brake cable

[biking_fox]

How few strands is it safe to have left on a brake cable before replacing it?

(more than I currently have - it's going to the shop tomorrow).

 

[Ming the Merciless]

How few strands is it safe to have left on your parachute 🪂? Don’t let your brakes get in such a bad state again. The risk really isn’t worth taking.

 

[biking_fox]

You mean you replace the moment the first one breaks??

 

[All uphill]

Before the first strand breaks!

Bikes can be so cheap to ride compared to cars, trains and buses but they still need some regular preventative maintenance.

I change cables every couple of years.

 

[fossyant]

Bike shop - DIY !!!!

 

[Alex321]

How few strands is it safe to have left on a brake cable before replacing it?

(more than I currently have - it's going to the shop tomorrow).

All of them (should still be left). As soon as one breaks, the cable is wearing too much to be safe - but youy should also be checking for whether there is anything causing wear that made it break, rather cthan justr being old age.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

You mean you replace the moment the first one breaks??

NO!!!!! What a waste!!

The *best* way to do it is monitor carefully, plot the rate of reduction of cable strands vs time and replace exactly 24 hours before you predict a fatal crash whilst descending Great Dun Fell at 110kph, thereby saving 0.002 pence per day on average instead of just replacing the thing immediately.

Happy to help.

 

[biking_fox]

It's not wear. It's very specifically at the cable clamp on the brake arm. I've never had a cable break anywhere else. As the brake pads wear I adjust the cable length to maintain a sharp brake action. This undoing and redoing of the clamp on the cable breaks strands over repeats. It's certainly safe to carry on riding when 1 strand fails.... this is the first time I've noticed multiple failures.


This is on a commuting bike ridden every day. Having out of action every couple of months because a strand has broken costs quite a bit more.

And no I'm not expecting a definitive answer, I'm just surprised people are replacing it immediately.

 

[Oldhippy]

Why not adjust the pads with the adjuster instead of pulling through more cable.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

It's not wear. It's very specifically at the cable clamp on the brake arm. I've never had a cable break anywhere else. As the brake pads wear I adjust the cable length to maintain a sharp brake action. This undoing and redoing of the clamp on the cable breaks strands over repeats. It's certainly safe to carry on riding when 1 strand fails.... this is the first time I've noticed multiple failures.


This is on a commuting bike ridden every day. Having out of action every couple of months because a strand has broken costs quite a bit more.

And no I'm not expecting a definitive answer, I'm just surprised people are replacing it immediately.

Why would it be out of action? Replacing the cable takes only a few seconds longer than the reclamping you're doing.

Also, I'm not sure why you're having to reclamp; all the brakes I've ever had have sufficient tension adjustment to allow for pad wear. You should just be able to turn the screw a bit.

And cables fraying every couple of months? How often are you reclamping them? IME brake cables last pretty much forever. Gear cables fail much more often.

But yes, there's absolutely no way I'd ever knowingly ride a bike with even one broken strand. Keep a spare cable, replace immediately.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Two

It's a safety critical system so you need the redundancy

 

[Ajax Bay]

How few strands is it safe to have left on a brake cable before replacing it?

OP says: "It's certainly safe to carry on riding when 1 strand fails."
Guess it depends what the OP means by "safe".
Others say: replace it straight away, as do I.
It's a critical safety item with the result of the hazard (parting under load) in extremis being death.
And change behaviour: do not "undo and reclamp the cable" periodically: try to do so only when required. Otherwise the OP is creating early fatigue.

 

[Paulus]

I replace the cables once fraying has started, one strand or many. There is a reason why it is fraying. The cost of cables versus medical treatment is a no brainer.

 

[I like Skol]

Safety critical so replace as soon as fatigue is evident. I would obviously complete a ride, maybe even ride once or twice more while waiting for a replacement to arrive (subject to my assessment of the severity and a full-on stress test) but would replace the moment a new cable was available.

Life can be risky enough without rolling the dice for additional excitement!

 

[Dogtrousers]

The only cable I've ever had fail on me was a derailleur cable. It was a long time ago but quite probably the seeds of its destruction were sown by me repeatedly and ham-fistedly undoing and then redoing the pinch bolt in an attempt to get it adjusted right. Even if done carefully I doubt that a cable particularly likes being pinched once, let alone repeatedly.