I took my Raleigh Gran Sport out for a spin in today's heat. Haven't had as many opportunities this summer as I would have liked. So on the way back home I reached for the rear brake lever from the forward part of the bar where I could apply more force than from the hood, gave it a squeeze, and felt a pop. And no brake of course. Fortunately this wasn't far from home and wasn't approaching a dangarous intersection.

This cable has been on the bike for a while but isn't the original '73. I've heard of broken cables, probably from rust inside the housing. When I got home I found this:



I've got some old, unused (sort of my own NOS) cables. But you know what, I think I'll just pick up two new ones.

More un replaceable the component, the more important the PM.

I wouldn't worry about using the old NOS cables. That one probably popped from fatigue, not age, I think. If nothing else, put on an old cable, tighten it up beyond what you normally would even, perhaps brake pads against the rim, and squeeze as tight as you can. If you can't get it to break intentionally applying as much force as possible, it's not going to break from normal breaking force.

I spent weeks searching out one of these, and was ready to pay darn near anything for it, because someone ran their bb dry -and ignored the crunchy noise!

I made the mistake of not replacing a brake cable on a bike I had just purchased - my brake cable did break while I was coming to a dangerous intersection at the bottom of a hill no less. I was able to stop with only my rear brake and some cursing. I limped home with one brake and immediately replaced all cables on that bike - and on two other bikes I own that had cables that I hadn't installed.

I'm glad yours wasn't as exciting as mine.

I'm currently looking into headsets and putting together a press because someone ignored a Really gritty headset. I couldn't imagine riding a bike with the headset as I got it. The funny thing is, the guy I bought it from said "Yeah, the headset could probably use a repack." Then I turned the forks. Ha! It could have used a repack years ago, now it could use a new headset.

Glad to hear it was just the rear cable and you weren't doing a 40mph hill bomb. I feel Teflon lined housing and slick, pre-stretched cables are were a true improvement so I use them on all my ride (which are all older than me).

I had one of those old double-ended front brake cables snap at the lever while I was bombing down a path on my '49 Raleigh Clubman. The rear brake didn't offer enough stopping power, and I ended up in a pile of leaves. Fortunately, I missed the nearby tree stump or anything else sharp and was good to go after straightening the handlebars. It was a bit challenging not having the front brake for the remainder of the ride--another 40 miles through Boston, but I made do. And I fortunately had another double-ended replacement cable in the parts bin at home.

Neal

Remind me not to shake Jim's hand.

Jim, Tugrul, and Neal will remember "Chicken Farmer Hill" from our ride last October (it was the place where we lost Neal because of the wobble in his front wheel). My riding buddy Glenn and I were bombing down it yesterday morning when all of a sudden Glenn's bike starts making the sound "whack, whack, whack, whack, whack, whack, whack, whack....." behind me. We had just crossed a rough patch of pavement and I was convinced Glenn had broken a spoke.

Fortunately it was the front wheel reflector, which had lost its grip on the spoke, and rotated 45 degrees, just enough to smack the inside of the fork with each rotation. At 35-40 mph it was a very impressive noise! If I had just checked the tightness on the set screw when I had completely PMed Glenn's bike this spring, everything would have been fine.

That's one place where centerpulls can be of benefit: "In case of emergency, yank yoke cable."

-Kurt

I feel safer since I went with all new stainless, new Campbell cable ends and this 18" monstrosity from Lowes:

I definitely don't have the bike-handling skills to squeeze the rear brake lever with one hand, reach down and pull the cable yoke with the other, and negotiate the curve I was encountering at 20+ mph!

Neal

True - one would have to feel pretty confident about letting go of the rear brake to handle the bike while yanking on the yoke cable.

I've found that exposed top tube cables that run between housings can be handy in such situations; sometimes you can get better rear brake performance by pulling the cable between the braze-ons. Not that I'd recommend it, but it's good to know in an emergency.

-Kurt

Me too, which is why I'm thinkin' I'll pick up 4 new cables and maybe some housing too and re-string both my solo bikes. I came to love the Jagwire stuff while stringing up the tandem this winter, but I was really glad I bought the Park cable cutter. (You have any idea how many miles of cable are on a tandem? )

I remember that hill. As I recall I was doing 38mph down it when you passed me, and later said you were doing 45. If you lost both brakes on that hill you'd end up in Squam Lake before you stopped rolling. Glad your buddy is okay. IMHO the only thing one should ever put on the spokes is a magnet. Or two of them if you want to go twice as fast.

Yeah, and that sounds like a great way to lose a fingernail by hitting the tire. On the other hand, it's better than hitting a guardrail.

Whenever I think of centerpulls, I think of my '61 Paramount, which has Bluemels fingernail protection guards

-Kurt

Now I know why you guys run bigger front rings than me!

Yum! Greasy on the outside, crunchy on the inside!



Ha! Chainrings had nothing to do with it! We were going that fast because of the gravity of the situation.

I put a cable in wrong once and it spread the part in the handle enough to pop out.

Sometimes I fall a little short on maintenance... two out of 5 bikes are parked right now with rusty chains! My Lotus and Sierra really need some attention... they get all the snow, ice and rain.

As Jim said, gravity is the culprit behind the speed on that hill (and many others where I live). I find that most of the gearing on my bikes tops out between 30-35 mph.

Any speed faster than this is a matter of pure Newtonian physics. Mass x Incline % - Rolling Friction (Wind Direction + Speed) = Top MPH. Since I always carry a significant amount of mass, I can usually beat just about anyone down a hill.

P.S. I just concocted the above equation and have no proof of its accuracy.

Wrong direction. Gulf of Maine would be more likely. Scott Ryder would have to mount a rescue on his surf board.

I figured the direction was wrong but I wasn't sure how to spell Lake Winnipesauki or Winnepesaukee or Winnapiseadkii or Winapesauekeaskee or whateverpesaki.

But back to the maintenance question, the trouble with failures like this is they give little warning, just occur catastrophically. With luck it doesn't end in catastrophe. You would think that bearings needing attention would announce the need. But if no one is listening it's like the tree falling in the forest, I guess.