Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
Thanks to a reader’s excellent question, I get to tell a brief “adventure story” from one of my first long rides, which took place in the mid 1960s aboard a “3-speed racer.” That’s what we used to call British road bikes, such as Robin Hoods, Phillips, Triumphs, etc.
They were “racers,” because they were a lot lighter than the more popular American one-speed bikes at the time. Plus they sported Sturmey-Archer 3-speed internal gearing. More gears makes you faster, right?
The Question
Layne asked, “I would like to read what you have to say about deciding when cables need replacing and what to do if one breaks on the road. One of my favorite routes has long, winding, fast descents and I often wonder how I would stop the bike should one of the brake cables snap? If it ever happens, I hope it is to the rear brake because the front brake does most of the work.”
Stupid Bike Tricks
Layne’s question about how to stop without brakes is where my British racer story comes in. I was 10 or 11 when my dad found me the bike. It was a hand-me-down and was missing some parts, most notably the brake levers and cables.
I fixed the bike up best I could and decided to try riding it without fixing the brakes. Most of the bikes I had before had foot brakes, also known as coaster brakes because the rear hub was also the only brake. To stop, you pushed back on the pedal with your foot.
Looking at the brakeless 3-speed I realized I could use my foot to stop it, too! To do it, I moved my left foot from the pedal to the left chainstay. I put the ball of my foot on the chainstay and I was able to put my heel on the rear tire to stop the bike.
Believe it or not, using this ridiculously risky braking maneuver I managed to complete a 60 mile ride with plenty of traffic, stops and lights. The only bad part was rubbing a hole through and ruining my shoe, which my father wasn’t happy about at all.
Brake Cable Failure Pretty Much a Thing of the Past
Fortunately, even if you wanted to try my stupid foot brake trick, it’s unlikely you would ever need to. Because brake cables have improved tremendously since the 1960s as has brake cable housing, brakes and brake levers.
And, in the rare event you were to break one cable, the other brake front or rear would do fine to slow you to a safe speed. That’s assuming the rest of the brake, such as the rim or disc rotor, brake pads, caliper, cable, housing and lever are all working well.
You are correct that the front brake does most of the work. But the rear brake adjusted properly will be able to stop you just fine, too.
If you’re traveling fast, you may want to sit up tall and make yourself into a sail to use your air brake, too. Also, you want to avoid skidding the rear wheel. To do this keep your body weight back over the rear wheel.
How Long Do They Last?
In my first bike shop in 1971, we used to recommend replacing brake and shift cables yearly. Back then most cables were inexpensive French cables and they stretched and could break at the head inside the lever or cable anchor bolt.
Plus, the anchor bolts (also called “pinch bolts”) weren’t designed to simply hold the cable. They often crushed it and broke one or more strands of the cable. This led to fraying and breaking cables.
I give credit to Campagnolo for coming out with the first high quality cables and housing and caliper brakes with safe anchor bolts. Once they raised the bar, their competitors got on board.
The photos here come from Dale Brown’s wonderful website of all things vintage road bike at www.classicrendezvous.com If you love classic lightweights, check it out and consider joining their Google group. It’s free and full of entertaining and informative talk about these rare and exquisite bicycles.
Fast Forward to Modern Cables
Today, I have brake cables that are 5, even 10 years old that are still showing no sign of giving up the ghost. It’s because these cables are such high quality to begin with and because they’re protected by excellent housings and nothing in them or where they connect to the lever or brake can harm them.
Still, to be safe, I keep spare cables and housings on hand. I prefer and recommend using the cables recommended by the company that made your brakes. For example, I only use Shimano Dura-Ace cables and housing sets on my Dura-Ace brakes.
So When Should You Replace Cables?
Back to Layne’s question on when to replace cables, it depends on their quality and condition. Keep in mind that even quality cables can fail if they were installed poorly.
But if you have quality cables installed correctly, they ought to hold up fine for at least three years in my estimation. If you ride in extreme weather or crash a lot, you could need new ones much sooner, of course.
Thoughts on Aftermarket Cable Kits
I know there are companies that specialize in aftermarket cables and housings. These will work if it’s all that’s available. In my experience, however, for the best performance, stick with the cables and housing that came with your brakes.
The exception would be if your brakes came with inferior cables and housing. Some bikes come with off brand brakes, cables and housings. Sometimes these brakes can be improved with aftermarket kits.
How Do You Inspect Cables?
