Re: [CR] Brakes and flex

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PX-10LE)

In-Reply-To: <4D23943A.4070906@oxford.net>
References: <1AF44DEDBB574D42885E6BF8375640B8@gateway2v8e13w> <AANLkTimpQiQSWYRYh5k=gnt7Jhrsce27pTYKCz58jH6B@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 21:08:44 -0500
From: "Ken Freeman" <kenfreeman096@gmail.com>
To: John Betmanis <johnb@oxford.net>
Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR] Brakes and flex


I've made a lot of improvement in the feel of previously bad brakes by replacing with modern inner and outer cables, carefully terminated by filing and with ferrules.

On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 4:42 PM, John Betmanis <johnb@oxford.net> wrote:
> On 04/01/2011 3:53 PM, Harry Travis wrote:
>
> Please someone, show me that new design stainless steel cables stretch
>> less
>> than old-skool zinc-plated ones (any more than bicycle chains "stretch.")
>> Which is to say: Show me that they measurably stretch at all, as against
>> simply having the ends bed and the housings move.
>>
>
> Springiness or lost motion in brake cables is no more due to "stretch" than
> a worn-out chain is "stretched". It's the housing that's the culprit when it
> appears to "compress". If there is excessive clearance between the inner
> cable and the housing, the housing will "buckle" in a series of "S" curves
> before any serious tension reaches the brake caliper. Moreover, if the
> housing is made of round section wire rather than rectangular, the coils can
> also "slip" allowing more "compression". I believe the reason the better
> modern cables have less "stretch" is due to better design and closer
> tolerances.
>
> --
> John Betmanis
> Woodstock, Ontario
> Canada
>
> _______________________________________________
>

--
Ken Freeman
Ann Arbor, MI USA