Bicycle cables

[wpcol_1third id=”” class=”” style=””]

Cut the casing…

Even one of these will, however, leave a sharp end to a brake casing. Many mechanics will ignore this, since it can’t be seen on the finished bike and doesn’t greatly affect performance. But it can be improved and it does make a difference.

The core of a conventional Bowden casing is a spiral-wound wire (usually

A cut cable end with the short spike that will degrade performance

[/wpcol_1third]

[wpcol_1third id=”” class=”” style=””]

steel). That of a gear casing has multiple strands of wire running almost co-axially with the cable. Both types of bicycle cables resist compression when the inner wire is pulled, in which case the ends of the casing push against whatever stop they meet.

One end might meet a stop on a frame tube and the other the brake lever body.

[/wpcol_1third]

[wpcol_1third_end id=”” class=”” style=””]

[hdp-ad 21]

If the casing end is finished flat and square to the axis of the casing, it will push evenly with the entirety of its circular tip against the stop or ferrule.

If, on the other hand, it has been left as cut, there will be a sharp tip extending beyond the slanted end of the spiral wire. This tip is what will push against the stop, perhaps via the imtermediary of a ferrule or end cap, concentrating the compressive force on a tiny area and indenting the material at the point of contact.

Because the contact point is offset from the pull line of the inner wire, the outer casing will tend to lean over to that side. The two effects combined introduce a small amount of unwanted compressibility to the system, making the brakes less crisp and gear shifting less precise.

[/wpcol_1third_end]
 
[rps-include blog=127.0.0.1 post=29548]