The first check is how they feel when you squeeze the levers. Quality cables pull and release smoothly, no binding, no roughness. Also, the pull is consistent, the same travel in the levers. This changes slightly as brake pads wear, which is normal and doesn’t indicate a problem with the cables.
You should regularly inspect the cables and housing for any signs of wear. Housing can crack and bend. Exposed sections of some types of cables may rust. If the cables don’t have crimped caps on the ends (or solder – not as common now), the cable end might fray.
A cable fraying at the end can usually be rewound and capped. If not, look closely to make sure the cable isn’t failing above the anchor bolt, which means it could break. That’s not usually the case if it’s only fraying on the end, but it’s worth double checking to be sure.
Checks and Repairs
Cracked housing sections should be trimmed or the entire piece should be replaced. Bent housing should be evaluated and straightened or replaced. Because tight bends and too many bends increase friction.
Rusted cables and those with any fraying along the working length should be replaced. Even though the rust or failure might only be on the outside strands, they’re just as important as the inner ones.
Look Inside the Levers
It’s not easy to evaluate the brake cable heads, the lead ball ends that are inside the brake levers. You can look inside and usually see part of the cable to tell if they’re shiny (good) or rusty (time to replace).
You may not be able to see the points where the cables meet the heads. That’s where cables can corrode leading to failure. If you can’t see it, you might be able to feel it. When corrosion sets in the levers can feel a little rougher. You might also hear a slight crunch or click sound. You can also pull hard on the levers to test their strength. If they hold, that’s a good sign. If not, it’s better to find out at home that you need a new cable.
I hope this brief overview puts your mind at ease on those downhills, Layne. Readers, please chime in with your experience on brake cable life and any other tips for Layne.
10,193 Daily Rides in a Row
Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. He has been a pro mechanic and cycling writer for more than 40 years. He’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Check out his “cycling aficionado” website at http://www.jimlangley.net, his Q&A blog and updates at Twitter. Jim’s cycling streak ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.
A bit confused about the comment “front brake does most of the work.” I almost never use the front brake and then mostly is a panic stop or when I do not have enough rear brake to slow to the speed desired. To reduce the potential for “flipping the bike”, I have trained myself to always apply the rear brake first (before applying the front brake if necessary to use both brakes).
Maybe I read the comment incorrectly or it is too early in the morning or age is fogging my brain….
When you brake, weight is shifted forward so there is more work that the front brake needs to do to slow the bike. For example, look at this website – https://powersports.honda.com/street/supersport/cbr1000rr/ , notice the ‘dinky’ rear brake and the massive dual front brakes. Due to the speeds of these bikes, the physics on these is exponential compared to a road bike. In fact, the front brakes are so powerful that the front end will slow faster than the rear so that is why the rear will start ‘fishtailing’. Due to the differences in weight distribution, a motorcycle weighs more than the person so it will take more force to ‘flip the bike’. Since you weigh more than the bicycle, you have a high center of gravity so it is easier for you to flip a bicycle. There are several things to do to help ensure that this does not happen
1) Apply rear brake first to slow, then feather in the front – like you are doing
2) Bias the brake cables so that when pulling equally on the levers, the rear engages first followed later by the front
3) Do like the crit racers do and have the brakes start dragging half-way thru the lever throw. For crit racers they can pre-cock the levers holding the levers without the brake pads touching then, when braking is needed, feather the levers applying just a little force.
Here is a good article on why your primary brake should be the front.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html
Sheldon misses a most important point when turning a bicycle (second section of the article). To initiate a turn, a slight countersteer is done first (subconsciously). Again, take a sport bike, or MotoGP, you can’t just lean and the bike will turn. The riders first apply a massive countersteer to get the bike to start leaning.
Buried in that article is a very important piece of advice: as you begin a hard stop, slide your sitting parts rear-ward to shift the center of gravity of you and your bike back. This move should be practiced so it’s automatic. It’s possible to almost have your belly over the saddle, and in this position it’s possible to use the front brake hard even on a descent without too much risk of flipping. Of course, modulation of the brake may be necessary, and that’s why practice is recommended.
Quite agree Campagnolo made great cables but those early brake callipers were not so great….much better now
In hundreds of thousands of miles between my wife and me I can only remember one brake cable failure (at the head). It was in 1979 so I can’t for sure remember what brand it was, but I think it was Campy. A factory defect or unusual corrosion was my assessment at the time.
t’s all about miles, not years – three years at 1K miles per year is a lot different than 3 years at 10K miles per year. These days, I get replacement cable sets (brakes and derailleurs) and find that the derailleur cables go first so I just replace all cables at once. For the brakes, it seems like it is rust in the casings that would prompt a replacement independent of the derailleur cables.
