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Profpointy
Legendary Member
I'd have thought the only difference was length. No doubt someone will tell me different.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
No.
S-Express
Guest
The cable end fitting is different, so no.
Under what circumstances would you want to?
If an emergency get you home reason, then "mother of necessity" etc, you might be able bodge something. However, if it is the rear cable that's gone, you can get by with just the front. If it is the front cable, then re routing the rear cable to the front caliper would work if the outer section was long enough.
I've only once had a front cable fail. I was approaching a T junction at a fair speed and the cable just snapped. The rear was ineffective, but I managed to hug the kerb and turn left instead of right. Eventually after an age, the rear brake brought me to a halt. I was on my morning commute and continued into work AND rode home in the evening just using my rear brake. A bit scary, but if you know in advance, you can stop when you need to.
If an emergency get you home reason, then "mother of necessity" etc, you might be able bodge something. However, if it is the rear cable that's gone, you can get by with just the front. If it is the front cable, then re routing the rear cable to the front caliper would work if the outer section was long enough.
I've only once had a front cable fail. I was approaching a T junction at a fair speed and the cable just snapped. The rear was ineffective, but I managed to hug the kerb and turn left instead of right. Eventually after an age, the rear brake brought me to a halt. I was on my morning commute and continued into work AND rode home in the evening just using my rear brake. A bit scary, but if you know in advance, you can stop when you need to.
Racing roadkill
Guru
I once got a bike back where someone had used a gear cable for a brake cable. The result was pretty much having no brakes. The gear cable is thinner gauge. It stretches when you don't want it to.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Its the cycling equivalent of turning a condom inside out to re use it.
S-Express
Guest
Hmm - very unlikely. 1.2mm cable will still have a breaking strain of around 120kg, so stretching it in a brake application is probably not what happened.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
As a get me home short term measure if I could bodge it yes I would, longer term, no. It'd probably be OK to use for a while but in the back of my mind would be its thinner/ not as strong and may damage the brake lever so I wouldn't :-/
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Good bodge for touring but you need to change it at the next chance you get.
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
And when exactly, might you want a cable to stretch? Does the same cable stretch when used for changing gears - no (otherwise the indexing would be wonky). Does a brake cable stretch a bit when applied? Yes, but so little as to have no functional effect (think about how the brake levers operate the cable and the cable operates the calipers). And so, being thinner gauge, the gear cable would stretch too, and maybe a tad more, but, again, so little as to have no functional effect. So I agree:
A gear cable used as a brake cable would be (much?) less effective because the rider is running a thinner (but still very unstretchy) cable in brake cable outer and this will result in reduced effectiveness and swift deterioration of the outers as the thinner cable damages them. This is likely what @Racing roadkill discovered (and put it down to 'stretch').
Imo; emergency measure (ie on the road till the next bike shop or, if closer, home) only.
Racing roadkill
Guru
I don't know where to start with that little lot
Racing roadkill
Guru
Not a "good" bodge ever. But it's better than nothing.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
I think you've made your point. You don't know. We get it.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
Had @Wester asked whether or not a gear cable inner and outer can be used as a brake cable, with the proviso that the end nipple problem having been sorted out., the answer would be a very definite no.
Reason being that gear cable housing (outer) is totally unsuitable for high-compression use. It's long slack helical winding of steel wire will burst open. Brake cable housing on the other hand is made up of a spiral steel ribbon that doesn't compress and offers no escape route for a wire rope under tension inside.
Reason being that gear cable housing (outer) is totally unsuitable for high-compression use. It's long slack helical winding of steel wire will burst open. Brake cable housing on the other hand is made up of a spiral steel ribbon that doesn't compress and offers no escape route for a wire rope under tension inside.