# Madone 5.2 - "anyone's Cable Come Off Bb Cable Guide?"



## MANTEIGA (Sep 26, 2008)

TODAY ON INSPECTION, MY MADONE'S CABLE WAS OFF IT'S GUIDE AND STARTED TO CUT THROUGH THE CARBON FIBER RIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE HOLE IT GOES IN!??! WTF!?
ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCE THIS?

THE HOLE AND GUIDE ARE UNDER THE BOTTOM BRACKET.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

My SSL 5.9 had this happen to it. Maybe after it was serviced.

The cable is not cutting into the carbon but merely the paint coating. At least that was what happened in my case.


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## zac (Aug 5, 2005)

You just have to keep an eye on those things.

That being said, does not your cable guide have a bridge to keep the cable from jumping ship? 
Also your tension could be a little on the light side. You may be able to pull some slack if you are comfortable doing front dérailleur (or derailer per SB) adjustments. Or just have you LBS do it for you.
Do you happen to have a triple? I could see this happening in a triple, as opposed to a double, more easily.

good luck
zac


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

How come they didn't use something like a rubber grommet here? Something that would simple limit the amount of damage it could do to the CF.

Thanks for the heads up though, will have to remember to keep an eye on mine.


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## the sky above tar below (Mar 31, 2004)

I'm concerned about the cable cutting into my new Madone 5.2 carbon frame on TOP of the bottom bracket. There is a rubber stopper that is supposed to protect against this, but it is floating loosely well above the frame area.


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## dave_gt (Jul 25, 2008)

MANTEIGA said:


> TODAY ON INSPECTION, MY MADONE'S CABLE WAS OFF IT'S GUIDE AND STARTED TO CUT THROUGH THE CARBON FIBER RIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE HOLE IT GOES IN!??! WTF!?
> ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCE THIS?
> 
> THE HOLE AND GUIDE ARE UNDER THE BOTTOM BRACKET.



Pictures?

The LBS is your next stop, but we would appreciate a visual on your problem.

dave


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## 08Madone5.2 (Dec 25, 2007)

the sky above said:


> I'm concerned about the cable cutting into my new Madone 5.2 carbon frame on TOP of the bottom bracket. There is a rubber stopper that is supposed to protect against this, but it is floating loosely well above the frame area.


I had this problem from day One last December. I emailed Trek and was assured it was not a problem. I will try to locate email and post here. I have over 2000 miles without the plug that is supposed to seat in the hole behind the seat tube, on top of the bracket and nothing has happened whatsoever by the cable rubbing the frame. I figured if it cut into it, because of my correspondence with Trek, if it became an issue it would be replaced.


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## 08Madone5.2 (Dec 25, 2007)

MY QUESTION:
A new comment from “Andrew” was received on the post “cyclingnews.com reviews the 2008 Trek Madone 5.2” of the weblog “Up The Road”.
Comment: Not only did my plug unseat itself, but now its gone!!! Trek needs to address the design of this plug to prevent this type of thing. It seems to me that its important that its there to prevent the cable from cutting into the frame. Scott - please address this issue on here. Thanks.

THE RESPONSE FROM TREK:
Greetings Andrew, I apologize for the delayed response. Your trek dealer can order and install a new 'plug' for you at no charge. Please have them call their inside rep at trek if they have any questions.
*If you desire to, you can ride your bike without the plug , any minor contact/ cutting of the cable to the frame will not affect the structural* integrity of the frame.
Thanks,
Steve Swenson  Trek Bicycle Corporation  [email protected]


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## zac (Aug 5, 2005)

Couple of comments:

1) Yes, you can run without the plug. It is mainly there as a water seal, and not a cable guide. That being said, your BB shell has a drain hole anyway.
2) If your stopper/plug comes loose, just carefully push it back into the hole around the cable. Use a popcycle stick or some small soft tool to help. It will seat very easily. Else just order a new one, or ghetto style, make your own from a pencil eraser (the round one from a new pencil), you have to drill it and cut a bit to fit, but it works, nicely).
3) You can use electrical tape around the cable, a couple of winds to build up the area, but not enough to cause resistance in, or catch on, the shell.

