Drilling a stem?

I have a cyclocross bike with a pretty poor cable routing for the front
brake cable. There are no spacers under the stem, so the cable stop is
very close to the stem. I ordered a noodled cable stop with a 45-degree
bend from Harris Cyclery which makes the routing possible, but there's
quite a bit of friction.

Here's a photograph, which doesn't show the problem area very well.
I could take take a better one in the evening.

http://www.helsinki.fi/~aksalone/crosscheck.jpg

I'm guessing that the routing with least friction would be to have a
regular cable stop right under the stem and drill holes in the stem.
This would avoid the tight 45-degree bend in the cable stop and also
allow a wider-radius bend from under the bartape into the cable stop.

The bike has a Ritchey WCS stem, 90 mm long and about 130 grams. I've
heard of this being done on cross bikes, so it is a safety issue?

-as

Antti Salonen wrote:
I have a cyclocross bike with a pretty poor cable routing for the front
brake cable. There are no spacers under the stem, so the cable stop is
very close to the stem. I ordered a noodled cable stop with a 45-degree
bend from Harris Cyclery which makes the routing possible, but there's
quite a bit of friction.

Here's a photograph, which doesn't show the problem area very well.
I could take take a better one in the evening.

http://www.helsinki.fi/~aksalone/crosscheck.jpg

I'm guessing that the routing with least friction would be to have a
regular cable stop right under the stem and drill holes in the stem.
This would avoid the tight 45-degree bend in the cable stop and also
allow a wider-radius bend from under the bartape into the cable stop.

The bike has a Ritchey WCS stem, 90 mm long and about 130 grams. I've
heard of this being done on cross bikes, so it is a safety issue?

-as

I wouldn't drill a WCS stem, but once in the past I had a similar
situation with a mountain bike (also with cantiliever brakes). I solved
it by simply leaving the housing long enough to drape it over the stem
and down one side to the brake. Even though there was *no* housing
stop, and the cable approached the straddle wire a bit from the side,
it worked really well for several years (until I sold the bike). It was
also very light. ;-)

"Antti Salonen" wrote:

I have a cyclocross bike with a pretty poor cable routing for the
front brake cable. There are no spacers under the stem, so the
cable stop is very close to the stem. I ordered a noodled cable
stop with a 45-degree bend from Harris Cyclery which makes
the routing possible, but there's quite a bit of friction.

How about a crown-mounted cable stop, like this one:

"NEW! CAH59 Fork Crown Housing Stop"
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/c...ecablehardware

James Thomson

Antti Salonen wrote:
I have a cyclocross bike with a pretty poor cable routing for the front
brake cable. There are no spacers under the stem, so the cable stop is
very close to the stem. I ordered a noodled cable stop with a 45-degree
bend from Harris Cyclery which makes the routing possible, but there's
quite a bit of friction.

Here's a photograph, which doesn't show the problem area very well.
I could take take a better one in the evening.

http://www.helsinki.fi/~aksalone/crosscheck.jpg

I'm guessing that the routing with least friction would be to have a
regular cable stop right under the stem and drill holes in the stem.
This would avoid the tight 45-degree bend in the cable stop and also
allow a wider-radius bend from under the bartape into the cable stop.

The bike has a Ritchey WCS stem, 90 mm long and about 130 grams. I've
heard of this being done on cross bikes, so it is a safety issue?

-as

you could try a cheaper [thicker walled] stem and drill that - lots of
early mtb stems were drilled in this way and i don't recall seeing any
failure issues. the wcs is too light to do this though imo - and if
you're riding a crosscheck, i doubt weight is your primary concern so a
heavier stem should be no problem.

regarding the cable run, there should not be much of a friction problem.
are you sure the cable's cut square so it's not pinching at the end?
and the noodle still has its liner?

Antti Salonen wrote:

I have a cyclocross bike with a pretty poor cable routing for the front
brake cable. There are no spacers under the stem, so the cable stop is
very close to the stem. I ordered a noodled cable stop with a 45-degree
bend from Harris Cyclery which makes the routing possible, but there's
quite a bit of friction.

