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Help please! Mismatched Sturmey Archer cables and brake handles

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Help please! Mismatched Sturmey Archer cables and brake handles

Old 10-09-19, 11:17 PM
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AL NZ
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Help please! Mismatched Sturmey Archer cables and brake handles




Cable style is modern and doesn’t recess into handle



Excess cable length
Help please!
i am fitting some Sturmey brake hubs to my old BSA, with old brake handles. There is a big length mismatch in cable length of at least 4cm, as per photo.
i am going to search around for different handle and cables. But I am not sure why I have this problem.
when I was a kid my grandfather turned me up some brass cable ends on his lathe, that we then soldered onto the cables. Not really an option here... I could cut the end off the cable and and put on a screw-up cable end?
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Old 10-10-19, 12:00 AM
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...to get the cable housing to fit into those lever ends, you need to find a couple of stepped ferrules. I'm not sure you can buy only 2 over the internet, so I'd shop around at some of the local bike shops, asking if they have them. Many still do. If you still have your old cable housings, you can usually remove those ferrules from the ends of those and if the housing is the same size (5mm usually), you can reuse them.

To replace those ferrules on your cables now, you'll need to cut the lower end off, slide it out of the housing, swap the ferrules, then reinsert the cable in the housing. Then you find some kind of stop bolt with a hole in it to slide onto the lower end of the cable, and use that to adjust for the length you need. You might need to shorten the length of the housing as well, to get a good installation fit. So if you don't already have one, buy yourself a bike cable cutter like the one from Pedro's.

If you've not run brake cables before, you might want to consider hiring this job out to a professional.

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Old 10-10-19, 04:12 AM
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Look at things like these Dorman Cable barrels. These may not be the right size nor strength for brake cables but you'll get the general idea from the pictures. An image search returns numerous options, sized and styles.
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Old 10-10-19, 05:16 AM
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https://shop.odysseybmx.com/products...y-cable-knarps
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Old 10-10-19, 05:59 AM
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I’m guessing those levers originally had some of those knobby ferrules on them. Like these. A decent lbs would probably just give you a pair.
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Old 10-10-19, 06:23 PM
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HSK715 Brake Cable Pinch Bolt Assembly /Pinch Bolt HSK770

Sturmey Archer apparently make a "Pinch bolt" for this application, in the past they were called HSK715 Brake Cable Pinch Bolt Assembly. A 2017/18 catalogue has them listed as Pinch Bolt HSK770 and they are readily available online if your local shop doesn't have them. A search on "Sturmey Archer Pinch Bolt" provides more options than one including the parts number.

The ferrule at the lever end has been mentioned by others.

Nice project!

Last edited by littlevikingca; 10-10-19 at 06:30 PM. Reason: Added Search info, spelling correction
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Old 10-11-19, 12:07 PM
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Thanks for all the advice.
i found some cylindrical screw-up cable stops in brass that are the perfect size from an engineering shop, and some ferrules (old Diacomp ones I think), so under control.
here is a photo of my ‘workshop’ at the moment! Stuff everywhere...
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