It’s hard to imagine a modern bike without gearshifts or brakes. Not every owner of a two-wheeled friend thought about how it all works, but almost everyone faced problems associated with shifting gears or poor braking. In most cases, the bicycle cable is to blame for this, which is the main link between the handles on the steering wheel and the mechanisms themselves.
Standards
Ropes on bikes serve to transfer effort from the hand of a person to the executable mechanism and are used on all modern bicycles in which at least one hand brake is present.
The length of the bicycle cable can vary between 1700-2200 mm to ensure compatibility with frames and systems of all sizes. On the market you can find cables with various types of terminals at once from two sides. In fact, these are two different cables, fused into one, which for use is enough to have a bite in the middle.
The diameter of ordinary cables is 1.6-1.7 mm for the brake and 1.2 mm for the MTB-class bicycle gear shift cable, and 1.6 mm on highway bikes. This diversity is associated with the ability of the cable to withstand certain loads. For example, the energy spent stopping the bike is much higher than the energy needed to shift gears.
Ropes from different manufacturers are usually suitable for any system, except in special cases (usually cheap products), when the head is not cast to standards and simply does not fit into the body of the brake handle or shifter of the same GOST. Low-quality bicycle cables are very easy to determine even when buying, knowing a few of these rules:
- The end is very different from the more expensive models and has burrs.
- The surface roughness is felt.
- The cable is too faded and uneven in color.
- The price is much lower than mid-range products.
If you install cables with such shortcomings, then neither he nor the shirt will live long, which will subsequently require their replacement and reconfiguration.
For highway systems, cables with a special head design are available. This allows you to more evenly distribute the force during traction. Highway cables are not divided into brake and switching - they are all of the same diameter.
Production
Ropes are made from woven steel fibers. This can be either ordinary galvanized steel or alloy steel, which is only polished. The degree of processing may also vary, depending on the manufacturer. Stainless steel cables do a much better job and are usually stronger, but more expensive.
Bicycle cables for professional systems, in addition to grinding, are also coated with Teflon to improve gliding.
Replacement Recommendations
Due to the numerous designs of shifters and switches, a single technology for replacing cables does not exist.
On most old shifters, on some planetary hub switches, in advanced monoblock models and even professional shifters, the cable head is not protected in any way. It will turn out to remove the vein, just shoving it in the opposite direction. The same goes for brake levers. To remove the bicycle brake cable, simply unscrew the lock on the brake, hold the handle and pry the cable with your finger.
Cables are a standard consumable item that needs to be changed from time to time and monitored. The fluffed cables at the ends should be cut off immediately near the steering wheel and replaced with the shirt, because while pulling it through the braid, the latter will be damaged in any case and will need to be replaced. To prevent unwinding of the end of the cable, special aluminum caps are used.
Also, to improve gliding on budgetary systems, bicycle cables and shirts can be lubricated with two-component Teflon chain chain oils.
Cable-less systems
In addition to conventional designs, there are systems in which there is no cable. These are usually hydraulic brake systems. In them, the cable is replaced by brake fluid, and the usual shirt is replaced by a hydraulic line. The force created when you press the brake lever, many times greater than the same action inside the mechanical system.
A few years ago, electronically controlled transmissions began to appear in everyday life, which do not use a bicycle cable to change gears, and control the switches using miniature engines.