My Monday morning commute

Quoting :
On Feb 18, 10:32 pm, Tom Crispin
in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.
Shirley not. If a brake cable is knackered enough to need
replacement, why would you recycle it on the primary brake?

Perhaps it's just mangled or rusted in the bit that's going to be cut off
when it becomes a front brake cable. If the clamped portion is chewed up
enough, it might be unusable with the rest of the cable being fine.
--
David Damerell Oil is for sissies
Today is Second Saturday, February - a weekend.

David Damerell wrote:
Quoting :
On Feb 18, 10:32 pm, Tom Crispin
in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.
Shirley not. If a brake cable is knackered enough to need
replacement, why would you recycle it on the primary brake?

Perhaps it's just mangled or rusted in the bit that's going to be cut off
when it becomes a front brake cable. If the clamped portion is chewed up
enough, it might be unusable with the rest of the cable being fine.

I just don't fancy lowering my considerable weight down a steep hill in
the knowledge that the mechanism keeping my progress in check is
operated by a cable that's probably ok because the rusty mangled bits
have been cut off.

I keep a supply of brake cables in the shed (pretty cheap in bulk) and
replace them all in the springtime. A brake may fail on me, but it
won't be because I saved a few pence by re-using a cable

--
Brian G
www.wetwo.co.uk

"Brian G" wrote in message
...
David Damerell wrote:
Quoting :
On Feb 18, 10:32 pm, Tom Crispin
in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.
Shirley not. If a brake cable is knackered enough to need
replacement, why would you recycle it on the primary brake?

Perhaps it's just mangled or rusted in the bit that's going to be cut off
when it becomes a front brake cable. If the clamped portion is chewed up
enough, it might be unusable with the rest of the cable being fine.

I just don't fancy lowering my considerable weight down a steep hill in
the knowledge that the mechanism keeping my progress in check is operated
by a cable that's probably ok because the rusty mangled bits have been cut
off.

How about a cable that's probably ok because the rusty mangled bits have
been cut off and it's been checked for other damage? The latter check being
something most people would do anyway.

I keep a supply of brake cables in the shed (pretty cheap in bulk) and
replace them all in the springtime. A brake may fail on me, but it won't
be because I saved a few pence by re-using a cable

Do you use SS cables?

clive

Clive George wrote:
"Brian G" wrote in message
...

I just don't fancy lowering my considerable weight down a steep hill
in the knowledge that the mechanism keeping my progress in check is
operated by a cable that's probably ok because the rusty mangled bits
have been cut off.

How about a cable that's probably ok because the rusty mangled bits have
been cut off and it's been checked for other damage? The latter check
being something most people would do anyway.


I'm not qualified to check cables adequately (for stress in use, rather
than visible damage)

I keep a supply of brake cables in the shed (pretty cheap in bulk) and
replace them all in the springtime. A brake may fail on me, but it
won't be because I saved a few pence by re-using a cable

Do you use SS cables?


No, zinc I think.

--
Brian G
www.wetwo.co.uk

"Brian G" wrote in message
...
Clive George wrote:
"Brian G" wrote in message
...

I just don't fancy lowering my considerable weight down a steep hill in
the knowledge that the mechanism keeping my progress in check is
operated by a cable that's probably ok because the rusty mangled bits
have been cut off.

How about a cable that's probably ok because the rusty mangled bits have
been cut off and it's been checked for other damage? The latter check
being something most people would do anyway.

I'm not qualified to check cables adequately (for stress in use, rather
than visible damage)

Visual inspection is sufficient - IME you can see if a cable is ok.

I keep a supply of brake cables in the shed (pretty cheap in bulk) and
replace them all in the springtime. A brake may fail on me, but it
won't be because I saved a few pence by re-using a cable

Do you use SS cables?

No, zinc I think.

Ah. SS are quite a lot better IMO because they don't suffer from rotting
away in the way galvanised ones do. More expensive, but I reckon it's worth
it. I'll not have cables failing because I saved a few pence by buying
substandard cable :-)

clive

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:19:19 +0000, Brian G
wrote:

David Damerell wrote:
Quoting :
On Feb 18, 10:32 pm, Tom Crispin
in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.
Shirley not. If a brake cable is knackered enough to need
replacement, why would you recycle it on the primary brake?

Perhaps it's just mangled or rusted in the bit that's going to be cut off
when it becomes a front brake cable. If the clamped portion is chewed up
enough, it might be unusable with the rest of the cable being fine.

I just don't fancy lowering my considerable weight down a steep hill in
the knowledge that the mechanism keeping my progress in check is
operated by a cable that's probably ok because the rusty mangled bits
have been cut off.

I keep a supply of brake cables in the shed (pretty cheap in bulk) and
replace them all in the springtime. A brake may fail on me, but it
won't be because I saved a few pence by re-using a cable

A box of 100 brake cables is £90 from Wiggle. At the moment I have a
fleet of about 40 bikes. To replace all cables annually would cost
about £72 in cables. If half the cables could be reused that would be
a saving of £36. It would certainly not be worth the saving if it
comprimised safety, but if there're no safety issues, then it's a
worthwhile saving.

