Possible to Shorten Brake Cable/Housing

[Jay]

When the shop built up my Roadini they gave a lot of room for running the bars higher than I ended up going with after getting the bike home and dialling it in.  As a result, there is a lot more cable/housing than needed, in particular the front brake, and it sometimes gets in the way when I'm on the tops.

This isn't a big deal, but if I could easily trim the front brake cable/housing, without removing the bar tape, is it just a matter of:

- loosen front brake calliper pinch bolt

- using something like needle nose pliers, pull 4-5 inches of cable up through the front brake (Tektro RRL)

- cut off some of the housing to desired length (I have a cable/housing tool, haven't used it in a long time though)

- push the cable back through the housing (maybe drop in some tri-flow first)

- tighten pinch bolt, cut excess cable, put a cable end on

I'm an average mechanic at best, so I don't usually mess with something if it isn't broken.  But if this is simple, I'll go ahead and do it.  Thanks!

[Oliver Moss]

Hey Jay,

You got it right on. It's a pretty simple to shorten that housing, and your play by play is pretty much just right. The only thing I would add is using an awl, or the end of a pick, to make the newly cut housing end round if it has been squashed when it was cut. I also clean up that end with a file so it is smooth. 

Damn good looking bike, by the way.

~Oliver

[Mathias Steiner]

I have a method -- I don't want to call it a 'simple trick' lest you-all think it's click bait -- that makes cutting the housing a little more predictable.

Pull back the brake cable so it's away from where you will cut.
Shove a piece of brake cable into the housing so it goes a little past the cut.
Cut.
Push the cut-off piece out and check the housing. Repeat if you have left a bad surface, or file/Dremel it flat.

Either way, by keeping a piece of cable in the housing, you won't have a blockage.

No matter how I do it, I'm averaging 50% success at best. I try to err a hair on the long side for the first cut.

cheers -m
East Lansing, MI
[Where it's 12 F. Riding to and from work was not much fun today. Beats fires. 🤞🤞🤞 to our L.A. friends. ]

[JohnS]

+1 on Mathias' method of inserting a piece of cable into the housing before cutting the housing. I think it helps prevent the housing from being crushed by the cable cutting tool. I still file the housing to remove any rough edges.

JohnS

[tio ryan]

Interesting tip—had a feeling saving those old cables would someday come in handy :) 

Will give that method a try next time! 

-tío 

[Jason Noonievut]

Thanks for confirming my approach and that tip.  I’ll try it out this weekend and let you know how it goes.

As an aside, one day I will replace the housing.  Was thinking of a coloured housing maybe Nissen.  What colours do you think would work with the dark gold Roadini (brown/silver brake levers, light green bar tape).  I’m struggling to visualize what will look good.

Jason

On Jan 15, 2025, at 11:16 AM, tio ryan <rdo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Interesting tip—had a feeling saving those old cables would someday come in handy :) 

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[Patrick Moore]

I’ve done exactly what you describe, only, you ought to add one more step, which is to file the housing wire flat to remove any sharp ends or burrs that might wear through the cable.

Elegantly short (but not too short!) housing is one aesthetic plus for a build, IMO.

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[Will Boericke]

My success rate at re-inserting cable into trimmed housing is about 50%.  I often get a strand stuck somewhere along the way and mess up the cable enough that I just have to replace it completely.  If it's a rear cable, I save it for a future life as a front cable.

Will

[Jay]

I just finished shortening the housing.  That part of it went well.  Other parts did not.  I'll explain below, and would appreciate tips on how to avoid a couple of issues next time around.  In the end though, it's done and is good.  Apologies for the play by play but I thought it would be fun to deep-dive.

The good: First thing I did on the brake calliper was flip open the quick release lever so that I can pull the lever to the bars to get at the cable.  I then loosened the pinch bolt on the calliper and pushed the cable up through the lever so it was sticking out 5-10 inches.  After determining where I wanted to cut the housing (about 4" of it off) I then inserted a spare brake cable into the open housing and cut the housing with spare cable inserted.  That went well.  It did not compress the housing, I just filed the end so it was even, after pushing the good cable back through the housing, knocking out the spare.  This part took like 2-3 minutes.  Should have been done in less than 10 minutes!

First bad thing: somewhere along the way the existing cable frayed.  The bad part was just below the pinch bolt, which meant when I engage the quick release lever on the calliper my finger would get poked.  That was a pain as I swap wheels throughout the season, once every week or two.

