Full Length Cable Housing

[alexb618]

Reasons for/against?

I have noticed a lot of people are doing this now and wondering what the benefits are. I have a 2 piece housing on the rear vbrake cable on one of my bikes and wondering if a full length housing will give it 'nicer' modulation? My front brake is of course a full length housing and feels great...

 

[blackjack]

yes mate full lenght housing is the answer. the key to goo braking is maximum friction on the braking surfaces but no friction at all in the housing with the cable running through it. get some full lenght housing. get some wd40 and fill it up. then blow it out really really really well inside with an air compresser. and then get yourself some triflow fluid with teflon in it and fill the housing with it. then run your brand new extreely clean cable through it. i find that it will run better if you clean the actual cable really well with a rag with some type of alchol on it. so metho turps or thinners does the trick. then put a bit of triflow on the cable, run it through connect it all up and tune it well. dont be afraid to spend hours tunring v-brakes. but trust me when you get it right and same with the housing. they would soooooooooooo well. hope this helps mate.

 

[alexb618]

Thanks blackjack I will pick up a cable and housing tonight and give it a shot. I wonder why most bikes are specced from the factory with 'split' housings if a full length is so much better?

EDIT - What is a good way of securing the cable to the frame though, the frame in question does not have the hydro line 'guides' with the little slot in them, jsut standard old skool cable stops.

 

[custard]

zip ties mate, original and the best

 

[dunk]

What is a good way of securing the cable to the frame though, the frame in question does not have the hydro line 'guides' with the little slot in them, jsut standard old skool cable stops.

Drill them out and run the housing throgh, or use zip ties.

 

[alexb618]

Drill them out and run the housing throgh, or use zip ties.

oh my god i am so retarded.

 

[bazza]

get some good quality shimano outter brake line. not the gear outter. it will already be pre lined and ready to go. just slide a nice fresh clean lightly lubed (like one drop at the entrance of the outter) inner cable in and you should have a heaps sweet cabling system. routing doesnt matter so much. you can use those tabs to make it look neat or you can use the lugs already on the frame just by drilling them out like old mate said.

 

[Dirt Devil]

My front brake is of course a full length housing and feels great...

This probably has more to do with how short the front brake cable is. There's less mush with a shorter brake line.

 

[Bodin]

This probably has more to do with how short the front brake cable is. There's less mush with a shorter brake line.

Spot on. Full length housing does not solve the problem of the extra cable length in the rear.

The only way to really make them feel perfect is get something like a "compressionless" housing of the sort that Nokon make. Not the cheapest stuff out there, but definitely the best.

 

[craigb]

if you have the $$ get nokon cables they are so SO good! you will never ever use any other cable after theres

 

[MUGEN]

Full gear cable outter, brake inner. There is no better cable set up.
Full outter casing stops sand/water/dirt getting in.
Anyone who prefers to run a split outter over a full outter because there is more friction blatently have no idea what they are talking about.
Sure there is slightly more friction, but no where near enough to affect the feel of your brakes aslong as you use the right lube for the job.
I use candle wax, doesn't attract dirt, bloody nice and slippery.
If you decide to use grease, only use a little bit, too much and your cable will drag.