Keep resistance on the cable as light as possible, as any added resistance to release will effect shifting. Again, this rubber stopper is mainly a water seal and not a cable guide. Where it a guide, the cable would cut through it in short order and start eating into the frame too, as it is incredibly fragile.

HTH
zac


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## MANTEIGA (Sep 26, 2008)

*I have a double./?*

It's only happened to me once. I'm a little paranoid cause i wondered how abrasive that cable wire could be with hard shifting. it seemed to slice right through the top layer of paint. But probably would have a hard time with the carbon!? just a weird place...can't keep my eye on it.

Anyway, thanks for your reply.
This bike has given me a complex.

but its worth it


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## MANTEIGA (Sep 26, 2008)

*I tried to take pics but......*

because i fixed the problem i cant get a clear shot of the injury. I'm sure it was just the paint. I replaced my seat mast a few months back and experimented a bit with my broken mast to test how strong this carbon stuff really is!!. Tests included multiple impact tests mixed with various high velocity crashes against a brick wall..... and F$#K is this OCLV strong!!!! NOt to mention the paint itself is like a full 1mm thick!! 

(ps. Madone owners- stay away from micro adjusting torque wrenches. Those are the click ones. I had one and because the wrench itself failed to click, i blew apart my original mast's saddle bolt clamp. and!!!! Because of the shape of the madone's aluminum saddle bushings, they caused a reverse pinch fracture in the mast and they never fit the same........ I figured i owed an explanation as I knew someone would ask why i replaced my mast. You think if i ran it over with my car it would survive??? that would make for a good youtube video. LOL.)

pps - If you're going to use anything.... Buy a park tool TW-1 and a TW-2 bar style 
wrench. These never ever fail. Awsome tools.


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## epicxt (Apr 26, 2005)

*What brand?*

Curious to which brand of torque wrench failed you. I've used Snap-On micro-adjust torque wrenches for years with no ill-effect.


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## Getoutandride (Sep 1, 2008)

the paint will be cut through very easily, the carbon however will pose more of a struggle although continued exposure of a cable rubbing against it could quite easily cut through the carbon. 

if anyone has ever cut through a carbon steerer tube they will know exactly how tough CF can actually be


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## zac (Aug 5, 2005)

I have a couple of click torque wrenches and they both are in faithful service after many years. Just a thing with click torque wrenches is you really do have to take care of them, release the tension after use, and have them periodically checked. Also higher quality wrenches tend to be expensive, so the beam wrenches are good for reasonable money.

As a side note, my 08 Madone was assembled with the wrong BB cable guide, and the cable was touching the lower shell hole. Here is a thread on the issue: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=125800, That picture was back in late March and that setup had ~2k miles on it by then, with lots of early season front derailleur (SB: "it's derailer") action. So the cable cutting through doesn't seem to be a big problem. As was said, that OCLV stuff is pretty damn tough.

But my focus would still be on why your cable is jumping off the guide.

zac


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## MANTEIGA (Sep 26, 2008)

*I Didn't Mean To Scare You.....*



epicxt said:


> Curious to which brand of torque wrench failed you. I've used Snap-On micro-adjust torque wrenches for years with no ill-effect.




BUT if the wrench failed you would have no way of knowing until your carbon piece exploded like mine did. The wrenches are good.... but one time failure is one time 
too many. Especially if you own a madone and you over crank the 6-8 nm integrated seat post..... bye-bye bike frame!!! Use your clicker for what it was meant for ..... under the hood of a car where it's dark and you need a "click" cause you cant' see the dial....
who cares if you break a nut on your engine block..
Get a non fail bar type for your cf frame...
you'll thank me later.
:aureola:


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