all_rhetoric

It all began when I got on craiglist for a road bike to commute on in portland oregon. The guy sold me the bike for $80 and threw in a pair of clip ons with the shoes in my size and a jersey. No hairlines in frame as far as I could see.

I quickly fell in love with the bike but had no idea why. I beat the hell out of it, riding every day in city traffic. Every time I got on some other road bike, it just wasn't the same.

I broke three too many spokes on my rear wheel, and knew it was time for a rebuild. This is when I started to realize the gem I have on my hands, and I'm really excited to turn this bike into a nice project bike.

I have (what I think to be) a 1986 Klein Performance
with campy record front and rear hubs and shifter levers
suntour most otherwise

On my bucket list: rebuild a rear bicycle wheel from scratch. check.
I replaced the axle which had a slight wobble from it being an old freewheel.
used a very sturdy but heavy Deep V velocity rim that I got for $39 and DB, DT spokes.

But this is where I need you!
This bike has a unique shifting system that I fall short of finding on any other bikes. The shifting levers are on top of the downtube and the cables go into the tube through two tiny holes (not accessible from the head tube) and out on the bottom through two more tiny holes and to the derailleurs via outside the tubes.

Methods I see on most other internal cables, you can finagle them from the head tube to do what you want them to. I like the fact that Klein was pioneering internal cables (despite my brake cables being outside, ha) but what is the best way to re-wire my shifter cables? Hopefully your answer will save me hours of trial and error (I don't give up easily).





This is a two part question, this one being the more important of the two:
The actual mount that attaches the levers to the frame has finally snapped completely off. It was hanging by one bolt until I started messing with it trying to find out how to fix it. If someone actually knows what the original type of hardware is on this mount, I will kiss you via internet. It looks to be like a type of threaded rivet insert, with a tiny bolts securing the mount into the inserts. I called this custom rivet company in L.A. to see what I could get my hands on (link included**). The only thing they could really offer was for me to order a box of 100 "thin-nut threaded inserts" for a little over $15. This would mean an aluminum threaded rivet with a length of 3/8inch and the diameter of the shaft at 2/7inch (which is a hair over 1/4inch) with a thread size of #6-32tpi. I still need to stop by the hardware store and see if a bolt that size will fit through the mount holes… to make it more difficult, the heads of the original bolts are recessed quite far into the mount. I doubt I will find any bolts this size with a head that small. Then I have to raise the mount slightly to account for the heads of the inserts… if you can picture what I mean by that. Basically… it won't be possible to have the mount flush with the tube, which means making some custom curved washers and plate.





I don't see why any of you would be interested in this silliness, but just thought I would let you ride along on my adventure.

last resort would be to drill straight through the downtube using the same location of the original mount holes and use a threaded rivet with really long bolts… but I still run into complications there.
FAQ: why don't you just re-route them with bosses on the side of the frame? No, no, and no… won't do it. I would buy a whole new bike and never use this one until I figure it out, before I did such a thing.

For now (since I need a functional bike) I have secured the levers in the right place for three dollars using two hose clamps and a zip tie… because remember the frame is aluminum. By the way, is that little mount aluminum as well? I had to do this, because when the mount snapped off, the tension was released on the cables… causing the derailleurs to take the chain off the sprockets. This might be sacrilegious and hard to look at for some, but It does work for now… and you can't beat a three buck fix that's removable, adjustable, and not harming any components.



**THREADED RIVET WEBSITE: https://www.hansonrivet.com/w65.htm
The best option, I thought, would be their threaded clinch nuts with flat heads,
but I would have to custom order a minimum of 1000, and it would be around 100 bucks
https://www.bradenprint.com/pdf/Decim...version_IS.pdf

Retro Grouch 

1. Threading the cables through the frame isn't as nearly difficult as most people think. Figure out a way to position the bike so that the exit holes are at the very bottom of the tube and so that you can still see. Gently feed the cable through the frame and snag the cable with a little wire hook or something.

2. Somebody else is going to have to help you with the shifter mount thing.

HillRider

The original mounting hole for the shifter pod could be drilled out to accept a RivNut with the same threading as the original bolt, probably M5x.8.

