Son_Rising

delete

zacster

You mean the piece of plastic on v-brakes? The only function I've seen them serve is to stop gunk from getting on the cable into the housing since it is where the dirt gets kicked up. Anything will do there.

JohnDThompson 

Pretty sure the OP is referring to the curved cable conduit used with V-brakes.



Not sure there is any great variation in quality; they all seem to be just a metal tube with a plastic liner.

HillRider

I wasn't sure what the OP was describing. Why would anyone buy those lined metal noodles in a pack of 10? The $6 each seemed more reasonable for them. The 10 for $10 probably are just thin plastic liner pieces.

easyupbug 

I have used Shimano and Jagwire and IIRC they are only a few bucks. Eventually the plastic liner fails and they needed replacement and I would doubt any major component manufacturer has a significantly better liner material. Useful life by a major brand is probably determined by cable smoothness and cleanliness rather than liner material.

bpcyclist

All this talk about Japanese noodles is making me super hungry.

Eggman84

One difference is some noodles have an integral adjusting barrel, and others don't. Those with the barrel will be more expensive (I assume). So if you don't have an adjusting barrel elsewhere in your housing run, then you might want to get a noodle with the integral adjusting barrel.

dedhed

I don't know that there is a major difference in quality. Most of the braqnd name ones are stainless. There are differences in degree of bend, adjusters, color etc.

tomtomtom123

There are also the imitation travel agents, with cartridge bearings.

dsbrantjr

Even if you do, having another adjuster right next to the brake you are adjusting can be handy, and will have no ill effects.

zacster

And the plastic thingy keeps the dirt out of that... I guess I'm not up on the terminology, by the time I got my first bike with v-brakes they'd moved on to disc.

hokiefyd 

Yes, they do work well (the bulk back of Jagwires). I've ordered a bag of them in the past, just to have on-hand for re-doing brakes on my bikes or on project/donation/flip bikes. I have only a few left, but I haven't come across a set of linear pull brakes that needed them in a while, so they may linger! As I recall, the liner even had a dab of grease inside to keep the action smooth. When I do these types of brakes, I leave the rubber boot off -- junk seems to get trapped in those. I just keep the cables wiped dry and nothing seems to stick to them. Those rubber boots can also interfere with smooth braking action if they're long enough to get compressed with the cable pull of normal braking.

Just make sure to not get noodles with modulator springs in them (usually intended for the front brake of entry level bikes intended for novice riders) if you don't want them. I don't commonly see these in the aftermarket, but I imagine they are out there.

WizardOfBoz

Sounded reasonable but found this ebay advert for flexible brake noodles. This is apparently the Chinese marketing approach: offer un-needed quantities (say 10) of an item that they could only sell for a buck each each and maximize revenue to $8.89.

https://www.amazon.com/Yuauy-Flexibl...SIN=B078HRK55F

Tamiya

Love the Flexi noodle, much better than the stiff ones!!!

DorkDisk

+1 Flexible noodle; also get some 135 degree ones, not all 90 degrees if going fixed.

hokiefyd 

Yeah, those flexible ones intrigue me. I've never used them before, but I guess they must work well.

Miele Man

I asked at Yellow Jersey about Alivio and Deore V-brakes and they told me to ditch the modulator spring noodles and just use regular noodles.

Cheers

hokiefyd 

The "power modulators" are actually the genesis of me buying a 10-pack of the Jagwire noodles. At the time, I had two Trek hybrids with linear pull brakes, both with modulators on the front. One of the bikes was two years old and the other one was about 12 years old. So I just refreshed all the brake cables and noodles at once. Rather than buying four individual noodles, I figure I'd be able to use the other six eventually, so I bought the pack of 10. I think I have two left.

The modulators, in theory, prevent a front wheel lock-up. And I guess they did, but I'm a pretty heavy guy (240 pounds) and I'm not in the habit of even trying to lock my wheel (out of respect for my cycling equipment!). I don't know if I could have done it with the modulators or not, but they definitely added "squish" to the front brake.

cyccommute 

$6 for a noodle is a bit steep. They go for about $2 each. There are some ones from Avid that are a little bit better in the locking mechanism but they are still only about $5. $10 for 10 of them is about right.

JoeTBM 

I do a lot of charity repairs and never know how long these bikes will be around (stolen, sold, etc.). Yes I buy multiple bags of 10 or 20 at a time, The quality is what it is and they seem to function fine and help restore a bike to usefulness. We probably go through about 100 per year easily. That's why!

Miele Man

That "squish" is exactly what Yellow Jersey warned me about when they told me to replace the noodles on either the Alivio or Deore V-brakes.

Cheers