U Brakes on old MTB

[Xiorell]

Hi guys

I'm thinking of picking up a 1992 GT Timberline as a winter commute
I'm familiar with most brakes but the rear setup on this is new ground for me and this bike in question is gonna need some adjusting so I might has well put new cables on if I do pick it up

I believe these bikes had shimano exage 500lx u brakes at the back (or something similar anyway) and from what I can see the cable splits in front of the seat tube, wraps around the tube through a guide, crosses over itself behind the seat tube then connects to the actual caliper

Is this basically just a long jag/link wire? Could I just use a length of regular brake cable to make this link? Or will I need some special cable?

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

According to the original Ad below the Exage 500 LX can be U's (the one on the left in pic) or canti's. The bosses for U's are above the rim while the for canti's they are below. Various cable arrangements exist for such and some vintage setups do look a bit convoluted. Perhaps yours is one of those. The question is do you want to keep it exactly as it is or are you open minded to change/upgrades. U's are pretty much obsolete for the reasons given here, and it is impossible to replace them with modern V's or canti's so you might want to think twice before you buy.

If the hanger is behind the seat tube there is no reason for the cable to split in front of it. If not it might be possible to introduce a hanger to e.g. the seatpost clamp to make it so, but it is impossible to be sure without knowing more about the current arrangement.

If they are canti's one thing to think about is the brake levers. If you are interested in changing them then it might well be worthwhile to switch the whole brake system to use V brakes, since nearly all current flat bar levers are for V brakes (and are not compatible with canti's), and V brakes are the most effective rim brakes, and they are usually inexpensive. With V's you don't need things like cable hangers or straddle wires.

 

[Xiorell]

I don't have much of an issue with the stuff being dated... Its actually kind of appealing to me - as long as I can get things to work as intended without having to trawl eBay for hours looking for an otherwise insignificant part lol

My first thought was to pull them off and transplant with some old deore xt cantilevers until I realised, as you say, can't really be done.
Mounts are indeed above the rim so its a case of get the UBrake working spot on or nothing

 

[junglegusset]

Eeee, takes me back this thread does!

 

[Xiorell]

I know man, blast from the past?
Like I say I'm quite keen to fix up an old thing with decent stuff from the period

I don't even mind Getting an otherwise poor bike just for the frame and respraying it then build that up with old-good parts

 

[Xiorell]

Brought it!