Installing and rerouting brake/shifter housing on converted e-bike
06-08-22, 05:49 AM
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Installing and rerouting brake/shifter housing on converted e-bike
Ok so I tore this bike apart and rebuilt it into an e-bike. I knew very little of bike maintenance before doing this.
I upgraded to Shimano V-brakes from the previous middle pull cantilever brakes and I have Jagwire brake and shift cable housing. So first of all, the previously the brakes and shifter cables housing didn't run continuously - exposing the bare wire between the cable stops. So first of all, I'm assuming I should run the brakes the same way is before, or is there any advantage for running continuous housing?
Secondly, the bottom bracket was replaced by the mid-drive electric motor. The shifter cable previously was run underneath this. There is now no space underneath to route this cable housing. So now is it possible for the bike tho shift normally if I run a continuous shifter housing all the way to my rear derailleur? If not, how would you approach this?
As a reference, this is a Trek Multi-track 730.
Should the shift cable housing just run parallel to this and just run it along the downtube?
I upgraded to Shimano V-brakes from the previous middle pull cantilever brakes and I have Jagwire brake and shift cable housing. So first of all, the previously the brakes and shifter cables housing didn't run continuously - exposing the bare wire between the cable stops. So first of all, I'm assuming I should run the brakes the same way is before, or is there any advantage for running continuous housing?
Secondly, the bottom bracket was replaced by the mid-drive electric motor. The shifter cable previously was run underneath this. There is now no space underneath to route this cable housing. So now is it possible for the bike tho shift normally if I run a continuous shifter housing all the way to my rear derailleur? If not, how would you approach this?
As a reference, this is a Trek Multi-track 730.
Should the shift cable housing just run parallel to this and just run it along the downtube?
06-08-22, 08:08 AM
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Brakes may work better and less likely to get gummed up in housing if you run the current setup with the cable stops and exposed sections of cable. I can't tell from the photos but you may be able to fit a BB shell shifter cable guide on top of it rather than under. This is just an example of an older one, Campy even, but there may be other new versions still being made. Vintage Campagnolo #626/A Bottom Bracket Cable Guide Decent Shape | eBay Also a few more listed on Ebay but you'll have to scroll through the listings to find them. cable guide bottom bracket: Search Result | eBay
Last edited by Crankycrank; 06-10-22 at 08:42 AM.
06-10-22, 08:38 AM
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I'm personally not a fan of full-length housing, although this is probably an aesthetic rather than functional prejudice. I don't think there's actually any problem running full-length brake-and shifter housing. I would recommend no-compression housing for the brakes to minimize any sponginess - full length housing provides maximum opportunity for housing compression to compromise braking crispness, so no-compression makes sense. I have seen several gravel builds with full-length rear shifting cable housing, so it presumably works OK. The great thing about full length housing is that, if you avoid any sharp bends, you can route it wherever you can attach a zip-tie to hold it in place