I’ve ridden well over 200,000 miles in my lifetime and I’ve never broke a brake cable either, I let my cables go a long time too. I don’t change out my cables every season as a lot of people do, those cables may be on the bike for 6 to 7 and sometimes 8 seasons, I check them at the beginning and end of every season, if they look like they’re beginning to fray then I replace them. The same thing is true with my derailleur cables. I average about 6,000 miles a year. All I ever use is the same cables that are made by the component manufacture, which is Shimano, and I really like the DA9000 cables, a bit more expensive than standard Shimano cables but the components all work a bit smoother using those.
Thanks for the great comments, Walt, Fred, Kerry, Rick, Peter and JPeterO – appreciate it!
Happy Thanksgiving, too!
Jim
I’ve been cycling for 55 years and have never broken a brake or shifter cable. My current cables are several years old. I did a US transcontinental tour in 2008 and one of the riders broke a derailleur cable in a Shimano STI lever. The tour mechanic was unable to remove the broken cable from the STI lever so the rider had to purchase a whole new STI lever for several hundred dollars. I, now, have downtube shifters on my touring bike. The downtube shifters are much more reliable, have less cable, less cable housing and less cable stretch. I can manage any on-road adjustments and failures myself. Just this year I have converted my drive train to a 1x which has simplified shifting even more. Without the incorporated shifters, the brakes are also simpler to maintain.
Thanks for the comment, Bob. It can be tricky to get those cable heads that break off inside STI levers out – especially if you’re out supporting riders on a tour versus in a shop with every tool at hand.
Thanks again,
Jim
I was the retrogrogrouch for awhile too. There were a couple of STI models where this was tricky. Most now have a removable panel that makes access and cable head removal a breeze. Yes, you have to change cables more often. For $10 a pop even for premium full sets with housings, and polished wires alone available as low as a dollar, so what? I do it pre-emptively, no issues. Down tube shifters are horrible if you actually enjoy a bit of sporty riding on hills and such. Once you’ve done brifters, you’ll never go back. Yes, you can shift in advance. No it’s absolutely not the same as getting ability to instantly rev up while popping out of the saddle. It’s just not as fun, because it’s not as quick. If you need a beater bike to rely on around town and don’t ever want to do anything for it, sure, downtube (or stem) shifters. For a decent bike that you spend your recreational hours on, no way.
Like others, I can’t remember last time that I had a brake cable fail, if ever. Now shift cables are another matter. I had the RD cable fail gracefully earlier this year; the cable frayed inside the shifter and I only had the middle range of the cassette. Removing the rats nest of frayed cable was a real pain. I typically replace shifter cables every two years and brake cables at the same time.
By the way, I do like the reference to the Sturmy-Archer 3 speed. Mine was a used one given to my father when I was 13. It was my first foray into wrenching refurbing the internal shifting to get it to work. My bike was a Raleigh, don’t remember the model. I did make sure the brakes worked,
Your thoughts on shifter cable replacement? Also any thoughts on hydraulic brake hose replacement as routine maintenance?
Hello Jim.
Many thanks for answering my question. As is always the case, you did a great job. For whatever it might be worth, I apply front and rear brakes at precisely the same time and have never flipped a bike. Learning how to do so properly comes with practice. My brain has also long been tuned to tell my body to shift weight to the rear during a panic stop.
Keep up the good work..
Well this evening, for the first time in 50 years of road cycling, I had a brake failure. Front, of course, under maximum demand of course. I count myself lucky that this happened where I had enough time and space to weave round the back of a car and into a muddy ditch with no injury. This could so easily have been fatal e.g. at a T-junction. The flange has fractured off leaving just the shaft of the nipple to slip through the brake lever. Using magnification, I can see a distinct crystal structure to the remaining end which reminds me of metal fatigue. I can’t remember what make it was. Probably over 10 years old. Apart from this, the cable looks fine so any amount of inspection wouldn’t have prompted me to replace it. I think I will replace it every 5,000 miles from now on – and I recommend that you do something similar. Losing the back brake is an inconvenience but losing the front brake could easily be catastrophic. Hope this helps someone.