brake cable guide replacement or ?

[Roman L Stankus]

I built a frame for myself and I have been riding that frame since 2011 a few thousand miles a year.  There are many things I would do differently now – but am considering a repaint/rebuild to keep her on the road.  At the time I did not have access to stainless brake cable guide braze-ons and they have been an issue – the cable stops “weld” themselves into the braze-ons and make it difficult to maintain/replace cables.  The braze-ons rust.  They are at the +/- 7 o’clock position so near the bottom of the top tube about 3” from the head and seat tubes.  I was wondering if it would be OK to file the existing ones off and re-braze new SS guides without putting the TT at undo risk of failure.  The originals were silver brazed.  New ones would also be silvered. The existing tubes are standard 9/6/9 Deda tubes – similar to 531.  Or should I just clean them up as well as possible and repaint knowing that it will be something to deal with in the future (nothing is forever).  Photo of one before removing the cable, etc..  There is the option of asking the painter who is also a framebuilder to braze them on since his skill level is far better than my hobbyist skills.

 

I also am considering raising the rear brake bridge to allow for a larger tires (max is 28 in the rear now) – same question about removing and re-brazing the bridge. I ride roughly paved rural roads and a bit larger tires (32-35) would be a nice thing.

 

Thanks for any insights.

 

Roman Stankus

SW Georgia USA

 

 

[Mark Bulgier]

One option would be to slot the existing stops.  Benefits include easy removal for lubing the cable/housing, plus less heat damage to the tube.  With slotted stops, if the ferrule gets stuck, you can use any ol' thin piece of steel (such as a screwdriver) as a punch to drive the ferrule out, via the slot.

Replacing the is also fine, since your tube isn't paper-thin.  Hacksawing and filing them off is OK if you are extremely careful not to nick the tube.  Melting off might be safer.  I go back and forth on that.  Just concentrate the heat on the BO, with some weight hanging from it (vise-grips?) so it falls off as soon as the silver melts.

For the bridge, melting out is pretty safe.  I would saw the bridge in half first so each braze can be melted separately, unless you're trying to save and re-use the existing.

-Mark

[Roman L Stankus]

Thanks Mark and Jon for your guidance – these are great tips!

 

Roman Stankus

[Alex Meade]

Roman, I agree 100% with what the others said. Unlike working on a frame someone else built, you know exactly how those bits are attached. If they're silvered, it's easy enough to melt the brazing to remove the cable stops.  Bronze is a different animal, but it's still doable; just put the majority of the heat on the braze-on and not the tube, and don't try to pull the braze-on off until it's ready to fall off.   9/6/9 is pretty stout, so that's in your favor too.  When I'm removing braze-ons from a frame someone else built, I generally choose to carefully saw them off, then file and sand smooth.  For the brake bridge, since there's a lot to get hot all at once, my go-to would be the hacksaw/file method.  But this is just me.

Alex

www.alexmeadetools.com

[Roman L Stankus]

Thanks Alex for your additional insights – I appreciate it!

 

Roman

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[Jim Adney]

My favorite braze-on cable stop is the Huret (remember them?) 1959. It's a
small slotted cylinder that is perfectly sized to accept either brake or gear
housings, without a ferrule. So there's never a problem with a ferrule getting
stuck in there. The Huret 1959s were used on all the upscale Schwinns,
back in the day, and they were cheap. Excellent quality, perfect functionality.

I bought a bunch, decades ago. They come in packs of 10 for $5, but I can
break a pack if you insist. Plus shipping, of course.

Trek had "copies" made, but those were large, bulky, and obnoxious.

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Jim Adney, jad...@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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[Jim Adney]

On 30 Jun 2024 at 5:24, Roman L Stankus wrote:

> Thanks - I don´t remember those - but they sound very nice! Is there any
> way you could send a photo? They sound like they could work for brakes -
> but maybe not for modern shifter cables since they need an end cap. Not a
> problem for me and I may want to buy a pack of 10.

You may be right about non-suitability for more modern stuff. I'm not up to
date on that, as all my bikes are old school.

Here are 3 photos. Huret pack of 10, 1959 on chainstay, 1959 on down tube
for fingertip shifters. The bike is my 1969 Schwinn Super Sport, but that's
just because that's my city bike and the easiest to get to for photos. While I
didn't take a photo of use with a brake cable, these also work perfectly with
my old Weinmann brake cables, with no ferrule.

NB: These 1959s have surface rusted in storage, but that will clean up just
with the silver flux and post brazing cleanup. It's not a real problem.