Well, I do have these in my stash. This weight doesn’t include a missing rear nut and spacers:

Again, the answer is compressionless housing.

Something like 40% lighter than “regular” housing with the benefit of a noticeable improvement in braking performance.

"An answer" maybe, but THE answer? Depends on what you value most.
CLB is lighter and period-correct on C&V bikes. "Compressionless" is ugly, heavier, and you don't stop any faster. BTW, how are we defining "braking performance"?

<rantmode>
I wish people wouldn't call it "compressionless", since it absolutely is not. Is that what the manu calls it? That would be a lie. Maybe not any worse than normal marketing hype perhaps — a small lie but a lie nonetheless. Unless their knowledge of science and engineering is so paltry that they don't know it's not true, then it's just false, but not a lie.

Maybe they should call it "Compression: Less", which wouldn't be claiming inifinite stiffness, the way "compressionless" does.
</rantmode>

Mark B

I value both appearance and function. But that's just me. YMMV.

It's all relative. Certainly, by outward appearances, it doesn't really look any different than any other housing. Unless you like the look of coils under the plastic. And while it might compress very slightly, it compresses far, far less than coiled housing (perhaps we should call that "springy housing?").

By "performance," I mean that hardly any of my energy is going into compressing a coiled housing. Coiled housing moves considerably when you squeeze the levers, resulting in a spongy feeling that I never liked; Compressionless?--not so much. Meaning I can easily actuate my brakes with single fingers from the hoods. But maybe some people like that spongy feeling? I guess it's "period correct," right? And my levers only move 1/4 to 1/2 inch before engaging to a full stop. Nothing "mushy" about them now. And yes, I can stop faster without wasting energy compressing the long spring.

Your definition of performance isn't wrong, it just differs from mine. For me, springy housing doesn't reduce performance at all, since I can still lock up the wheels and any "performance" past that is pointless. The energy my hand-actuating muscles needs to expend to apply the brakes is almost always negligible; those muscles are never tired enough at the end of a ride that I wished for a change. I did say "almost always" because there have been a couple times in my life where a tight switchbacky descent on rough or unpaved road (especially with a camping load) has me pumping my grip muscles enough that they get a little tired. It's never been what I'd call a problem, just noticeable. Obviously not enough for me to consider putting anachromistic housing on a vintage bike though.

That's just me — I'm not trying to win anyone over! I just like to point out that blanket statements of springy housing being a problem are controversial, there is another viewpoint that sometimes gets ignored. Brakes with too little mush are a (minor) problem for me, they seem too binary, on/off, not as good for modulation. Maybe just not what I'm used to, but I don't like 'em.

Wanting to keep vintage bikes somewhat period-correct is not a religion with me, just a preference. When I put modern parts on an old bike, I like them to be in the spirit, like Grand Bois tires with their small discrete labels in French, though it's a 2023 product from Asia. My Mafacs have Koolstop pads, but the Mafac-repop "4-dot" style that's indistinguishable from originals from a few feet away.

I know that desire for period-correct(ish) is irrational, some might say stupid, but I hope I don't have to defend myself here in C&V-land.

Mark B

No, have at it! I love some of the 100% period-correct bikes people post here! Guess I'm just confused by this statement:

Does this housing really look "ugly" to you? And I assure you, it is about half the weight of standard cable housing.

No, that looks normal. Sweet bike! I was referring to the links-style housing. Isn't that what got called "compressionless" originally? Anyone still use it? I haven't seen it much lately.

I just googled, got this Jagwire hit, is that similar to what you use? It has steel inside, and it is helical, just at a shallower helix angle than trad stuff. Is that what all the fuss is about?

They say 30% less weight, which of course would depend on what you're comparing it to. It's gotta be heavier than CLB alloy housing, right? Since brake housing weight is such a negligible part of bike weight, a 30% weight reduction doesn't interest me.

I dislike and avoid modern derailer housing that has that same low-helix angle steel strands — too stiff. So I probably wouldn't like it in a brake housing either.

Ha, just noticed Jawire sells spiral-wound "EZ-Bend housing segments" to go from the brake lever to the end of the HB tape. Presumably because "difficult bend" compressionless housing causes problems for that segment? Yuck. On a centerpull, that would mean most of the length of your front brake housing would be Ez-Bend, almost none of it would be compressionless. <yawn> Tempest in a teapot if you ask me.

I'm aware that I'm inflexible. I literally avoid trying anything new on my bikes. I still haven't ridden any bike with brifters, not even a test ride around the block — not interested. At my age, it's my right! I do try new things sometimes when it has a "story" that entices me, but I just can't get excited about removing some of the mush from my lever feel. I like some mush.

Luckily I'm well-stocked with "compressionful" spiral-wound housing, for both brakes and derailers, so I'm OK with the bike industry leaving me behind.

Mark B

Thank you!

I thought you might have been referring to that weird link housing stuff, but didn't want to assume. Agree that stuff is ugly and has no place on a C&V rig. This is housing made by Aican, and the lengthwise strands it uses are made of mostly aluminum strands, with a strand or three of steel. It is similar to the Jagwire version. It's basically the same as SIS housing, but with far more aluminum instead of steel. So it is indeed very light (which is the subject of this thread).

You might not like the responsiveness or the strange feeling of the new cable. I remember in the '80s moving up from Shimano 600 brakes (spongy) to the Dura Ace 7400 single-pivot brakes (slightly less spongy), and was less than impressed. The DA wasn't much better than the next level down. Using the cable you see above, with dual-pivot brakes, gives me the braking feel I always believed top-end brakes should feel like.

With you on brifters, though.

The Zero-G Ciamillo's also came in a drillium version:



Me likey

DD