Rear brake cable splitter on Nomad S&S

[ChrisB]

Hi,

I've got a Nomad S&S with a splitter on the rear brake cable.

I recently adjusted the brakes to take up the slack now the brake pads have worn some.  I took up the slack by moving the first part of the splitter further up the brake cable toward to caliper.  The length of cable that protruded from the end of the splitter had to be be cut off as the splitter could not be screwed together with this now redundant length of cable left in place.

My question is basically is there another way I can adjust the brakes without having to remove a piece of the cable as it seems to me that when finally the brake pads are worn and need replacing I will also need to fit a new cable inner?

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks, Chris

[brummie]

Is there not enough adjustment available from the cable barrel adjusters on the brake levers ?? ( Assuming you're running straight bar B/levers of course)

[jawj]

Or you could just undo the cable anchor bolt on the brake arm (assuming V-brake), pull through a little bit of cable and do the bolt back up - takes about 10 seconds.

Or have I missed something obvious...?

[ChrisB]

brummie, I'd already used up most of the adjustment in the barrel adjusters on the brake levers so I guess the answer is no.

jawj, the other half of the cable splitter prevents the cable being pulled through at the anchor bolt.

[julk]

Chris,
Do you have the short V-brake cable connector fitted at the brake?
If you have the longer frame brake cable connector, then changing to the shorter may give you the required adjustability of the rear brake as the blocks wear.
Julian.

[jawj]

Aaaaah, the cable-splitter fits between the brake arms, ay? Ingenious, and if I'd thought about I'd've realised that's the only piece of exposed inner cable so the only place it can go.

Well, this suggestion might be a bit controversial: do you split the frame that often? Do you really need a cable splitter? Could you not just unscrew the aforementioned cable clamp bolt if you do need to split the frame...? I know, I know, it's a cool gizmo and I would hate to see it go too!

[ChrisB]

Julian, I have the short version fitted but this does not allow sufficient adjustment and if I have to keep removing bits of the inner cable as the blocks wear I think I'll probably need to replace the inner cable each time I fit new rear blocks.

jawj, I like your controversial suggestion!  So far I've split the frame nil times.  I think you've hit the nail on the head with the clamp bolt suggestion. After all it only takes a wee while to put it all back together again and obtain the required adjustment.  At least the way you have suggested will not require a new inner cable every time I replace the rear blocks.

Thanks to all for your input and if anybody has any other option(s) I'd be interested to hear about them.

[julk]

Chris,
The brake block holders I have came with some different thickness washers.
It should be possible to fit them with a smaller or larger gap between the brake arms depending where the washers are fitted.

When fitting new, have you tried putting the thick washers near the brake blocks to move the arms further apart and give you more cable to play with between the brake arms. This should give you enough slack for cable adjustment at the brake levers to take up brake block wear.

An alternative is an inline brake cable adjuster fitted upcable from the rear noodle, again should give more adjustment as the blocks wear.

[ChrisB]

Thanks Julian, I'll take a look at the washers and see if that would solve my problem.  Must say I think the continuous cable run might just be the easiest solution.  Thanks for the additional ideas.

[mikearis]

I'm glad that I have found this page because I have exactly the same problem.

The half of the cable splitter by the brake arm is tight against the brake arm so you can't pull though any cable because there is no room for adjustment.  The cable going into the other half seems just to be jammed in - I can't seem to move it in or out - although there are two little empty holes on the side that half of the splitter. It came like this new from Thorn. I have had the bike about 18 months but not used it much until now, so I have not paid much attention to this.  I have used up all the adjustment available in the barrel adjuster, and you can't alter the length of the cable at the brake lever because of the fixed little knob (don't know the technical term!) on the end of the wire. My rear brake is adjusted OK for now but I have absolutely no room left for further adjustment.

I am sure that I am missing something totally obvious. The only solution I can see is to get rid of the splitter and use a continuous length of cable, but that seems crazy - surely it is not designed to be like this.

Can somebody please help?

[julk]

I have my rear brake set up with a small splitter in between the brake arms and enough cable to allow for some adjustment as the brake blocks wear. I also have the brake blocks set with the thick washer nearest to the brake block holder which pushes the brake arms out a bit wider to make the cable available for adjustment a bit longer.
I had to fit a new small V-brake cable splitter and 2 new rear brake cable inners in order to set it up like this.

How does yours differ from this set up?

[sbseven]

I agree with jawl that the cable splitter isn't worth it unless you're repeatedly breaking the frame via the couplings. When I need to replace the rear brake cable on my Nomad, I'll just use a continous run and undo the clamp bolt on the odd occasion I want to split the frame.

Also, you need a brake cable with another nipple on the other end to avoid having to buy 2 cables.

If the rubber gaiter is forced to concertina more tightly (or cut shorter) or a shorter gaiter is used, the cable splitter could be positioned further over to give more adjustment.

BTW, Thorn have fitted my (short style) cable splitter quite close to the right hand caliper (about a 4mm gap). I must admit, though, that I don't know how much adjustment I'll need over the course of the life of the brake blocks and therefore can't tell whether this is a problem or not.

Shaun

[mikearis]

Thanks to julk and sbseven for their helpful replies.  I've gone back and examined the rear brake set-up carefully and have decided that by far and away the most sensible thing to do is to get rid of the cable splitter and run a continuous cable.  I've never ever had to uncouple the bike, even when taking it to Mexico, so the splitter is actually not needed,(neither are the couplings, for that matter) and the cable could easily be released without it. I must add a not of apology to Thorn, however. I said that the brakes came set up like this from Thorn when I bought the bike. I remember now that when the bike was delivered the brake cables were too short to allow a bar bag to be fitted and as I was not then so confident with fixing bikes I took it into a branch of Evans to get new cables fixed, so they and not Thorn are responsible for the present set-up. I can't remember the original set-up.