[don]

I'm using Avid Mechanic Disks on my '01 Kona Stinky.

I set the back brake cable full length but because the guides are made for hydraulic cable the normal brake cable hosing moves all over the place - not great for braking as the cable flexes.

Does anyone make any reducers for this setup or has someone found a clean solution.

I searched the archives but only found one post that Avid may make something. Searched Avid's site and found nothing

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

 

[WTGPhoben]

well, I dunno about reducers, but you can
A. Use 5mm shifter housing. It flexes much less.

B get some of
these

 

[don]

Originally posted by WTGPhoben
well, I dunno about reducers, but you can
A. Use 5mm shifter housing. It flexes much less.

B get some of
these

Thanks, I was thinking about doing something with shifter housing. Maybe I'll take a piece and see how it fits.

Where you pointing to these from the Cambria site? Backstop V-brake Housing Stop

 

[spincrazy]

Originally posted by don



Where you pointing to these from the Cambria site? Backstop V-brake Housing Stop

That's what I was going to say. I use one on my hardtail for the same reason. Not pretty, but hey, it works.

 

[WTGPhoben]

Originally posted by don


Where you pointing to these from the Cambria site? Backstop V-brake Housing Stop

yep.

 

[don]

Originally posted by spincrazy


That's what I was going to say. I use one on my hardtail for the same reason. Not pretty, but hey, it works.

yeah, not the cleanest solution. plus I'm not sure if it would fit on the top tube of a Stinky.

Maybe I can find an old frame and cut off 2 cable guides. Then sand them down and press them into the hydraulic guides? Might look into this method.

 

[sub6]

Not the cleanest suggestion, but consider this - there are these little stick-on cable guides that you stick to the frame. They incorporate a tiny zip tie that holds the housing, so it's adjustable for any size.

It won't look as clean as would be nice, but it might be worth a shot.

On the other hand, if you're REALLY handy with a Dremel, you can try what I've always wanted to try, which is to drill out a small slot on the upper and lower "halves" of the hydro line guide. That way, you could thread a zip tie thru there, and essentially zip-tie the cable to the hose guide. It would look a lot like the line guides on the new Bullits, if you've seen those.

 

[WTGPhoben]

Originally posted by sub6
Not the cleanest suggestion, but consider this - there are these little stick-on cable guides that you stick to the frame. They incorporate a tiny zip tie that holds the housing, so it's adjustable for any size.

It won't look as clean as would be nice, but it might be worth a shot.

On the other hand, if you're REALLY handy with a Dremel, you can try what I've always wanted to try, which is to drill out a small slot on the upper and lower "halves" of the hydro line guide. That way, you could thread a zip tie thru there, and essentially zip-tie the cable to the hose guide. It would look a lot like the line guides on the new Bullits, if you've seen those.

I would worry that anything plastic like a zip tie would not hold stiffly. you want those cable stops to be rock solid.

 

[sub6]

Here's what I'm talking about - essentially the same thing as the Bullit.

WTGPhoben - Remember he's running full housing here. Don't need to go crazy, the housing doesn't need to be held as in a "stop."

 

[don]

Originally posted by sub6
Here's what I'm talking about - essentially the same thing as the Bullit.

WTGPhoben - Remember he's running full housing here. Don't need to go crazy, the housing doesn't need to be held as in a "stop."

Thanks for the ideas guys. The stick-on thing might help actually. I could place one in the middle of the 2 existing guides so the cable stays straight.

I also have a dremel and might try that Bullit mod this weekend. I'll let you know what happens

 

[WTGPhoben]

Originally posted by sub6

WTGPhoben - Remember he's running full housing here. Don't need to go crazy, the housing doesn't need to be held as in a "stop."

true, but my point was that full housing is not the way to go. avids mechs are gonig to have a soft feel as it is. Using full housing is just going to make a squishy mess. (note: I'm that guy who runs v-brakes with hard compound pads, shifter housing, and a huge brake booster so there is zero squish in the lever.)

 

[oldfart]

Originally posted by WTGPhoben
well, I dunno about reducers, but you can
A. Use 5mm shifter housing. It flexes much less.

