Re: [CR]Brake Cable Routing

(Example: Framebuilding:Tubing)

Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2006 22:25:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Brake Cable Routing

I think that one first has to make two choices :

(a) Flat bar-tops (b) Flat bar-drops

In that photo from Chuck Schmidt, this guy Eddy-something

http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/images/palmares/mercxk_peeters.jpg

obviously has it ALL WRONG. (Ok, what a troll ! never mind!) He is something like halfway between flat-tops and flat-drops - I'm a flat-drops guy myself.

Once you've chosen flat-tops or flat-drops, you need to choose brake position. Again, there are two choices

(a) Forward lever-bodies (b) Forward-levers

Meaning, you need to choose what goes directly in front of the farthest reach on the bars. Do you put the lever bodies there, leading to a very stretched-out position and difficulty braking from the top in many cases, but easier braking in the drops, or do you center the brake levers themselves, clamping the bodies much higher up the bars, and making it easier to brake from atop the bars ?

Once you've decided all this (flat-drops, forward-levers for me), the rest is pretty obvious. Brake cables should crest at about 4.5 - 5" above the bars, and with sidepulls, both cables cross the stem _behind_ the bars (unless you have a < 70mm stem or super-long 25" head-tube) and go to front sidepull brake or rear top-tube clamp respectively. I know it must be true because my Chicago Schwinn came this way and has never been changed ...

- Don (from Illinois) Gillies San Diego, CA

P.S. Centerpulls are another story - cable generally DOESN'T go on the far side of the stem. I had to look at 4 bikes in the garage to come up with these rules ...