What are the little metal loops that the brake cables go through called? Is there any way to take them off the frame?

cable stops I think. And I guess you could use a hacksaw and saw them off then file it down. BUT it will depend on your frame material.

any little part brazed to the frame is called a braze-on. more specifically you are talking about cable guides (or possibly cable stops).

there are several ways to take them off, the easiest just being pliers.

Don't do this- if your guides are properly attached, this can easily ruin the tube.
Hacksaw then file- it's the safest/cheapest way.

I The Wiz.

Do not use pliers.

And did I mention, do not use pliers ?

The bigger question is what do you have against innocent cable guides and stops that you want to remove them... especially since they are there to guide your brake cables which someone might want to re-install when you decide to part with your conversion and but a dedicated fixed gear frame.

And did I mention, do not use pliers ?

yep ... done it myself ... and that was on cheap tubing .. thin tubing would be even worse.

They're called "cable guides."

The safest way to deal with them is just to leave them alone.

Why would you want to get rid of them?

If you're worried about clothing/etc catching on them (as in polo), you can just tape around the whole top tube where the braze-on is with some nice thick athletic tape.

Although we're all being intentionally obtuse, and the obvious reason is that the OP just wants that "clean look" of a "track bike" he saw on TV.

OP, don't worry about it. You're gonna get much more cred by just riding it and not making yourself look like a poser by filing off the cable guides on your Varsity. You won't fool anyone. If you want a track bike, buy a track bike frame. There's plenty of affordable options.

im just worried they're gonna rip my jeans. my bikes a little too tall for me and they snag onto the jeans somtimes

pliers will fix this right up

howabout some pics of your bike?

https://img14.imageshack.us/i/img20101113124254.jpg

https://img822.imageshack.us/i/img20101113124316.jpg

Motobecane Mirage supposedly from the 80's. Anybody know how to date?

img tags not working..dont know why

Seriously?

Not that this video was posted with bad intentions, but I can see nothing other than kids busting their conversions over this. That or super sick high-fives because someone makes their bike sleek as funk.

Come on man, I addressed this specifically.

This:
Or wear taller shoes and tighter pants. Get a smaller frame.

Who gives a crap? Just remove them.

I think all the panty-twisting was about particularly how to remove them, yanking with pliers being the least desirable and most likely to damage the tubes followed by hammer and chisel or powered cutter (such as Dremel).

nobody beats him...

A dremel is fine- great actually, so long as you're careful to stay off the tube. I did it because one of my cable stops was too rusty to save prior to repaint, so I ground off both the rear brake stops on the top tube and ran full housing (geared bike). You just cut off the stop leaving extra at the tube surface, then switch to a grinding blade and file it down until it's smooth and consistent with the rest of the tube. You just don't want to go beneath the surface, and you really don't want to punch through the tube.

Darn right -- I don't care much for tight jeans either.

OP -- just make sure you're wearing undies if you do this.