Problem solvers front cable hanger?

[Adam]

Hi all,

Does anyone have experience with the problem solvers front cable hanger? The one with a built-in "cable noodle"?

I had an LBS install Paul racers on my hillborne and they used one of these. Changing the brake cables this week, I realized what an odd setup the cable noodle thing is, it puts a 45ish degree bend in the cable for no real reason. I'm thinking that I should change the setup, any recommendations? Or is this not an issue?

When I changed the cable, the little plastic sleeve inside the cable noodle was cracked. Seems like a potential issue for no real purpose that I can see. Unfortunately there isn't an actual cable stop built into the hanger, so I think the whole setup may need to be changed.

Thoughts, advice?

Here's the part:

https://www.thebikerschoice.com/product/problem-solvers-clamp-on-cable-hanger-182078-1.htm?variations=926322,926354?utm_source=google%20shopping&utm_medium=organic&cmp_id=18999470602&adg_id=&kwd=&device=m&gclid=CjwKCAiA9dGqBhAqEiwAmRpTCxJ5qK9TD6hipo0RYCdZIeE5F_M3FbHVnzmIbVVSUoKWshTJSoWaCRoCHJMQAvD_BwE

Thanks,

Adam

[Garth]

I use one of those Adam and no, they aren't a great design with the sharp bend and all. The plastic brake cable liner isn't necessary, I removed it and just ran the cable as there was less friction that way on my Bombadil. 

I tried running the brake cable direct to it without the noodle, but there was too much play, the hole in the cable stop is too big. You'd need a step down ferrule to even see "if" it would work.  There are flexible noodles available, but those would also need a step down ferrule to even see "if" it would work. 

Nah, too much malarkey for me. Oh the irony of the "Problem Solvers" brand. I haven't ridden the Bombadil since Spring and when I get around to changing to drop bars I'll be using the Tektro 1277A fork mounted cable stop instead. I use one of those on another bike and they're the bees knees. The brake cable goes to it directly like a caliper brake and has an adjuster which also work as a cable release with a few turns. Plus you can angle it slightly off center/vertical if need be and that has no effect on the efficacy of pull to the brakes. Brakes feel firmer than the high drop headset/stem versions. 

[Adam]

Thanks,

If anyone has recommendations on cable hangers, I'm interested. Is it worth the trouble to swap out for one of the Paul, Tektro, or RH options? I'm mostly just concerned that this weird bend will cause the cable to break at some point, and that the bend is taking away braking function via all the friction.

I like the idea of a fork mounted stop, but don't see how that could work with centerpulls--the brake cable is too high and the mounting hole already in use--am I missing something?

[Garth]

I checked my hanger on the Bombadil again and the way I have it setup, the brake lever is nice and snappy. I did remove the plastic liner from the hanger and I've had it that way for 13 years with the original galvanized cable. I can easily inspect it and there's absolutely zero signs of any friction or fraying. I likely squirt/rub some lube in there every once in a great while because I can.

I can't say why your liner was cracked, but as I stated, you don't need it anyways. While I get the theory of nylon brake lining, in practice I find it adds unnecessary drag. Whenever I run cables for brakes I always find the path of least resistance for the cable actuation, regardless of how it may be seen. I've included a pic of my Bombadil, I have it running as direct as possible from bar exist point to the hanger and the beauty of those hangers is that the entry point is variable/rotatable any which way that's best.

 

So I take back my comment about the hanger being wonky, as I said, I haven't touched the Bomba in a while so I had to refresh my memory and play with it. The noodle bend really isn't an issue in practice and the rotatable entry point is what sets this apart from all others. That's why I used them, as all the others, including the fancy ones, don't offer that. The Paul you can adjust forward, but so what, you're still are limited to the vertical entry for the brake cable. They could all use a noodle of some sort as far as I'm concerned.

I assumed your Paul centerpulls where fork mounted on studs, so no the Tektro won't work for center mounted brakes for obvious reasons !

