Trek brake cable design

I bought a Trek 2300 road bike last year and had to take it in for
maintenance because the rear brake cable had totally corroded and the brake
housing was frozen to the aluminum frame. Trek designed the cable to run
under the top tube without housing so there are two points (braze ons) where
the metal ferrals of the housing come in direct contact with the aluminum
frame. What was Trek thinking when they made this design??? I own an 97
Aluminum Trek that's seen 10 times the miles and abuse and its original
brake cable is still intact. Only difference is brake housing on older bike
is continuous preventing metal contact with the frame. Is this a game of
shaving grams off a bike's weight or built in obsolecence?

Meant to write "own an 87 Trek"... not 97

"Bill X" wrote in message
...
I bought a Trek 2300 road bike last year and had to take it in for
maintenance because the rear brake cable had totally corroded and the
brake
housing was frozen to the aluminum frame. Trek designed the cable to run
under the top tube without housing so there are two points (braze ons)
where
the metal ferrals of the housing come in direct contact with the aluminum
frame. What was Trek thinking when they made this design??? I own an 97
Aluminum Trek that's seen 10 times the miles and abuse and its original
brake cable is still intact. Only difference is brake housing on older
bike
is continuous preventing metal contact with the frame. Is this a game of
shaving grams off a bike's weight or built in obsolecence?

In article ,
"Bill X" wrote:

Meant to write "own an 87 Trek"... not 97

"Bill X" wrote in message
...
I bought a Trek 2300 road bike last year and had to take it in for
maintenance because the rear brake cable had totally corroded and the
brake
housing was frozen to the aluminum frame. Trek designed the cable to run
under the top tube without housing so there are two points (braze ons)
where
the metal ferrals of the housing come in direct contact with the aluminum
frame. What was Trek thinking when they made this design??? I own an 97
Aluminum Trek that's seen 10 times the miles and abuse and its original
brake cable is still intact. Only difference is brake housing on older
bike
is continuous preventing metal contact with the frame. Is this a game of
shaving grams off a bike's weight or built in obsolecence?

Without attempting to answer the rhetorical questions directed at Trek,
I would direct your attention to the existence of plastic ferrules.
Those may solve your problem.

But as long as the bike's paint holds up, this shouldn't be an issue.



--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 02:31:54 -0400, "Bill X"
wrote:

I bought a Trek 2300 road bike last year and had to take it in for
maintenance because the rear brake cable had totally corroded and the brake
housing was frozen to the aluminum frame. Trek designed the cable to run
under the top tube without housing so there are two points (braze ons) where
the metal ferrals of the housing come in direct contact with the aluminum
frame. What was Trek thinking when they made this design??? I own an 97
Aluminum Trek that's seen 10 times the miles and abuse and its original
brake cable is still intact. Only difference is brake housing on older bike
is continuous preventing metal contact with the frame. Is this a game of
shaving grams off a bike's weight or built in obsolecence?

I like the brake cable housing stops under the top tube of my 2300.
Sure, it saves a few grams of housing compared to full length housing,
but the part I like is that I can slip the housing out of the stops
(they're slotted) and lube the cable or pack the bike for shipping.
With that much slack I can avoid unfastening the rear brake cable to
package the bars.

I've also noticed the metal ferrules getting stuck in the stops. I
just leave them off. When I'm feeling anal I file or grind the housing
ends flat.

Perhaps this is done because nearly eveyone else does it this way, too.
Well, perhaps they put the cables on top rahter than under the tube,
but still...

Put some grease on the the ferrules, or leave the off completely.

Bill X wrote:
I bought a Trek 2300 road bike last year and had to take it in for
maintenance because the rear brake cable had totally corroded and the brake
housing was frozen to the aluminum frame. Trek designed the cable to run
under the top tube without housing so there are two points (braze ons) where
the metal ferrals of the housing come in direct contact with the aluminum
frame. What was Trek thinking when they made this design??? I own an 97
Aluminum Trek that's seen 10 times the miles and abuse and its original
brake cable is still intact. Only difference is brake housing on older bike
is continuous preventing metal contact with the frame. Is this a game of
shaving grams off a bike's weight or built in obsolecence?

ibrunning- I bought a Trek 2300 road bike last year and had to take it in for
maintenance because the rear brake cable had totally corroded and the brake
housing was frozen to the aluminum frame. Trek designed the cable to run
under the top tube without housing so there are two points (braze ons) where
the metal ferrals of the housing come in direct contact with the aluminum
frame. What was Trek thinking BRBR

Better brake action, less friction. A bit of maintenance and good ferrules,
greased lightly as they are installed would prevent any problems.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Bill X wrote:

I bought a Trek 2300 road bike last year and had to take it in for
maintenance because the rear brake cable had totally corroded and the brake
housing was frozen to the aluminum frame. Trek designed the cable to run
under the top tube without housing so there are two points (braze ons) where
the metal ferrals of the housing come in direct contact with the aluminum
frame. What was Trek thinking when they made this design??? I own an 97
Aluminum Trek that's seen 10 times the miles and abuse and its original
brake cable is still intact. Only difference is brake housing on older bike
is continuous preventing metal contact with the frame. Is this a game of
shaving grams off a bike's weight or built in obsolecence?

Grease, ideally anti-seize, is your friend. This is the best way to run
cable because top tubes are rather less compressible than an extra 2' of
cable housing. If the stops are designed for ferrules (some old ones
aren't), you should use them.