the casing. lets see, we're talking about the ability to stop the bike reliably. Sure I see casing with worn/missing plastic cover frequently. But I also see kinked over casing ends and the spiral windings compressing/misaligning onto it's self frequently.

It's your bike and your face so do what you wish. But if you ever need a shop to work on your bike don't be surprised if they take issue with your standards WRT how the brakes work. This is one area where I have no problem refusing work if I feel that the rider's safety is at stake. Andy

It kind of depends upon the condition of the metal winding, for me. If the winding is squared off, with no unraveling, perhaps you could tape. If the metal winding is at all unraveling or uneven, replace.

That said, for the 4 or 5 Euro it will cost, I'd replace. Braking is kind of important (even in Amsterdam).

Replace the cable, have a safe ride, enjoy some haring.