NEVER NEVER NEVER use shift housing for a brake. NEVER NEVER NEVER. The very first hard pull on the brakes will cause the housing to fail and you will have no brakes. Shift housing with its parrallell wires cannot withstand the forces a brake cable will place on it. I did bike check at a race a number of years ago and kids used shift housing. One pull on the brakes and the housing blew up good. Blowed up real good! And the kids Dad was all over me for ruining his kids day. He shut up after I asked him if his kid riding downhill with no brakes head first into a tree and breaking his neck was a better day.

Pro Flex bikes in the late 90's came with brass reducers for exactly that purpose. You might be able to find some at a shop that sold those.

 

[sub6]

Originally posted by WTGPhoben


true, but my point was that full housing is not the way to go. avids mechs are gonig to have a soft feel as it is. Using full housing is just going to make a squishy mess. (note: I'm that guy who runs v-brakes with hard compound pads, shifter housing, and a huge brake booster so there is zero squish in the lever.)

you are supposed to use full housing with Avids - prevents cable contamination which is very important. Avid recommends it (maybe requires it). IMHO you're dumb if you don't use full housing with Avid discs.

You can use "shifter-style" brake housing - compressionless brake housing; it's like shifter stuff in that it has the long parallel wires instead of just the coil. Stronger than shifter cable, and doesn't compress.

 

[don]

Ok, I think I figured out a pretty decent work around this past weekend.

What I did was take an old chainring bolt and drill through the back of it the same size as a brake cable housing.

Next I ground down the threads a little so that the OD would fit into the hydraulic cable guide.

Then, I "threaded" it into the hydro guide using the allen key side and allen key to turn it. The lip on the chainring bolt keeps it tight.

Finally, I pushed the cable through.

The result is a lot cleaner, with the brake cable staying straight and not flexing nearly as much. BTW, I'm using full length Avid cable as I've heard many people recommend it for the Avid Disks.

I'll have pics of it later tonight (batteries where dead in the camera this morning).

If people are interested, I can do a "How-To" write up on the whole thing.

 

[KonaDude]

Originally posted by WTGPhoben


true, but my point was that full housing is not the way to go. avids mechs are gonig to have a soft feel as it is. Using full housing is just going to make a squishy mess. (note: I'm that guy who runs v-brakes with hard compound pads, shifter housing, and a huge brake booster so there is zero squish in the lever.)

Have you tried Avids for an extended period of time? When new, any way you set them up they'll feel relatively soft, but break them in a bit, even with full housing (I run standard cheap housing and brake cables front and rear), there is no extra compression and there's little friction. The brake feels as solid as the most solid hydraulics I've felt.

 

[don]

Originally posted by KonaDude


Have you tried Avids for an extended period of time? When new, any way you set them up they'll feel relatively soft, but break them in a bit, even with full housing (I run standard cheap housing and brake cables front and rear), there is no extra compression and there's little friction. The brake feels as solid as the most solid hydraulics I've felt.

This sounds correct. The '02's on have on the Stinky still feel soft. But I only have 2 rides on them and those rides weren't all that long.

On the other hand my '01 Avid on the front of my Brooklyn Park has unbelievable stopping power.

Can't wait for my '02's to break in.

 

[Shibby]

Ooh ooh.

Wrap the brake housing with a thin strip of duct tape just the width of the hydro cable boss. Wrap 2-3 times...

It will press in, and stick there because of the large, slightly compressable diameter. Cheap too!

 

[don]

Originally posted by Shibby
Ooh ooh.

Wrap the brake housing with a thin strip of duct tape just the width of the hydro cable boss. Wrap 2-3 times...

It will press in, and stick there because of the large, slightly compressable diameter. Cheap too!

yeah, I had a setup similiar to that previously. What happens is the cable bent a lot from the tape not being firm enough.

Thanks for the recommendation though - I'm sure it works fine on other bikes.

 

[don]

Ok, here are the pics I to show what I finally came up with. Pretty budget but it accomplished what I wanted and only cost me 15 minutes of work.

Closeup pic of the front guide

 

[don]

Closeup of the back guide:

 

[don]

Pic of the whole setup - notice that the brake cable is nice and straight now. Before it would end up under the deraulier cables after a full pulls on the lever.

 

[sub6]

Yow! That looks really good! Very clean lines there, I doubt there's a cleaner way to do it.

 

[don]

Originally posted by sub6
Yow! That looks really good! Very clean lines there, I doubt there's a cleaner way to do it.

Thanks, sometimes the simplest solution works the best!