The internal cable threading can probably be accessed through the bottom bracket shell if you remove the crank and bb. I believe the downtube is open at the bb shell so you can see where the cables are coming from.

DiabloScott

If your cables are currently routed correctly, what you do is slide a housing sleeve up there before you take the old ones out, then the new cables go right through. That doesn't look right how you've got them routed between the chainstays together though.

If that hose clamp attachment is good and solid, I'd be tempted to live with it that way. This is thin walled tubing and drilling it is a dicey proposition.

wrk101

I've just replaced cables on my 1996 Klein. It was a pain, and was all about situating the frame so that gravity worked for me. I ended up with the frame almost perfectly horizontal, with just a slight slope towards the exit hole (on the bottom side of course). It took me a while to figure out that orientation, so it took an hour or more to route it. Well, I ended up having to replace the brake handle, so had to repeat the process. This time it took maybe a minute, tops. I thought about taking pics, as it was the first time I had a bike in this crazy position on my repair stand.

Note, my comments are in regards to a rear brake cable, all ran internal, and the thin sleeve was MIA.

+1 Routing under your BB looks wrong. On my bike, it had the typical plastic screw on cable guide.

biketrouble

I built up an Attitude a few years back, and one thing that really helped me was using a magnet to help guide the cables (tip found on the internet, can't remember where.)

Since the cables are steel, a sufficiently strong magnet can be used to drag one end of the cable along the inside of the frame. Obviously you should put something (a thin piece of cloth) between magnet and your precious frame. I used a cheap magnet I picked up at Radio Shack but I imagine one of those tiny but super-powerful rare earth magnets you can get these days would be killer for this.

bikeman715

I agree with DiabloScott about using a sleeve to run the cable . another idea would be use some line (sting ) from a weedeater will work too.

BangkokJoe

This is an older thread, but I am curious how it came out. I have a Klein Performance and am looking for a shifter boss like the one you are having problems with. Got a spare? :-)

all_rhetoric

In my extensive online research and trips to special hardware stores and fabricating sites.. you are sht out of luck. Everyone has just remounted the levers on the side and ran external cables... either that or their shifter boss is working fine and won't sell it.

After spending a good hour with a few really bored guys at a good hardware store, I walked away with two options... one that was questionable as far as longevity and durability, and the other required drilling the frame holes slightly bigger etc.

After all that, I was about to tackle it when it just clicked* into my head what I really needed.
I simply twisted a heavier gauge wire tightly (as a strand of DNA)
fed it through the boss and then through the bottom frame hole
finagled it through the top frame hole and out through the shifter boss


I will post pictures.

I then separated the ends and twisted the two wires together in the middle and bent the outermost strands outward to brace it in that direction. If you can't find the exact gauge wire that is malleable enough to work, simply use a slightly bigger gauge and file the sides down in order to get the tightest fit possible. the more wiggle room the faster it will come loose.

It is amazing that the best ideas tend to be the simple ones. I couldn't believe how rock solid the mount was. I would almost consider it stronger than the tiny rivbolts they originally had... but it doesnt look as sexy on the outside though.

It is unfortunate the shifter boss is MIA to buy. it is such a simple piece of metal.

AnkleWork

"2/7inch" ?!?

BangkokJoe

Does the boss look like it was special made or is it possibly the adaptation of a commercial product? Hoping for the second option.....

Kimmo 

If this was my bike, I'd use that busted shifter mount as an excuse to make the frame brifter-only. I'd carve up a little bit of ally to sit there instead, with barrel adjusters pointing into those holes.

I'd keep as much original gear on there as I could, but I'd use an OCR and a Shimano cassette hub (cause they're the shiz IMO). I'd put SRAM brifters (and rear derailleur) on it cause they rock and it's an American bike.

A SRAM front brake too. If the brakes aren't recessed, I'd convert it and try to find a recessed spindle for the original rear brake, or shorten it.

Can we have some pics of the whole bike?

Oops, only just noticed the bump : /

HillRider

A minor point but despite the fact that SRAM is a US based corporation, nothing the sell is made here.