# 566 Rear Brake cable routing



## scuollo (Aug 2, 2010)

The rear brake routes under the top tube between two cable "stays" (don't know the name for them) - this requires cutting and removing the cable housing. I'd rather keep the full housing. 
Is it wise to modify (drill or punch and trim) the cable stays so that the cable and housing fit through them? 
Or, fit a cable housing inbetween the stays? 
Or just leave it be? 
Other ideas welcome. Thanks


----------



## jasjas (Dec 16, 2009)

Personally id Leave it as it is, it makes no difference and you d invalidate any warranty.


----------



## Cooper1960 (Oct 14, 2010)

I would leave it and trim the housing if needed, thats what I did with mine. If you drill out the stop so the outer housing just floats I don't think you will be able to properly tension the cable. Maybe if the housing stays taunt it would work OK but I think you're taking a risk.


----------



## s30.hybrid (Oct 4, 2010)

I'm going to agree with the first 2 replies and say leave it alone. It works fine as is and I dont see any good reason for modifying the frame at all. 

Just curious but why are you trying to do this anyways? I can understand for an MTB, to keep the inner cables from getting mud and gunk on them, but for a road bike this is usually much less of a problem. If you are concerned about keeping the exposed section of inner cable clean you could buy a section of cable protector ( I'm not sure if this is the right name for it ). It's just like the inner liner of a cable housing and it fits loosely around the exposed cable. I've used something like this on an old mtb before and it keeps the cables clean. FWIW when buying my current mtb I looked for a frame designed to run full length housings for this reason.


----------



## scuollo (Aug 2, 2010)

*why*

I wanted to keep the housing intact to reduce cable corrosion. My current ride is set up with full housings and I have not had to replace a cable in 20 years.

I decided to leave it be. Maybe look into the cable protector idea. Thanks all for your comments.


----------



## sp3000 (Jul 10, 2007)

Run it nude and leave the cable stops as is, there are a bunch of reasons;

1. Don't modify a nice frame as you will slash any re-sale value.
2. The less housing you have, the less friction your cable has, giving you a nicer lighter feel.
3. I have full length housing on my MTB for the shifters, this is, as another poster said to stop muck getting caught and causing shifting problems. Brakes are MUCH MUCH less susceptible to this as there is no fine indexing.
4. Save weight, housing is heavy.
5. Buy XTR cables if you are worried about corrosion, as they are Teflon coated and I have never seen them corrode. 
6. For $5 a cable and the 5 min it takes to pull a fresh cable and housing through, set the time aside more often than once every 20 years!  PS it's fun putting on new housing!


----------