[Patrick Moore]

One factor in reducing front brake cable friction is a gradual, "natural" bend in the housing between its exit from the bar tape (aero levers, of course) and where it meets the stop. If your stem is high so that the housing leaves the bar tape (I'm assuming you use aero levers) far above the housing stop then I expect that a hanger with the angled noodle can actually make the bend tighter and less efficient for cable travel.

Because my errand road bike (2020 Matthews custom) has a high stack -- upsloping tt and extended steerer and head -- the stem and therefore the bar is positioned relatively low above the headset. When I built the bike I installed a very nice, stiff, steel Shimano hanger but it has only about 1 cm of drop. Together with the close bar the housing has to bend tightly when it exits the tape to meet the hanger. In this case, the angled noodle on the PS hanger would allow a more gradual bend.

I recently bought a Rene Herse cable housing hanger, paying $59 because no one else offers a stiff, silver, steerer-mount housing hanger with a deep drop. While the Shimano hanger drops 1 cm, the RH drops fully 3.5 cm and will allow a much more "natural" bend.

I have to confess that the tight bend with the short Shimano hanger hasn't caused a great deal of cable friction, but there's room for improvement, and since this is a "nice" bike I want to reduce it to the minimum possible. The longer RH hanger will do that. It also makes the housing bend look nicer.

Tektro offers a deep-drop hanger for about $13 but that one is quill mounted so that you lose a cm of drop because it is clamped above headset locknut and a thin spacer. Of course, the PS hanger not only clamps to the quill but it's about a cm shorter than the Tektro and RH hangers.

[JohnS]

This is timely, the Shove Research FMBCH...

https://shovelresearch.com/fork-mounted-brake-cable-hanger

Bling for the bike, about the same cost as the RH.

Back to Adam's point that fork mounted hangers won't work with center pull brakes, seems to me someone should make an integrated backing plate/hanger. That would nice!

JohnS

[Adam]

Thanks for the thoughts all.

And Garth, thanks for that picture. Now I see how it could make sense. Unfortunately, my bars are high drops, so the angle ends up creating a weird double bend that requires me to overshoot the hanger and loop back into it from the opposite side--I know a pic would help here, but this site makes it too difficult to upload.

Is there any reason NOT to go with the quill mounted Tektro? The Paul one is also quill-mounted, right?

I may not change this now, but it's annoying me and I'm moving other stuff around, so maybe doing it all now makes sense.

thanks

Adam

[Patrick Moore]

Jerking this thread slightly off-topic: does anyone know of a combined brake booster/housing stop? I refer to the arch brake boosters that used to be sold for mtb cantilever brakes 30+ years ago to stiffen fork legs and stays for more solid braking.

Reason: my Matthews #2, the equivalent of a 60 cm or greather c-c with level tt (actual: 58 c-c with upsloping tt and extended head and steeer) but built for 559 wheels has hugely long steerer and head made from skinny relatively lightweight tubing, with the resultant tendency for front brake grab and chatter. The precision-built Paul Neo Retros in front minimize this so that there is only the vaguest ghost of shudder -- it's acceptable -- but it still happens under hard front braking.

A more-or-less fork-crown-level stop would remove the forces causing steerer flex. However, the Matthews does not have a drilled crown, and I can't drill a hole for a crown-mount hanger because the fender mounting boss takes up too much room inside the crown.*

I expect I'd pass on such a device, even if one is available, for aesthetic reasons -- again, residual chatter is minimized by the Pauls -- but I'd like to know if one is available.

* A tangential observation: IME with several bikes built with threaded fender mounting bosses inside the bottom of the steerer, it's very hard to get enough threads underneath a caliper brake mounting bolt, unless you "artificially" extend the steerer below the crown. I've stripped the threads of several such bosses built for caliper brakes rendering the boss unusable while the ruined boss remains to block installation of a steerer daruma. The Matthews #2 was built for cantilevers and therefore does not have to accommodate a caliper mounting bolt, but with the boss designed deep enough for enough threads to be secure, there's no room to drill it for a fork-mounted housing stop.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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