# Pass Through Headset Cap



## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

For those that don't know, you can get headset caps that have a hole in them that you can pass your front brake cable through. When you do this, the front brake no longer interferes with the frame and you can (ignoring rear brake) bar spin forever.

The basic one of these is the A-Headset Hollow Cap
Aheadset Hollow Top Cap/Starnut Assembly | Jenson USA

I've used those before and they work great at first. But the problem is that the brake cable comes straight out of the top and loops back down. So the cable tends to get real bad kinks in it. It doesn't take much of an unlucky impact where something, be it you or a ramp, hits the top of your fork steerer and thats bad news for the brake cable.

What I need is some better solution. On a BMX bike, this style of pass through is fine because the handlebars go up so much higher. It protects the cap. But on a mountain bike style bike, that hight and protective shield just isn't there.

I was thinking maybe someone makes some kind of hard noodle tubing you could somehow attach to your cable, giving it a minimum bend diameter that you physically couldn't exceed. But of course that would probably just pop off and then you'd kink the cable right below it?

On facebook someone suggested the "Gravity Whip Cap" which is an interesting solution. Instead of going through the bolt, it goes next to it, through a cap in the star nut's "stars", and then through an angled hole in the cap. With a cap like that, the cable would be essentially kink-proof, because the force that would kink the A-Headset model would just put crushing force with the Whip Cap. And there won't be enough crushing force to do any damage at all to a modern hydraulic brake cable.

But even that great solution doesn't work. The reason why: It's only available in 1.5"! This seems really weird to me. I know regular mountain bikes are all going with oversized tires and headsets these days, but I thought dirt jumpers were pretty much sticking with classic sizes? I know my brand new DJ fork is still 1 1/8 all the way through. I've searched high and low, all over the internet, and I cannot find this cap in 1 1/8th. I've even contacted local bike shops to see if it showed up in they're ordering system, but nope. It USED to exist, people have seen them on 1 1/8th bikes in the past, but no more.
Gravity Whip Cap and Star Nut | Jenson USA


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

i'm confused. you say the gravity whip cap is just a typical style cap/starnut drilled out with an angled hole, why are you not able to figure out how to drill your own top cap at an angle?


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

Because I don't work at a machine shop, and thats not something you're going to be able to do with a regular hand drill or even a drill press


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

it's quite simple. i've done it dozens of times over the past 15-20 years with a drill or cordless screwdriver...


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

Ive got plenty of spare caps laying around, you want to make me one if I mail it to you?


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

sure. check your pm's


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

You don't even need a cap, they are just to set the bearings, once the stem bolts are tight. Not needed.


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

leeboh said:


> You don't even need a cap, they are just to set the bearings, once the stem bolts are tight. Not needed.


Yeah but if your cable goes through, then you can't use the cap for that.

Also caps are good for making sure you get bruised in a crash instead of punctured.


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

Well it was a good shot, but it didn't work out.

@.WestCoastHucker. drilled a nice angled hole in a cap I sent him.
Then I removed one of the six 'flaps' from both the high and low level of a star nut. There was more than enough space for a brake cable in the gap. However there were three things I did not consider. One is just how far those flaps bend when you insert it. A lot more than I realized, making the gap I created much longer. Two, with 1/6 of the star nut not providing any outward force, the nut then goes in way off center, as the force around the center of the nut is no longer even. So even though the nut is properly perpendicular, the center of the nut is way off the center of the steerer, leaving basically no room at all for the brake line. There's not even close to enough space. And lastly, the hole WestCoastHucker drilled wasn't offset enough to take into account the thickness of the steerer wall, so even though it looked good off the bike, you wouldn't be able to feed a line through it anyway. 

So all in all, it was a fun attempt but I came up empty. I used them both anyway to put the new fork on. I think at some point I'll just pry out the star nut and switch to a classic A-Headset pass through nut and cap. And I'll just try to be careful not to pinch the cable.


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

fellsbiker said:


> ..wasn't offset enough to take into account the thickness of the steerer wall, so even though it looked good off the bike, you wouldn't be able to feed a line through it anyway...


i wondered about installing it before drilling, as i've always done it this way. unfortunately, i just clamped this one on the bench and went to town...

as far as the star-nut is concerned. i've always just installed it as usual, then used a fat phillips head screwdriver to punch a hole thru it between the spaces. stays in place and never given me an issue...


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