Hello everyone...
I hope some one amongst you can give me some guidance or info on a problem I've encountered with my Dogma 60.1.... I just came back from a trip and when I unpacked the bike from its box I noticed that the front derailleur gear cable appeared to be jammed. The cable seemed to be stuck between the derailleur itself and where it exited the frame i.e at the cable guide under the BB - in other words if I changed gears with the lever, then the rest of the cable from the BB up to the handlebars would either slacken or tighten, but the cable from the BB right to the front derailleur would not budge.

I stupidly assumed that the cable was damaged inside the frame... so pulled it out - it took a large amount of force to extract it. But the cable was ok... so it seems as though something was trapping the cable inside. This problem may have been there for a while and I never noticed it, as I live in Singapore and never need to use the small ring. So I suppose I could be forgiven for thinking that it just seised up because of non-use....

Anyway, when I tried to put in a new replacement cable, the entry and exit holes are both blocked by something... Im freaking out as there is no way I can see in, and I dont think it is compacted dirt or silt.

For those in the know, is there an internal gear cable channel in the Pinarello's that go around the Most BB Shell? If there is, then maybe it has been knocked out... Or has anybody else come across this? If I cant fix this, the frame will be as good as useless - unless I put on Di2 with external cables... but thats something I really want to avoid as all my equipment and wheels are campag...

Any insights would be most appreciated!

Thanks

Ed

I need to bump this... as a last chance before I decide to take a black and decker drill to the frame to create new holes... Anyone?

Before going crazy with a dremel, take a stiff fresh cable, or wire, and try to fish it through the hole. If you can find out what is blocking it, be it paint, carbon, or dirt, then you can best determine the type of action to take.

See if your frame has an inner cable guide to it, sometimes the guides can become kinked and a frayed cable will be very hard to extract.

Last resort from what I can guess is a blocked passage, is pass a wire coat hanger CAREFULLY down the hole and see if you can dislodge whatever is blocking the cable passage.(Might want to even sand the tip of the hanger just so you don't scratch off paint or chip the carbon)

If the blockage is happening on the opposite side of the internal route where just the cable, not the hosing, is coming out, you may have a splinter of carbon there left from the drilling of the derailleur ports. I would then say drill out the port to a size larger than it is.

This all assuming it is a defect and there is zero coverage on your frame.

Thanks for the response!

The problem all started when I noticed that the front derailleur stopped working - it was locked into the big ring. I thought it was a damaged cable inside and when I tried to pull the cable out, it took a huge amount of force... I cant figure out what happened. The frame is 1 year old and has 10,000km on it. I just came back from a trip and it was the first ride out of the bike box. At this stage it is clear that the box (bike box by alan) may have been dropped and that caused something to happen.

There is no rattle, nothing! Tried to peer down the seat tube with a light and cant see anything. Also tried the long wire hanger but it wont go around the BB shell.

So, I suspect that there must be an internal guide that goes between the hole under the BB shell up to the hole where the front derailleur cable emerges... Thats what I need confirmation of. If there is such a guide, Im just gonna drill new holes (Ive seen it done on some of the Chinarellos).

The fame is under warranty, but I am on the other side of the world to where I bought it... On top of that Pinarello suck when it comes to honouring their warranties... they are pricks..

I'm not sure how shipping damage could have caused this problem, I would think it was more of a cable problem. Are you sure that no strands of cable were left in the internal guide after you pulled it out? In hindsight, if the cable was hard to pull out from the shifter end, then I would have chopped the cable at the shifter end and tried pulling it out at the derailleur end, this may have come out more smoothly and may not have left anything behind.

As to what you can do now, I would first try blasting air down the guide from both ends to see if you can dislodge any dirt or small items (hopefully there is a local bike shop with an air compressor that you can borrow for 2 minutes). Next is to try to shove something down there - if the wire hanger that was already suggested is too thick then an old spoke might be a better size (the best type would be something double-butted with a 1.5mm center section; cut off the threaded end, which is fatter, so you just have the thinner section). If that doesn't work then you've pretty much got to give up on the current guide, and I would then certainly look into the warranty option with Pinarello - the warranty should apply internationally and you shouldn't need to be in the country where you bought it. However, I'm really not sure if Pinarello will give you any assistance on this problem.

Your last resort is re-routing the cable, which won't be easy. First, you need to put a housing stop where the cable first enters the down tube, although you may be able to move the current one or get one that was made for another frame, so that shouldn't be too hard. Second, you'll need a guide to take the cable around the bottom bracket, which is going to be tough. You might want to make the cable exit the frame again before the BB, run a piece of external housing, then drill a new entry port with another housing stop, and make this so that the cable can go in a perfectly straight line from there, through the frame, and to the FD clamping bolt. If it was me, I wouldn't even bother going in and out of the downtube with the cable, and would run external housing all the way from the shifter to the BB, using three cable ties to strap the housing to the downtube. That is not going to look so pretty, but it would avoid having to drill two more holes.

Thanks Chris!


I just found this link : http://www.cyclingforums.com/t/484129/p ... n-frame/15

This Bianchi owner seems to have the exact same problem as me!

Anyway, Chris I agree with your solution - This is what I propose doing:

Get one of those flexible external brake cable noodles and run it from the plastic bottom bracket guide up between the rear wheels stays. I'll use those 3M stick on guides and a zip tie around the seat tube to keep it in place. There is enough space between the back wheel and the seat tube to run the cable externally and the flexible noodle will help with running the gear cable through the resulting 90 Degree bend from the bottom bracket shell to the backside of the seat tube. You are right that it wont be so pretty, but it will be fairly invisible. I'll take some pics once I fix it. I'll probably also see if I can get a narrow drill bit and give that a gentle go...

Cheers!

Ed

I have a Dogma2 as well and I'm sorry to read about your problems. Please keep posting how its working out for you.
Good luck!

_________________
Pfeiffer's Rennrad Camp and Cycling Coach
Independent HED Wheels/Powertap Dealer

I am not sure if this is exactly what you are after, but I can add this.
I have a Dogma 60.1 and there is a cable guide (a very flimsy one, I might add) that runs through the frame from the cable gyuide to where it exits to go to the FD. By the sound of it you might have pulled the guide towards the BB area and it is preventing the cable to be pushed through. I was lucky enough to have dislodged mine “out of” the frame a few weeks ago , unlike you who seem to have pulled it “into” the frame .
I suggest you try and remove the cable guide first...
I had endless troubles with the rear brake cable on same frame FWIW