Brakes question

[RoubaixCube]

A few weeks ago. I bought a new set of brakes to replace the tektro's on my Triban 540. I fancied trying to do it myself as it seemed a simple enough job and I have been slowly gravitating towards doing my own maintenance rather then always relying on an LBS to do it for me.

The wire cutters i had totally werent upto the job of cutting through the frayed brake cables. At the end and I ended up making a complete mess of things. A quick check online and Halfords had a pair for £13... Popped around and found out that they only had the £20 one in stock and my order wasnt completely in yet so i had to wait a better part of a week for every thing to arrive.

Picked up the cables today and started fixing up the Triban..... One thing that makes me curious though is housing ferrules, Are they really that important?? Because If i put them on and thread them through the brakes -- Basically set the brakes up I find that I cant adjust them properly when twisting the tumbler at the top to increase the tension as they always seem to 'roll back'

Should i cut the cable housing back slightly or can i run the bike without the housing ferrules?


Probably a silly question but Im trying to learn here.


Thanks

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Ferrules are important. They keep the cable in-line with the hole and everything neat and tidy.
Better ferrules also have a double end where the inner comes out. This arrangement prevents dirt from ratcheting into the cable housing.

 

[RoubaixCube]

Ferrule wont even feed/fit into the front brake. It works on the rear brake though Like i said, its such a tight fit that i wont be able to use the tumbler to adjust the cable tension on the fly as the moment i let go after a few twists, It will twist itself back