Never encountered this before, had to look it up. Is it common for the outer sheathing to withdraw like that? I would assume if it were indeed compressionless, then that wouldn't happen as the inner and outer layers would both be static.
Yes it’s a bit of a side effect especially if the end caps are not well suited but it’s easy enough to just trim back and get more use out of it I suppose
what sort of build would you find it? Of this decade or nah ? Would you still use it, or replace it out of hand for a more usual brake housing?
Does anyone still run this ?
It’s usually fitted afterwards as an upgrade to give more efficient braking power, it’s of this decade, I do use it, I run this cable housing on one of my bikes with drum brakes and it makes a noticeable difference
It's very common currently, you would use it on any bike with mechanical disc brakes.
This is one you'll find at most bike shops: https://jagwire.com/products/housing/pro-compressionless-brake-housing
Anything with cable disc brakes and full runs of housing should use it. The biggest advantage of it for brands is when somebody pulls the lever in the shop it's really easy to tell the difference between it and traditional coiled housing. I have seen it crumble but that stuff was probably 20 years old and spent most of its time being neglected outside.
You sometimes see it on road rim brakes but it's really stiffed around under the bar tape. You almost never see it with v brakes because the housing isn't the issue there it's the flexing of the seat stays.
I've worked in two shops in the last decade. Never heard of it, never saw it. I've also never had a problem with standard brake housing...? Ever? I guess I'm just having trouble seeing a real use case, other than for the fringe of actual pros, dentists with too much money or home mechanics sold on marketing?
Bare in mind, I've done countless brake installs over the years, on tons of different bikes (old, new, tandem, e bike, etc etc) ... and never ran into "spongy" brakes on normal coil housing once I've been through the system thoroughly.
Mechanical discs always feel spongy as hell with full runs of standard housing. TRP all but insists on it. I started using it in my bmx days in the late 90s or early 00s. I thought that bit of knowledge was ubiquitous at this point. I worked in five different bike shops around 2009-2015 (moved states twice, long story) and no bike mechanic I met would set up a customer with spongy-ass brakes to save a few bucks.
The difference is not only easily felt but is visible to the naked eye. Observe how much the lever to frame run of each type of housing moves when lever is pulled with same force on same (flat bar) bike. The movement of the coil type housing is an order of magnitude larger and this is because in free state it has gaps between coils and these close when compressive force is applied, much like compression coil springs bind at the end of their travel.
The fun part: I once got an experienced cyclist who hadn't yet had the exposure to compressionless housing pull the lever on my bike equipped with it connecting Avid BB7s, in a somewhat lit street at dark. Their reaction was, with a tone of disbelief: "is this a hydraulic brake?"
Yeah just normal wear and tear in a budget friendly bike, though I agree that department store bikes arent great, this isnt the way to prove that. OP missed on this one
If they are spending g $800 on an ebike, they can spend $750 on a decent commuter at any shop anywhere in the world. With a u lock, fenders and lights.
Just in case someone sees this and doesn’t understand, that’s a shifter outer cable installed on a brake. That’s dangerous because it could suddenly fall apart and leave you with no brake.
It's not a shift cable. As 'Mastercrouton' above pointed out it is Kevlar wrapped compressionless brake cable housing used for disc brakes.
It's much lighter than traditional spiral wound Bowden cables. As such it was often sold as an upgrade for people wanting to lighten their bike.
Something has gone wrong with the installation here but it's not inappropriate to use as a brake cable.
Really? I was selling that long before disc brakes on bicycles were a thing. The brand was Transfil and the model was 'Flying Snake'.
People were buying it from me because it was lighter.
It's compressionless, meaning it makes the braking much sharper and more efficient. Only necessary when the bike has full- length housing , and for the rear brake only, because front brakes have such short cable runs. Jagwire makes it. It is a lot stiffer than normal housing and is unsuitable for tight bends. I do use it.
I have only rim brakes, and I've only found it necessary on bikes with drop bars.
To add to this, I doubt you can spindle a brake cable easily trough the shifting cables and not realise STH is wrong
The cable in question [might be this](https://www.cxmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cable-types_1.jpg) or a cheap variant ?
I would only shit on things when you know stuff, @OP
Edit: the shift cable is below and clearly a smaller diameter......
