Shift cable replacement trick?
02-03-15 | 08:35 PM
#2
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From: Oakville Ontario
Vacuum cleaner and a string.
02-03-15 | 08:47 PM
#4
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From: Rochester, NY
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
Pay the shop to do it
Really there are a number of tricks. Some bikes have removable port covers or Bb guides and the cable can be played with far better then if only a tiny hole is present at each end of the routing. Some bikes come with an internal tube, like a thin liner, running inside the frame. If so then retaining this liner will serve as a guide to thread the inner cable. I've made tiny hooks and loops out of spokes to help snag and pull an inner cable through a removed port cover. Slightly bending the last 1/2" (or more) of the inner cable lets it flop about and be able to be placed about the frame's insides by twisting the exposed inner cable while trying to slide it in and out a bit. Some have used magnetics if the cable is attractive to them. Some people have used a vacuum to pull a thin thread along the frame's insides and out the hole the vacuum is attached to. Then tying this thread to the inner cable and pulling it through. I'm sure there are other methods but these are the biggies. Andy
Really there are a number of tricks. Some bikes have removable port covers or Bb guides and the cable can be played with far better then if only a tiny hole is present at each end of the routing. Some bikes come with an internal tube, like a thin liner, running inside the frame. If so then retaining this liner will serve as a guide to thread the inner cable. I've made tiny hooks and loops out of spokes to help snag and pull an inner cable through a removed port cover. Slightly bending the last 1/2" (or more) of the inner cable lets it flop about and be able to be placed about the frame's insides by twisting the exposed inner cable while trying to slide it in and out a bit. Some have used magnetics if the cable is attractive to them. Some people have used a vacuum to pull a thin thread along the frame's insides and out the hole the vacuum is attached to. Then tying this thread to the inner cable and pulling it through. I'm sure there are other methods but these are the biggies. Andy
02-03-15 | 09:28 PM
#5
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From: Northern California
02-03-15 | 09:38 PM
#6
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From: St Peters, Missouri
Bikes: Catrike 559 I own some others but they don't get ridden very much.
I have carefully positioned the bike so that the exit hole is on the bottom of the tube. That's the hardest part to do. Then I just stick the cable through and snare it when the end passes the exit hole. The first time that I tried I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to do.
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02-03-15 | 11:04 PM
#7
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From: Montreal, Quebec
There are as many tricks as there are different frame designs. Some are very straightforward, you simply push the cable through the frame, Some are more complicated. Knowing exactly what frame you are dealing with is the first step to figuring out what to do
02-04-15 | 02:26 AM
#8
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From: Melbourne, Oz
Bikes: https://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=152015&p=1404231
02-04-15 | 08:08 AM
#9
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Joined: Jun 2007
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I work in a shop and many frames with internal routing come with plastic tubing in place like this:
That tubing will terminate at the outlet and stick out like it does here. Usually, it's taped to the bike frame so it won't retract into the tubing.
As a result of building bikes which arrive like this, we save the plastic tubing for when we have to re-cable bikes with internal routing. Simply slip the tubing over the existing cables before yanking them out. It's a good idea to tape them to the frame on one end or another. Pull the cable and you're left with the plastic tubing in place, ready to accept the new cable. Once the new cable is installed in the run, remove the tubing from the free end.
If you yanked your cables out before doing this... do what others have suggested.
That tubing will terminate at the outlet and stick out like it does here. Usually, it's taped to the bike frame so it won't retract into the tubing.
As a result of building bikes which arrive like this, we save the plastic tubing for when we have to re-cable bikes with internal routing. Simply slip the tubing over the existing cables before yanking them out. It's a good idea to tape them to the frame on one end or another. Pull the cable and you're left with the plastic tubing in place, ready to accept the new cable. Once the new cable is installed in the run, remove the tubing from the free end.
If you yanked your cables out before doing this... do what others have suggested.
