Need advice on path forward

[mortirolo]

Cable drag? Dremel is far better, than any cable cutter. Slow but perfect.

[AJS914]

Maybe it's easier to cut and then finish with the Dremel? What kind of bit do you use with the Dremel.

[shimmeD]

Only one thing not tried, and you have a derailleur you can use.
Hate to buy eTap and find you still have problems.

[Calnago]

Maybe it's easier to cut and then finish with the Dremel? What kind of bit do you use with the Dremel.

I've used a cutting disc with a high speed dremel before. It works, but you have to be careful not to melt the inner lining, and it sitll doesn't come out as neat as if you just cut it with cable cutters then finish it off on a grinder... but it's more work for sure and not everyone has a grinder, or a dremel with a cutting disc for that matter. Also, melting the liner is problaby even easier with the grinder, so I just make quick short passes and use a cut spoke of 1.7mm thickness to make sure the liner is free and clear and big enough for the 1.6mm brake cable, or in the case of a derailleur cable, I just use an awl to make sure it's open and round, but just use cable cutters as the ends don't get so buggered as the wound brake cable housing does...
Pics from my C60 build thread...
Cut with cable cutters...


Bit of grinding...


Making sure cable path is free and big enough...


And voila, square, clean ends and nice clean opening... but don't expect your friendly lbs to go to this kind of effort... a cable cutter and a handfile will get you there too.

[mortirolo]

Maybe it's easier to cut and then finish with the Dremel? What kind of bit do you use with the Dremel.

This type of simpliest cutting wheel is good for cutting and grinding too:
https://www.dremel.com/en_US/products/- ... ls-36-pack

[Calnago]

Yes, that's the exact wheel I use when cutting with a dremel, but I've never tried grinding anything with it. Has one over broken off while grinding for you? They don't seem all that strong and once I dropped it on the floor and the wheel just shattered to bits. I attempted to grind the end of brake housing once like that, but there was one of those really sharp burrs sticking out, and it seemed like it just wanted to catch on the flat side of the wheel and pull away or break. And sometimes, I'm dangerously close to the frame when cutting, and I'd hate for some piece to fly off and into the frame. Just thinking out loud here.

[AJS914]

To widen the hole on the liner, I've had good luck with cutting one side and then feeding the cable through from the other side to open back up the hole. If you do it right after you use the bench grinder the liner will still be soft and open right up.

[Calnago]

Yup, I've had to do that too, before I learned to grind it in several passes so as to avoid melting the opening closed. Now I generally just keep making sure the opening is still good with an awl in between passes at the grinder, the whole process takes about a minute... it's putting it on and off the bike while you're getting the perfect length that is the time consuming part. Not something most, if any, shops would be likely to do.

[mortirolo]

Yes, that's the exact wheel I use when cutting with a dremel, but I've never tried grinding anything with it. Has one over broken off while grinding for you? They don't seem all that strong and once I dropped it on the floor and the wheel just shattered to bits. I attempted to grind the end of brake housing once like that, but there was one of those really sharp burrs sticking out, and it seemed like it just wanted to catch on the flat side of the wheel and pull away or break. And sometimes, I'm dangerously close to the frame when cutting, and I'd hate for some piece to fly off and into the frame. Just thinking out loud here.

"Has one over broken off while grinding for you?"
Never.

"once I dropped it on the floor and the wheel just shattered to bits."
Just Once? I dropped it many times, so I made many shattered cutting wheels.

"I'm dangerously close to the frame when cutting"
I use it for inner cables too, so that is really dangerously for fork and frame.

[Calnago]

I'll give it a shot next time. Thanks.

[wheelbuilder]

Yup, I've had to do that too, before I learned to grind it in several passes so as to avoid melting the opening closed. Now I generally just keep making sure the opening is still good with an awl in between passes at the grinder, the whole process takes about a minute... it's putting it on and off the bike while you're getting the perfect length that is the time consuming part. Not something most, if any, shops would be likely to do.

My favorite thing about you is your obsession with clean, perfectly matching, perfectly routed, absolutely perfect length housing. There are only two mechanics at our shop, and we both do this with every project that requires cables and housing. From the many frame up builds we do, to the guy who just needs new cables and housing installed once a year on his 105 equipped fitness bike. Absolutely obsessed, and it is a real time suck, but it is done on every job. I don't just bend a section of housing along it's proposed route and install. I run the cable through the shifter, install ferrules on both ends and actually install the housing. Then I go through the tedious process of making the housing as short and clean as possible. Sometimes removing it and cutting 5mm off at a time, and re-installing everything. Multiple sessions of this can occur for a single run of housing, and we are probably losing money, but that's what we both do and it is AWESOME. Should be done by everybody on every bike. As far as cleaning the ends up, I stopped using a grinder a few years ago, and just strive for an optimal initial cut in between coils, and hand finish any pig tails with a side cutter and awl. Always metal ferrules. With all that said, I run etap on my road bike.

[Calnago]

Exactly! Thank you and kudos to you, and your colleague, for taking the time to build a bike up proper. I nodded with approval after reading every sentence of your post. Till the very last one. Lol. Don’t hate me, it’s a preference thing.

[Matt28NJ]

Wheelbuilder, where are you located? I'd like to bring you my bike!

[alcatraz]

What about hub issues? Is there any side to side play in the cassette or freehub?

Axle may be soft so that with your weight on it changes the angles.

A problem might be that you are setting it up on the stand. Adjust cable tension after riding it. Maybe there is a difference and a clue to where the adjustment deviates compared to the stand.

I had terrible shifting after riding with a too small bend in the housing that goes into the rear derailleur. On top of this, when clamping the cable it aggravates the problem and makes it want to frey in tight bends. Give it a generous bend everywhere. Even if it looks like shit, foremost you need to solve the problem, then care about aesthetics.

Clean and lube the derailleur. Smooth action...

Like calnago mentioned. The cable bridge under the bottom bracket might have some friction damage. Good solution is to put a small piece of liner for the exposed parts. If the cable has dug into it, it'll just continue to dig, catch, and change the cable tension.

As an experiment you could try to run cable housing he whole way to the derailleur. Just tape it on the outside of the frame. As a test...

You need more ride tests. Stand probably won't solve this.

/a

[wheelbuilder]

Wheelbuilder, where are you located? I'd like to bring you my bike!

San Francisco. PM if you are nearby. I Would love to obsess over your bike.