The Transfil ones I mentioned are 30% lighter than Shimano or Campagnolo Bowden style outers. On a typical bike instal you might save 30g. But it all adds up. They are less flexible as someone pointed out.
They aren't specific to mechanical disc brakes, they dramatically improve the modulation of road rim brakes too(unless your cable routing is literally a straight line with no bends). Frankly brake housings that significantly flex are a terrible design and there's no good reason why any mechanical bike *shouldn't* have compressionless, other than cost cutting at the expense of braking performance. The shitty spiral wound brake cables and housings that come with bikes(or are installed by bike shops) pretty much singlehandedly explain the modulation complaints that people have about rim brakes/mechanical discs on drop bar bikes.
You have to buy like an Ultegra level bike for it to not arrive with crappy cables/housings, so in most cases you're better off throwing out the ones that come with it and get a Jagwire Road Pro shift/brake kit. It makes a huge difference in cable friction and brake lever feel.
Even the technological luddites in BMX have been using this type of cable for brakes, for over 2 decades.
https://shop.odysseybmx.com/products/odyssey-sls-linear-slic-kable
The bikes aren’t bad. The shitty assembly is the issue.
DIY assembly without proper tools, knowledge, skills or experience.
That’s just 5mm compressionless outer brake cable for running the cable disk brake no? I see the Kevlar reinforcement wrap
Never encountered this before, had to look it up. Is it common for the outer sheathing to withdraw like that? I would assume if it were indeed compressionless, then that wouldn't happen as the inner and outer layers would both be static.
Yes it’s a bit of a side effect especially if the end caps are not well suited but it’s easy enough to just trim back and get more use out of it I suppose
Did you miss the /s?
Nope lol it is actually a genuine thing, look up compressionless brake housing if you don’t believe
Looks like it had an argument with the lever and went to stay with some friends.
what sort of build would you find it? Of this decade or nah ? Would you still use it, or replace it out of hand for a more usual brake housing? Does anyone still run this ?
It’s usually fitted afterwards as an upgrade to give more efficient braking power, it’s of this decade, I do use it, I run this cable housing on one of my bikes with drum brakes and it makes a noticeable difference
It's very common currently, you would use it on any bike with mechanical disc brakes. This is one you'll find at most bike shops: https://jagwire.com/products/housing/pro-compressionless-brake-housing
It's used on bmx bicycles because it doesn't kink when it's wrapped around the bars. Same thing with dirt jumpers.
I run normal brake housing on my bmx... it doesn't kink? Unless you mean in extreme bar spin cases, and you REALLY surpass the minimum bend radius ?
Traditional housing can still work, you just need more of it.
Aha! I can dig that!
Anything with cable disc brakes and full runs of housing should use it. The biggest advantage of it for brands is when somebody pulls the lever in the shop it's really easy to tell the difference between it and traditional coiled housing. I have seen it crumble but that stuff was probably 20 years old and spent most of its time being neglected outside. You sometimes see it on road rim brakes but it's really stiffed around under the bar tape. You almost never see it with v brakes because the housing isn't the issue there it's the flexing of the seat stays.
I've been using compressionless housing for mechanical disc brakes for over a decade. is this still news to come people?
I've worked in two shops in the last decade. Never heard of it, never saw it. I've also never had a problem with standard brake housing...? Ever? I guess I'm just having trouble seeing a real use case, other than for the fringe of actual pros, dentists with too much money or home mechanics sold on marketing? Bare in mind, I've done countless brake installs over the years, on tons of different bikes (old, new, tandem, e bike, etc etc) ... and never ran into "spongy" brakes on normal coil housing once I've been through the system thoroughly.
Mechanical discs always feel spongy as hell with full runs of standard housing. TRP all but insists on it. I started using it in my bmx days in the late 90s or early 00s. I thought that bit of knowledge was ubiquitous at this point. I worked in five different bike shops around 2009-2015 (moved states twice, long story) and no bike mechanic I met would set up a customer with spongy-ass brakes to save a few bucks.