Tom Crispin said the following on 19/02/2008 16:27:

A box of 100 brake cables is £90 from Wiggle. At the moment I have a
fleet of about 40 bikes. To replace all cables annually would cost
about £72 in cables. If half the cables could be reused that would be
a saving of £36. It would certainly not be worth the saving if it
comprimised safety, but if there're no safety issues, then it's a
worthwhile saving.

The only time I would ever re-use a brake cable in that way is if I'd
taken it off for reasons other than wear and couldn't refit it to the
rear because of crushing where it's clamped. There is absolutely no way
I would take a cable off the rear that's been on the bike for any length
of time and shorten it to use on the front. For derailleur cables,
that's fine if there's no visible damage, but not brakes.

Having said that, my brake cables last a darn sight longer than a year
so a rear brake cable that's only been on the bike a year could be
re-used on the front, but then why change it at all?

I suppose these days the other thing you specifically need to be aware
of, and I'm sure you are, is a liability issue just in case a little
darling did ever actually manage to break a cable and crash!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:52:24 +0000, Paul Boyd
usenet.is.worse@plusnet wrote:

Tom Crispin said the following on 19/02/2008 16:27:

A box of 100 brake cables is £90 from Wiggle. At the moment I have a
fleet of about 40 bikes. To replace all cables annually would cost
about £72 in cables. If half the cables could be reused that would be
a saving of £36. It would certainly not be worth the saving if it
comprimised safety, but if there're no safety issues, then it's a
worthwhile saving.

The only time I would ever re-use a brake cable in that way is if I'd
taken it off for reasons other than wear and couldn't refit it to the
rear because of crushing where it's clamped. There is absolutely no way
I would take a cable off the rear that's been on the bike for any length
of time and shorten it to use on the front. For derailleur cables,
that's fine if there's no visible damage, but not brakes.

Having said that, my brake cables last a darn sight longer than a year
so a rear brake cable that's only been on the bike a year could be
re-used on the front, but then why change it at all?

The biggest problems I have is with bent noodles and missing cable
caps causing split ends.

To replace a damaged noodle the cable end must be cut off, the cable
unclamped, damaged noodle removed, new noodle put on, cap put on cable
and the cable reclamped. But, I have now learnt that cables should
not be reclamped as it will be very weak at the point where it is
reclamped. So the rear brake cable needs replacing. But it is only
the last couple of inches of the cable which is damaged - so why not
recycle it and use it or save it for a front brake cable.

I suppose these days the other thing you specifically need to be aware
of, and I'm sure you are, is a liability issue just in case a little
darling did ever actually manage to break a cable and crash!

With the lower body weight and weaker fingers of most children, I
don't think that a broken brake cable is a likely outcome on a
reasonably well maintained bike.

But while we are on the subject of risk, what would be your thoughts
on taking a party of children for ten miles along a canal tow path?
What precautions are sensible?

1. Briefing the group about the water hazard
2. Whistle
3. Lifebelt and 30m floating rope
4. Lifejackets

Doing #1 surely is sensible. Children to stay in single file and
leave a good distance between themselves and the person ahead.
Dismount and walk along any particularly narrow sections of tow path.

#2 light and easy to carry. Will easily attract attention from
passers by to emergency. Not much use in actually mounting a rescue.

#3 alongside reserviors and rivers there are often lifebouys, but not
along this particular canal. A lifebuoy could easily be attached to
my front pannier rack. If a child were to topple into the canal an
adult would almost certainly have to go in after the child. Putting
the lifebelt on the adult before they jump in after the child makes
good sense.
http://www.aspli.com/product_detail.asp?pid=967
But if there is any liklihood of a child falling into water shouldn't
the route be modified rather than trying to mitigate the consequence?
Does that then make canal tow paths too dangerous for children to
cycle along?

#4 with prices starting at £35 per lifejacket, this option is
unaffordable.


Apart from locks, most canals are only a few feet deep, and the water
very slow moving. Drowning is highly unlikely for someone falling in,
and a lifebelt won't be much use anyway - so I'm inclined to think
that #1 and #2 are the only precautuions necessary - and #2 only
because a whistle has mutiple uses.

In article , Tom Crispin
wrote:
A box of 100 brake cables is £90 from Wiggle.

I bought several hundred cables at a time - all the hiring fleet had
the inners replaced at least once a year - joe public are sore on
hired bikes. I paid less than 20p each inc. VAT.

At the moment I have a fleet of about 40 bikes.

I had about 200.

--
A T (Sandy) Morton
on the Bicycle Island
In the Global Village
http://www.millport.net

Clive George wrote:

Visual inspection is sufficient - IME you can see if a cable is ok.

Ah. They could saved a few man hours at the Forth Bridge, then.


Do you use SS cables?

No, zinc I think.

Ah. SS are quite a lot better IMO because they don't suffer from rotting
away in the way galvanised ones do. More expensive, but I reckon it's
worth it. I'll not have cables failing because I saved a few pence by
buying substandard cable :-)

Right, add that name to the rich b?st?rd list for first against the wall
come the revolution. Signed, Chairman, Workers for Affordable Cable
(galvanized section).

;-)


--
Brian G
www.wetwo.co.uk