Hi All,
I have a bike that has 3 lengths of exposed Bowden cable.
I?d like to sheath these, but would like to avoid having to disconnect and reconnect the inners.
Can anyone think of a suitable (preferably black) C section thingy in plastic / ?rubber? / Ali that I could slip over them?
Google "split flexible conduit".
Down to 7mm diameter, eBay, £2.10 for 3 metres
Or just remove the insulation from the cores of a short length of
4 or 6 mm T&E by slitting carefully with a Stanley knife, infill with grease then slide over/onto the exposed bits of cable.
Butbut isn't the point to save the weight and friction of having the / an outer over the entire length of the cable run?
What is it OOI you are trying to achieve here? (genuine question).
If it's to stop the inner touching the frame tubes I think you can get little rubber beads that can do that (although they may need to be threaded on so not what you were hoping for) and if it's to protect the cable from corrosion / the_elements then this extra cover is going to have to either be short of the fittings on the fame to allow for cable movement or allowed to slide up and down as the inner moves within it, potentially creating a water trap for more corrosion?
Or maybe something is pushing the inner against the frame (like luggage) and you need the outer to protect the frame / luggage from the friction?
Cheers, T i m (with several solos and a tandem). ;-)
Good post. My guess was that the OP wanted to keep water, mud, and grit off the open runs, perhaps they are extreme mountain bikers. While the split conduit that I suggested is not completely waterproof (unless it is glued shut) it could be expanded and taped over the posts supporting the ends of the existing "outers" to minimise water ingress at these points.
Hmm, I think that would look utterly pants and probably create more problems than it solves.
Not quite sure what the OP has against exposed inners or just using standard cable ?outers?.
Tim
Have you considered wrapping them with loom tape? That's PVC tape with no adhesive. Comes in a variety of colours, but mainly black. You do have to secure the final end with a cable tie, etc.
Cheers.
But unless that was abrading the frame somehow, isn't the only real 'weak spot' any open cable guide or upward facing, short outer-link that might collect crud (down the hole between inner and outer, often nylon lined these days)?
No, all the other options could be perfectly valid, *depending* on what the OP was trying to achieve ... and a 'slip on' solution was closer to the desired solution of something that required the loosening and re-threading of the inner (and we know how much of a pita that can be if the end is at all frayed). ;-(
Cheers, T i m
Isn't that going to give excessive friction? Presumably you mean wrapped under a bit of tension.
Just read it again. Bowden cable consists of an inner and outer. So not clear if this is that, or simply a cable? If just a cable it would need pulleys etc to go round bends.
To what end result? Anything with an opening will let muck and rain in anyway, I'd have thought. Brian
On bikes (typically for derailleur gears), you sometimes have stretches of bowden cable for the curved bits and then stretches of "inner" that run between pillars on the frame, these support the ends of the bowden cable at either end so that the inner remains in tension.
The inners typically have a nipple only at one end for the operating lever, so they can be fed through everything. They sometimes have a pulley wheel for changes of direction. The free end is fixed by a screw clamp in the derailleur mechanism.
My reading is that the OP wants to "sleeve" the exposed cable for some unspecified reason.
I'm with you now. Presumably reduces friction? And perhaps weight?
Gets oil stains on the Lycra? ;-)
Purely to do with the look. I don?t like lengths of exposed inner, especially when one is rather tarnished.
I was initially thinking some kind of outer would provide protection against further corrosion. But then I thought it might harbour water and make matters worse.
Chris
2 Solos, 20 Y/O Full Suspension MTB and 49 Y/O hardtail (no suspension) MTB.<snip>
Ok. Thanks for coming back to us.
I suppose if they are tarnished they might 'stand out' more than if they were new / untarnished.
Are you near the coast or something Chris and/or does you bike live outside as I don't think any of the Bowden inners are tarnished on any of our bikes and they are all pretty old now?
Ah, so those inners could be pretty old in any case?
Inners are pretty cheap and new ones fairly easy to thread though ... it also give you the chance to flush out the outers and generally clean out and lube the guides etc?
If it's stains / corrosion you want to avoid go for stainless:
+1
+1
Replace with full length bowden cables? Like bikes used to have?
Years ago, in the days when people drove Ford Cortinas Mk 1, notchback anglia etc, the usual winter faff of poor starting was 'fixed' by spraying some sort of waxy-plasticky substance all over the plug leads and distributor cap. THis created a reasonable water barrier. Can't remmber its name though.
Something like this might be useful for exposed sections of brake/gear cables.
not so easy when there are lugs brazed onto the frame to locate the ends of the outer in more than one place.
Damp-Start.
I doubt it, likely to just gum everything up.
Cheers, T i m
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