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My clutch cable end at the handle was down to 2 strands of wire when i got back home from my road trip this memorial day weekend. I only noticed because my glove snagged on a piece of wire that was sticking out of the lever at the pivot. I'm glad I made it...
I have been meaning to shorten my control lines to accomodate my shorter bars, and this presented the perfect opportunity to do so.
I used:
Wire cutters
pocket knife
2 pairs of pliers
1 pair of vice grips
1 metal file
Aluminum Foil
Solder
Pipe torch
flux
and a secret ingredient.
Step 1, figure out how much shorter your cable needs to be,
in my case it was about 6 inches. It is always better to err on the side of caution and round down. You can always shorten it further if it's still too long.
Step 2, remove the case around the clutch cable. I did this in two parts, by first stripping the plastic sheathing down so that the wound metal cable cover is exposed. I then used a metal file to file through a winding of the cover so as not to crush or risk cutting the internal cable.
Step 3, Remove the metal ferrule from the length of cover that you just cut off. You will need this later. It helps if you can heat it up with a torch to melt/burn the plastic sheathing off from beneath it. I got it hot enough that it turned to cinder and i just tapped it out with a scribe from the other end.
Step 4, Cut the cable itself down by the EXACT SAME AMOUNT AS YOU DID THE OUTER COVER. if you don't do this right, you'll have too little/too much free play in the cable at either end of the casing, and you'll be up S*** creek.
Step 5, Slide the aforementioned ferrule down onto the the freshly exposed wire and cover so that it is in place the same way it was on the previous piece of cover. It may help to expand the ferrule a bit before you do this with a drill bit and a small hammer, or as I did, with an old broken screwdriver. once it's on, crimp it down with some pliers taking care not to crush the whole thing down and render the cable useless.
Initially, I had planned on drilling through the factory cable end and soldering the cable back into it, but the drill didn't agree with me, nor did the cable end. There was something harder than my drill bits inside there and in the process of trying to defeat it I basically rendered the cable end useless.
This is where I boggled my own mind.
Step 6, The secret ingredient - grab an old wooden pencil that's had its eraser all rubbed down, and remove the metal bit at the end. If necessary push out the leftover eraser with a screw driver or drill bit or some such thing.
Step 7, poke a hole in the side of the metal bit roughly in the middle so that the clutch cable can then be slid down and onto it. Be sure to only punch the hole through 1 side, not both.
Step 8, Bathe the end of the cable, and the inside of the metal bit with flux and heat them up. Using the pliers, fan out the stands of wire a bit so that the solder has something good to adhere to, then tin the cable end and interior of the metal bit so that the solder will flow onto them when you fill it.
Step 9, Slide the cable back so that it's in its final location, being sure to keep it straight and level. I used the vice grips wound down so that they held the metal bit upright on top of a piece of aluminum foil, while holding the cable sheathing with the jaws on the other side. it worked brilliantly considering I did this on my back yard patio table.
Step 10, liberally flux everything again, and then drip solder into the recess until it's full. You may have to heat the whole unit up a few times to get it to flow throughout. It will also likely run out the bottom, but that's what the foil and file are for.
Step 11, Once it's cool, file it down so that the top side is nice and clean/flat, and pop it into place. Reassemble the cable and clutch push mechanism and test for correct fit. If you've done it right, you should be back on the road for 0 dollars, (assuming you already had the tools). problem solved.
Now I know it's not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, but it appears to be working as well as the original unit. It should wear a bit better than a solid solder slug would given that the pencil bit is made of aluminum.
If you don't feel like ordering a pack of 26,000 brass cable ends online just to use one of them but still want something that's soldered not crimped onto the cable end, I think I may have discovered the solution. Time will tell. If it fails I'll hassle the local bike shop for a purpose made brass end bit and pay the price.
I have been meaning to shorten my control lines to accomodate my shorter bars, and this presented the perfect opportunity to do so.
I used:
Wire cutters
pocket knife
2 pairs of pliers
1 pair of vice grips
1 metal file
Aluminum Foil
Solder
Pipe torch
flux
and a secret ingredient.
Step 1, figure out how much shorter your cable needs to be,
in my case it was about 6 inches. It is always better to err on the side of caution and round down. You can always shorten it further if it's still too long.
Step 2, remove the case around the clutch cable. I did this in two parts, by first stripping the plastic sheathing down so that the wound metal cable cover is exposed. I then used a metal file to file through a winding of the cover so as not to crush or risk cutting the internal cable.
Step 3, Remove the metal ferrule from the length of cover that you just cut off. You will need this later. It helps if you can heat it up with a torch to melt/burn the plastic sheathing off from beneath it. I got it hot enough that it turned to cinder and i just tapped it out with a scribe from the other end.
Step 4, Cut the cable itself down by the EXACT SAME AMOUNT AS YOU DID THE OUTER COVER. if you don't do this right, you'll have too little/too much free play in the cable at either end of the casing, and you'll be up S*** creek.
Step 5, Slide the aforementioned ferrule down onto the the freshly exposed wire and cover so that it is in place the same way it was on the previous piece of cover. It may help to expand the ferrule a bit before you do this with a drill bit and a small hammer, or as I did, with an old broken screwdriver. once it's on, crimp it down with some pliers taking care not to crush the whole thing down and render the cable useless.
Initially, I had planned on drilling through the factory cable end and soldering the cable back into it, but the drill didn't agree with me, nor did the cable end. There was something harder than my drill bits inside there and in the process of trying to defeat it I basically rendered the cable end useless.
This is where I boggled my own mind.
Step 6, The secret ingredient - grab an old wooden pencil that's had its eraser all rubbed down, and remove the metal bit at the end. If necessary push out the leftover eraser with a screw driver or drill bit or some such thing.
Step 7, poke a hole in the side of the metal bit roughly in the middle so that the clutch cable can then be slid down and onto it. Be sure to only punch the hole through 1 side, not both.
Step 8, Bathe the end of the cable, and the inside of the metal bit with flux and heat them up. Using the pliers, fan out the stands of wire a bit so that the solder has something good to adhere to, then tin the cable end and interior of the metal bit so that the solder will flow onto them when you fill it.
Step 9, Slide the cable back so that it's in its final location, being sure to keep it straight and level. I used the vice grips wound down so that they held the metal bit upright on top of a piece of aluminum foil, while holding the cable sheathing with the jaws on the other side. it worked brilliantly considering I did this on my back yard patio table.
Step 10, liberally flux everything again, and then drip solder into the recess until it's full. You may have to heat the whole unit up a few times to get it to flow throughout. It will also likely run out the bottom, but that's what the foil and file are for.
Step 11, Once it's cool, file it down so that the top side is nice and clean/flat, and pop it into place. Reassemble the cable and clutch push mechanism and test for correct fit. If you've done it right, you should be back on the road for 0 dollars, (assuming you already had the tools). problem solved.
Now I know it's not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, but it appears to be working as well as the original unit. It should wear a bit better than a solid solder slug would given that the pencil bit is made of aluminum.
If you don't feel like ordering a pack of 26,000 brass cable ends online just to use one of them but still want something that's soldered not crimped onto the cable end, I think I may have discovered the solution. Time will tell. If it fails I'll hassle the local bike shop for a purpose made brass end bit and pay the price.
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