cudak888 

The braking system started giving me a bit of grief a bit ago, with the front caliper sticking, and both cables stretching more than I expected of them in a short amount of time.

It turns out that if the centering adjuster is backed out just a bit too much on these, they tend to stick halfway through their travel. A bit of adjustment solved that.



The most dramatic change though, are these "4ZA" in-line cable quick releases (along with aluminum cable ends and proper stainless dome nuts).

I'm not thrilled about the way they look - and I'm honestly skeptical whether they'll even allow the calipers to open up enough to slide the tire through - but they're less bulky than the Shimano CB90, which appears to be out of stock almost everywhere stateside (the one place that did have them doesn't have a pair).







I'm not quite convinced, but I'll give them a try.

Meanwhile, the Shimano lined housing and stainless cables are performing a lot better than the crap that I installed for the initial build. Braking is back to feeling sharp and perfectly responsive. I'd put these against cable discs any day of the week as they are now.

-Kurt

Mad Honk 

Kurt,
I have a pair of BR-R451 laying here on the bench if they will make the grade for your bike. I bought them for a build that never materialized. I am not sure about the reach but I guess I could unbox them and measure for you. Lemme Know, MH 812-336-3283

cudak888 

The Tektro 800A and 900A's are behaving again now with this modification, but thanks for the offer. The R451's would be too short, unfortunately.

-Kurt

cudak888 

Small update: I finally had enough with the Nexus 8 giving problems. If I hadn't mentioned it already, it kept feeling as if the gear engagement pawls on the axle were slipping during shifts - usually initial engagement in 3rd through 5th, both upshifts and downshifts.

I knew this hub was new when I bought it so had no reason to suspect a mechanical failure - rather, I suspected issues with the factory grease. I opened it up last night:




I found clear evidence of the bearing grease and gear grease contaminating one another. Suspicion confirmed.




I sped through the reassembly so forgot to take pictures of the process, but all I did was separate the planetary cage unit from the axle, pulled the plastic bearing ring, and left the whole thing in mineral spirits for the night.

In the morning, I pulled it out, dried it, and immediately ignored Shimano's ATF dunk method (say what you want about it, I have my doubts about ATF as a good or effective lube for highly precise IGH hubs), and caked the pawls and planet cage full of 00 grease, Sturmey-Archer style. The bearing raceways received light green marine grease. I've used this same combo on the notoriously cantankerous Sturmey-Archer first-gen X-RF8, and expected similar results here.

And indeed, the hub is now working better than it ever has. Perfect upshifts and downshifts, and just as unnervingly quiet as it was when I first laced it in. I was a bit hesitant to experiment with the 00 grease given that I couldn't find any reports of anyone bucking the Shimano advice before, but I'm glad I took the leap. 00 grease is perfect for a Shimano Nexus 8, and I dare say superior to the overpriced, badge-engineered slop that comes in it from the factory.

-Kurt