# Bolt on cable stops?



## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

The Surly Straggler has the same problem the cross check has, when it comes to mounting the cables for an alfine. Which is basically that the frame mounted cable stop is far too close to the gear selector for housing to be run there.

The quick fix for many has been to run full length housing and zip ties.

Which I feel looks just awful and begs for soggy shifting.

What I am hoping to work out right now, is whether or not a New Old Stock clamp on chainstay cable stop like this will work with the Stragglers chainstays...








... or at the very least I can bolt one of these to the downtube bottom bracket junction. and only have to run housing and zip ties to there.









thoughts? experiences?

Part of me wonders if I could just run housing up to the plastic guide under the bottom bracket, but I'm pretty sure that would slip around.


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## subversion (Jun 14, 2008)

Yes we used a down tube variant close to bb and it worked fine...


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

Agwan said:


> thoughts? experiences?...


It'll work but I recommend you get the hub working with the factory housing and ride it for a few months until you get used to the hub and know what a proper working hub is. Then when you make a change such as what you're proposing, you'll know what it is supposed to be like.

It can be difficult the remove the rear wheel if the last bit of housing is short, short lengths have no flexibility making it hard to futz with things esp if you get a flat in the dark or cold.

On one of my Alfine'ed bikes I'm running open cable from the down tube cable stop all the way to the rear hub (under the BB). Each time the wheel comes off, I have to make sure it's in adjustment. I run kevlar tires so flats are rare. It looks cool!


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

Advice definitely noted.

For the time being, I am going to piggyback off my stragglers brake cable mounts (under the top tube) I then gently direct it in front of the seat tube, then down the seat stay. It seems like it will lend a more aesthetically pleasing routing than big zip ties all down the downtube. As per yours, Shimanos and the advice of other experts. I will be leaving the housing full length for a while.

thanks! I wil post pics when it's done!


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

Agwan said:


> ...It seems like it will lend a more aesthetically pleasing routing than big zip ties all down the downtube...


Only issue with that is that some bikes don't have a combination of anti-rotate washers that allow you to have the cassette joint between the stays AND allow the cassette joint to move freely (there's only ~6 sets of washers). The cassette joint is not fixed, it has to be allow rotate about the axle axis ~10*.

What I have found is that sometime the only washers that come close to working allow the cassette joint's cable stop arm to wedge against one of the stays. When the cassette joint is trapped, bad things happen. Even if it's close it can contact the stays. Here's how: when running over-drive and under-drive gears the axle rotates slightly in the dropouts, which also rotates the cassette joint. When the cassette joint wedges against a stay the shifter hangs, clunking and hub destruction is the result.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

As it sits right now the joint seems to have room to play, It's missing the stays by a healthy margin (It's actually nearly vertical)

My current concern is how very, very close the cable comes to the chain in this configuration. It looks like it has all of 1/16th of an inch clearance. I may try to bend the cassette joint gently as others have done. for now I'm just riding it very gently and trying to let everything settle in.


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## Andy R (Nov 26, 2008)

pursuiter said:


> Only issue with that is that some bikes don't have a combination of anti-rotate washers that allow you to have the cassette joint between the stays AND allow the cassette joint to move freely (there's only ~6 sets of washers). The cassette joint is not fixed, it has to be allow rotate about the axle axis ~10*.


The only reason that the cassette joint can rotate is if there is clearance between the anti-rotation washers and the dropout, all the play hasn't been taken up in the drive direction and the wheel spindle isn't sufficiently tight.
The spindle shouldn't be rotating at all when the hub is in use.
In fact I made anti-rotation washers that exactly fitted the shape of my Singular Hummingbird's dropouts so that I didn't have to bother about exact position of the cable stop on the cassette joint relative to the chainstay or the spindle not being located in the dropout properly - here's a photo anyway.


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

Andy R said:


> The only reason that the cassette joint can rotate....


About the axis isn't what you think it is, please look it up. There is play about the axis by design and it must be accommodated. Go grab your cassette joint, give it a wiggle and report back.


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## Andy R (Nov 26, 2008)

pursuiter said:


> Go grab your cassette joint, give it a wiggle and report back.


I just have done, on two different bikes - it doesn't wiggle.


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

Along with the free movement of the cassette joint about the axis, the axle will rotate slightly as the rider cranks on the pedals and using the hub in overdrive and underdrive. The anti-rotate washers have some play between the axle and the inner surface of the washers. The issues is exacerbated on an MTB when low primary gear ratios are used. On my super low geared Alfine bikes it's important to tighten the axle regularly, the axle rotation will loosen the axle bolts.


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## Andy R (Nov 26, 2008)

I think that you use (on one bike at least) the same primary gearing as I do, namely 32:23, (I might be wrong though) and I've not had a problem with axle nuts backing off - I do check them from time to time though.
That said, I'm no doubt older and more feeble than you (older, for sure) and may not be putting as much torque as you through the hub nor am I slooging through snow, just mud and crap......


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