Vintage Trek bottom bracket open groove cable guide
10-07-21, 04:03 PM
#1
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Vintage Trek bottom bracket open groove cable guide
I recently obtained a 1985 Trek 560 that has the derailleur cables running in grooves in the bottom bracket. Seems like this is a spot that creates a lot of friction in the cable movement. I'm just wondering what y'all have done with this situation. Any thoughts will be appreciated.
10-07-21, 04:45 PM
#2
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One option is to put "cable liner", or thin poly tubing through the channel. I've had moderate success with that, but have had issues with the tubing moving when not wanted.
10-07-21, 04:54 PM
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I use a liner too in the brazed on guides on top of the BB. An idea on getting the liner to stay put in the groove would be a few dots of shoe goo or contact cement to keep it from moving.
A better idea is to use ultra-slick shift die drawn cables, or even polymer coated cables.
A better idea is to use ultra-slick shift die drawn cables, or even polymer coated cables.
10-07-21, 06:24 PM
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I use a liner too in the brazed on guides on top of the BB. An idea on getting the liner to stay put in the groove would be a few dots of shoe goo or contact cement to keep it from moving.
A better idea is to use ultra-slick shift die drawn cables, or even polymer coated cables.
A better idea is to use ultra-slick shift die drawn cables, or even polymer coated cables.
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10-07-21, 06:42 PM
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On my Treks, with that feature, I just loosen the cable and put some silver anti-seize in the groove.
Tim
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10-08-21, 12:04 AM
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I always route cables the way the builder of the bike intended.
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10-08-21, 04:06 AM
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02-27-22, 12:04 PM
#9
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I'm using the black cable liner and that seems to work just fine. Thanks to everyone for the good suggestions.
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03-01-22, 10:31 AM
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The grooves are very narrow, so a liner will at best sit atop the groove and with almost nothing to hold it from drifting, especially when/if one flips the shift lever forward before removing the wheel (thus slackening the cable fully).
The rear derailer cable follows a straight groove, so the liner needs little help staying in line with the groove (I still always use some sort of glue here).
The front derailer cable often follows a lateral path where the liner may want to roll away from the groove, but the front derailer cable really doesn't need the benefit of any liner for great shifting anyway!
Plastic liner material dramatically improves rear shifting whether it's indexed or not!!!
Use of any coated cable along a bare metal guide always results in the coating going away almost immediately.
All kinds of cable guide configurations out there from the days of metal guide paths, so it's always a fun challenge to come up with just the right "noodle" material dimensions to best stay retained along the path for best stability of the cable tension.
Using actual lined cable housing along the cable guide tends to be a no-no as the housing is always trying to spring itself into a straighter path, leading to a more-elastic connection between the shifter and derailer.
Also related to shifting response/quality and the elimination of "late" or "hysteretic" shifting behavior, I never use a floating top pulley on a friction-shifted bike.