Here's a photograph, which doesn't show the problem area very well.
I could take take a better one in the evening.

http://www.helsinki.fi/~aksalone/crosscheck.jpg

I'm guessing that the routing with least friction would be to have a
regular cable stop right under the stem and drill holes in the stem.
This would avoid the tight 45-degree bend in the cable stop and also
allow a wider-radius bend from under the bartape into the cable stop.

The bike has a Ritchey WCS stem, 90 mm long and about 130 grams. I've
heard of this being done on cross bikes, so it is a safety issue?

-as

a popular trick is to fabricate a hanger suspended from the lower
faceplatebolt
--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

Antti Salonen wrote:
I have a cyclocross bike with a pretty poor cable routing for the front
brake cable. There are no spacers under the stem, so the cable stop is
very close to the stem. I ordered a noodled cable stop with a 45-degree
bend from Harris Cyclery which makes the routing possible, but there's
quite a bit of friction.

Here's a photograph, which doesn't show the problem area very well.
I could take take a better one in the evening.

http://www.helsinki.fi/~aksalone/crosscheck.jpg

I'm guessing that the routing with least friction would be to have a
regular cable stop right under the stem and drill holes in the stem.
This would avoid the tight 45-degree bend in the cable stop and also
allow a wider-radius bend from under the bartape into the cable stop.

The bike has a Ritchey WCS stem, 90 mm long and about 130 grams. I've
heard of this being done on cross bikes, so it is a safety issue?

-as

I have drilled stems to help cable routing but I would get a beefy stem
and drill that. You can also try routing the cable/housing in a loop,
over the handlebar and then into the stop.

HIghly NOT recommended. Stem is a very high stress area. When you
drill it = 2 holes, you greatly reduced the integrity of the stem. If
its a steel stem that you just go for a short ride once a while - maybe
!. You are gambling with yourself and the people riding with you.

Try this
Get a aluminum tube (like the older shimano v- brakes - noodle) and use
a tube bender from home depo or so. Dont try to bend sharp angles by
hand it will "kink" and you will then need another one.

On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 11:36:53 +0000, Antti Salonen wrote:

I'm guessing that the routing with least friction would be to have a
regular cable stop right under the stem and drill holes in the stem.
This would avoid the tight 45-degree bend in the cable stop and also
allow a wider-radius bend from under the bartape into the cable stop.

The bike has a Ritchey WCS stem, 90 mm long and about 130 grams. I've
heard of this being done on cross bikes, so it is a safety issue?

I'll chime in about the safety concern. The stem is not the place to be
doing something like that if you can avoid it.

One solution that hasn't been suggested yet would be to replace the front
brake with a V-brake. Why not? It's a cheap, reliable option.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Accept risk. Accept responsibility. Put a lawyer out of
_`\(,_ | business.
(_)/ (_) |

or convert or use one of those roller thingy. I dont use them but i
heard there is a cam for v brakes for road levers and roller for the
rear derailleur to reduce friction. Just a suggestion

Please dont drillllllllll !!!!

IRD make a deep drop cable hanger.
http://store.interlocracing.com/lodrcaha.html.

Nick

"Antti Salonen" wrote in message
...
I have a cyclocross bike with a pretty poor cable routing for the front
brake cable. There are no spacers under the stem, so the cable stop is
very close to the stem. I ordered a noodled cable stop with a 45-degree
bend from Harris Cyclery which makes the routing possible, but there's
quite a bit of friction.

Here's a photograph, which doesn't show the problem area very well.
I could take take a better one in the evening.

http://www.helsinki.fi/~aksalone/crosscheck.jpg

I'm guessing that the routing with least friction would be to have a
regular cable stop right under the stem and drill holes in the stem.
This would avoid the tight 45-degree bend in the cable stop and also
allow a wider-radius bend from under the bartape into the cable stop.

The bike has a Ritchey WCS stem, 90 mm long and about 130 grams. I've
heard of this being done on cross bikes, so it is a safety issue?

-as