Second bad thing: I couldn't figure out the best way to tighten the pinch bolt while pulling the cable taught.  I would tighten it, and then when I pull the lever it went right to the bars (too loose).  Played around with that for 5 minutes, trying different ways.  Feeling pretty dumb at that point.  Perhaps making the frayed cable worse.

Third bad thing: I wanted to replace the cable.  I had a spare cable, full length.  I pulled out the old one, but struggled to insert the new one into the hole inside the lever.  I was frustrated and figured I will have to go to a shop.  However, it eventually worked (inserting an old one reverse and then following it back in through the top (hopefully that's clear, I thought it was pretty smart lol).  I then learned that those cable ends are different for road vs mtb, I had a mtb one and it didn't fit into the holder inside the Tektro RRL lever.  Now I'm frustrated, kicking myself for not leaving well-enough alone!  

The recovery: I have an old road bike on the trainer.  It actually has 1yr old cables, and thanks to me loving the Roadini, it's not playing outside again.  So I removed the rear brake cable.  That slid easily into the Tektro lever, sat nicely inside the holder, and lots of extra cable.after inserting it through the pinch bolt, with the quick release lever loosened, I figured out how to get the right 'pull' on the cable before tightening the pinch bolt.  Can't explain, but used my fingers to maneuver it so the pads were far enough away from the rim, but not too far, so when I re-engaged the quick release the pads would sit an appropriate distance from the rim and when I pulled the lever it was just right.  I never over-tightened the pinch bolt until I was sure of this position, so I loosed the bolt, made small adjustments, tightened and checked.  I was no longer pulling the cable so hard with pliers, more finesse.

After the struggles I've actually learned more about cables and housings.  I would probably replace them myself next time I'm ready to.  I would be interested in your thoughts on why that cable frayed, and if that usually happens or perhaps I was sloppy somewhere in the process.  Next is what's the best way to adjust cable attention before tightening the pinch bolt (maybe I got lucky in the end and didn't really know what I was doing).  Thanks!

[Michael Connors]

I squeeze the calipers against the rim using a clamp. Then pull the cable with my fingers, not too tight. When the clamp is released the pads move to approximately the right location. If it needs further adjustment mark the desired spot on the cable using a sharpie or tape and move it.

[Oliver Moss]

You can also back out the barrel adjuster half, or a little more, before clamping the brakes to the rim and tightening the pinch bolt. This allows you to turn it in and dial in the right distance from the rim. 

[Jason Noonievut]

Thanks for those tips for next time!

Jason

On Jan 16, 2025, at 11:27 PM, Oliver Moss <oliverda...@gmail.com> wrote:

You can also back out the barrel adjuster half, or a little more, before clamping the brakes to the rim and tightening the pinch bolt. This allows you to turn it in and dial in the right distance from the rim. 

On Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 10:38:31 PM UTC-5 Michael Connors wrote:

I squeeze the calipers against the rim using a clamp. Then pull the cable with my fingers, not too tight. When the clamp is released the pads move to approximately the right location. If it needs further adjustment mark the desired spot on the cable using a sharpie or tape and move it.

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[Glen]

Brilliant idea on the clamp, I've had one of these cheap '3rd hand' tools in my box for years. Makes this job so much easier. 

Slip a washer or dime into the leading edge and I usually get the toe-in dialed too. 

Regarding housing cutting, even with a pair of cable cutters I usually just use my Dremel and then a pick to open it up. 

 

[Pam Bikes]

Cables generally do fray if you try to use them again.  After removing the crimp, put some super glue on the end before removing them to prevent them from fraying.  

Thanks to the person posting the picture of the clamp.  I bought one for that purpose but haven't used it yet.  

[Cormac O'Keeffe]

It's a bit tangential but on the subject of cutting cables or cable housing I can't recommend enough the Bowden cutter. After spending years of faffing about with pliers and wire snips the Bowden makes changing cables a breeze.

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[Corwin Zechar]

I learned something REALY valuable from your post. Inserting a brake cable in reverse, you can thread a new cable from drop (or other) levers. In the past, I have inserted a new cable, but had to remove the housing from the drop bar lever and had to insert the cable in the housing separately. This is REALLY neat.

Thanks very much.

Regards,

Corwin