Re: [CR] Brake cable routing logic?

(Example: Component Manufacturers)

Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 11:52:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR] Brake cable routing logic?

I don't think that braze-ons were added to top-tubes so much to reduce weight, for the following reasons :

- even bottom-level production bikes (raleigh, peugeot, motobecane) had them. If the part was on the bike to save weight, then the manufacturers would have purposefully left it off their bottom of-the-line bikes.

the braze-ons weight a few grams depending upon type, and for a 2 foot run of cable, the weight savings is minimal. and top-level "light" production bikes usually DIDN'T have top-tube brazxe-ons !!

On the bikes I owned, there were no ferrules to ensure that the cables ran properly through the top-tube guides. Friction problems only show ON THE RETURN, when the rear brake is unable to snap the lever back upright. The ONLY time I ever had this friction problem was on a bike with braze-on top-tube cable guides.

I feel that these manufacturers used braze-on routing because :

(a) top-tube cable clamps are cumbersome and slow to install. (b) top-tube cable clamps rust and corrode the top-tube and mar the paint. (c) top-tube cable clamps add housing costs (retail 10c/ft, 70's prices) (d) top-tube cable clamps add clamp costs (chromed, later stainless) (e) top-tube cable clamps mar the top-tube logo space ...

During packing the handlebars are removed, and this can cause a hard yank on the first cable guide, its probably safer to pack and ship a bike with braze-on guides rather than clamp-on guides.

All in all, there are probably money savings with 2 braze-ons ~ 3 clamps and 2 ft of housings, plus install time, and so top-tube cable clamps were probably a cost-saving technique in the 70's.

I'd say that "friction savings" are quite possibly marketing gobbledy-gook, just like "cartridge BB's are more sealed" or "cartridge BB's last longer", or "cartridge BB's have less friction", when the real reason is, "they lower production costs and bring you back for more parts purchases, sooner, than with cup-and-cone BB's."

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA