IcySmooth52

I have my stem so low on my Felt FX, the headset mounted cable hanger makes the housing "akward". I'm thinking of putting on a Tekro fork crown cable hanger instead of just a lower headset one. (https://www.tektro-usa.com/category.p...productid=1096)

Has anyone had mechanical troubles doing this to a bike that doesn't come with one? I have a brake hole in the crown of the fork. The one wrong thing that I can see happen is that the hanger rotates left or right when I'm applying the front brake hard. I'll have plenty of torque on it of course!

Bekologist

they don't fit all frames at the headest cup interface. Sometimes there's an inadequate amount of clearance between them to allow tightening the cable hanger against the fork without being clamped against the cup.

they're pretty cheap though, so even if it doesn't fit the felt you can keep it around for a future build, its not like breaking the bank on a component that doesn't fit.

Barrettscv 

I have a fork mounted hanger on two of my bikes: I'm using a Tektro Front Cable Hanger like this on my all-carbon fork from Pedal Force: https://www.amazon.com/Tektro-Front-C.../dp/B006GHDRYC



And an Origin 8 Front Cable Hanger (made by Tektro) on my steel Surly fork: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...BYK8TZ4PZYGDRZ



However I am unable to mount either of these on my Ridley 4ZA Zornyc fork.



I'd have to see a detail of your fork crown to know what will work, or not work.

However, it's a cheap part and it really improves performance. I would buy one and try it.

IcySmooth52

A close-up of my crown.

fietsbob

Integrated headset and a hole in the fork crown , you should be good to go..

BCV"S last picture, note the up and over the stem, cable routing, that may be enough..

Barrettscv 

You should not have any issues.

GrayJay

I have had no trouble with the bolt-on hangars rotating from braking. So long as it is set-up with good verticle alignment and the through-bolt is tight, there is not really much sideways torque on the hangar arm when the brakes are applied.

For my steel CX fork, I decided to fabricate and add a somewhat more permanant integral hangar to the fork, definitly zero chance it will ever rotate;

fietsbob

Cute.. that a cast plug seat stay cap, or a flat piece across the angled cut tube end?

GrayJay

Donor frame was a very old bridgestone (the orange CS in pictures is from the other side). The CS end did not seem to be a cast plug, looked more like a flat cap. I always enjoy finding ways to recycle parts and fittings from junked frames.

IcySmooth52

After installing the bridge, riding it 25 miles, and applying the front brake VERY hard a few times, I had to ask: "Why isn't every cross bike rigged this way?"

No brake rattling, handles smoother when applying the front brake in a turn, and perhaps more stopping power? (I did replace the pads while putting new brake housing for the bridge.)

flargle

Hear, hear. I think you'd hear a lot less kvetching about cantilever brakes.

TommyBing

It's crazy, I never thought about this before. But when I put on a new headset and slammed my stem I had no choice. It turns out to have made such an incredible difference that I won't flip over the bike to discs this year.

I have the Tektro $15 job. Does the trick times a million. Totally different feel and response than the headset unit.

But it was a total pain to get it installed properly. My bike has the biggest fork crown bolt length of anything on the market (Redline Conquest Carbon Team), and I have an anchor in there from Ace Hardware. I need to find a good titanium bolt to put in there, it's kind of ghetto for a 16 lb bike. Redline doesn't supply one, which is ridiculous, since they put the hole there in the first place.

https://tinypic.com/r/t7h0tg/4

https://tinypic.com/r/w35tw/4

Marco99

Wondering how much flex you get in the hanger?
I installed an Origin 8 hanger and removed a few millimeters of material on back just above bolt hole so it would sit flat against the fork.. I took it for a test ride and the shudder is gone but I see flexing at cable stop when I squeeze the brake lever. Wondering if I am losing much braking power from the flexing?

Barrettscv 

The big difference between the fork mounted hangers and hangers installed near the upper headset bearing, is that the fork mounted hanger flexes in concert with fork, eliminating shudder. Shudder happens with a headset mounted hanger when the brake is applied and the bending of the fork blades literally pulls on the cable, increasing the braking action. This sets up a oscillation, making the bike difficult to control smoothly.

Since the hangers pictured above are installed right on the crown of the fork, the dynamic pull on the cable is nearly eliminated.

Yes, with a strong grip, you might see some compression of the fork mounted hanger, but that won't set up an oscillation.

Michael

Marco99

Thanks for the info, but my main concern was that when I removed material from the hanger it was weakened and flexing more than it should, reducing braking power.
I was curious if your hangers flex when you squeeze the lever?

Barrettscv 

Yes, some compression of the assembly is inevitable. However, it just results in a less linear feel: aka sponginess.

3speedslow

Why remove material when you can just use one or two of the grip washers supplied by the manufacturer to bring it out from the head set?

Marco99

I used one of the washers, didn't want to use two of them (was concerned about flexing, lol) , but maybe I should have.
I have read of others commenting that there is flex in these hangers so I'm curious how much deflection is normal.

Also, the hanger I used is a slightly different design than the other ones in this thread. Which one is the stiffest?

shelbyfv

I like that your hanger has the little finger to guard against cable drop. You might like the "compressionless" brake housing that's now available. It seemed to give a more positive feel when I used it with mini Vs.

Marco99

Ok thanks, I'll check it out