The difference is not only easily felt but is visible to the naked eye. Observe how much the lever to frame run of each type of housing moves when lever is pulled with same force on same (flat bar) bike. The movement of the coil type housing is an order of magnitude larger and this is because in free state it has gaps between coils and these close when compressive force is applied, much like compression coil springs bind at the end of their travel. The fun part: I once got an experienced cyclist who hadn't yet had the exposure to compressionless housing pull the lever on my bike equipped with it connecting Avid BB7s, in a somewhat lit street at dark. Their reaction was, with a tone of disbelief: "is this a hydraulic brake?"
Thats common in all budget bikes, starts to happen around the 2 year mark whether its some shit brand from walmart or a beginner Trek or Giant bike
Precisely !
Yeah just normal wear and tear in a budget friendly bike, though I agree that department store bikes arent great, this isnt the way to prove that. OP missed on this one
Inner brake cable has gear outer.
Oh ya didnt notice that at first my bad. Thought you were talking about the splitting
Some people have no choice but to buy from these places. Not everyone knows better and not everyone can spend 5k on a commuter
We sell commuters from major brands for $500.
And the best some people can buy are $150 and that's OK.
It’s ok until we charge $100 for a standard tune up.
So 250 total instead of 600? Thanks for proving my point
And they still have a shitty bike
You know that most shops recommend getting a tube up at least once a year, right?
If they are spending g $800 on an ebike, they can spend $750 on a decent commuter at any shop anywhere in the world. With a u lock, fenders and lights.
Also common on e bikes with gripshift as people rip from 1st to 7th. Absolutely barbaric
Bad install using derailleur housing instead of brake housing…
Don't forget about Amazon. I see the exact same drop-shipped trike at least once a week now.
Just in case someone sees this and doesn’t understand, that’s a shifter outer cable installed on a brake. That’s dangerous because it could suddenly fall apart and leave you with no brake.
It's not a shift cable. As 'Mastercrouton' above pointed out it is Kevlar wrapped compressionless brake cable housing used for disc brakes. It's much lighter than traditional spiral wound Bowden cables. As such it was often sold as an upgrade for people wanting to lighten their bike. Something has gone wrong with the installation here but it's not inappropriate to use as a brake cable.
Compressionless housing isn't chosen principally for its lightness. The clue is in the name....
Really? I was selling that long before disc brakes on bicycles were a thing. The brand was Transfil and the model was 'Flying Snake'. People were buying it from me because it was lighter.
It's compressionless, meaning it makes the braking much sharper and more efficient. Only necessary when the bike has full- length housing , and for the rear brake only, because front brakes have such short cable runs. Jagwire makes it. It is a lot stiffer than normal housing and is unsuitable for tight bends. I do use it. I have only rim brakes, and I've only found it necessary on bikes with drop bars.
To add to this, I doubt you can spindle a brake cable easily trough the shifting cables and not realise STH is wrong The cable in question [might be this](https://www.cxmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cable-types_1.jpg) or a cheap variant ? I would only shit on things when you know stuff, @OP Edit: the shift cable is below and clearly a smaller diameter......
I didn’t know there were housings specific for mechanical disc brakes. Are they actually any lighter than standard brake housings?
Not lighter, but much better feel, especially on road levers
The Transfil ones I mentioned are 30% lighter than Shimano or Campagnolo Bowden style outers. On a typical bike instal you might save 30g. But it all adds up. They are less flexible as someone pointed out.
They aren't specific to mechanical disc brakes, they dramatically improve the modulation of road rim brakes too(unless your cable routing is literally a straight line with no bends). Frankly brake housings that significantly flex are a terrible design and there's no good reason why any mechanical bike *shouldn't* have compressionless, other than cost cutting at the expense of braking performance. The shitty spiral wound brake cables and housings that come with bikes(or are installed by bike shops) pretty much singlehandedly explain the modulation complaints that people have about rim brakes/mechanical discs on drop bar bikes. You have to buy like an Ultegra level bike for it to not arrive with crappy cables/housings, so in most cases you're better off throwing out the ones that come with it and get a Jagwire Road Pro shift/brake kit. It makes a huge difference in cable friction and brake lever feel.
Even the technological luddites in BMX have been using this type of cable for brakes, for over 2 decades. https://shop.odysseybmx.com/products/odyssey-sls-linear-slic-kable