Velobuild VB-R-218

[madmax]

Spoke with 4 different local bike shops & every single one of them declined to work on the frame & drill the rear brake hole.
So at this point I'm going to run the housing internally & have just the brake wire go through the rear hole & then add the sleeve & another short piece of housing

Frankly, I have no idea how I am going to thread the actual cable through this tiny hole, but will figure something out.


Same with the rear & front shifter, but those seem to have rubber or plastic grommets that can be replaced.

[coffeebreak]

Why not push the cable outer (housing) from the rear brake cable hole towards the handlebar rather than other way around.

[madmax]

Why not push the cable outer (housing) from the rear brake cable hole towards the handlebar rather than other way around.

The rear hole near the seatpost i so small I can just get a brake cable through it & housing will not fit without drilling the hole & making it larger

The campy groupset housings were way too short so I had to order a 30' roll of jagwire shifter housing which showed up yesterday & a 20' roll of jagwire brake housing which will show up today

I will run a piece of fishing or lawn trimmer line through the hole starting at the rear to front & then put housing on that till it reaches the end of the frame on the rear.
At that point I will fish the actual brake cable through the housing, while removing twine & the cable will go through the hole & I will put a sleeve on it & that will resolve the issue without trying to drill the hole etc etc.

[FHS]

The rear hole near the seatpost i so small I can just get a brake cable through it & housing will not fit without drilling the hole & making it larger

The campy groupset housings were way too short so I had to order a 30' roll of jagwire shifter housing which showed up yesterday & a 20' roll of jagwire brake housing which will show up today

I will run a piece of fishing or lawn trimmer line through the hole starting at the rear to front & then put housing on that till it reaches the end of the frame on the rear.
At that point I will fish the actual brake cable through the housing, while removing twine & the cable will go through the hole & I will put a sleeve on it & that will resolve the issue without trying to drill the hole etc etc.

I think Sebastian and Coffeebreak have the right idea. I would think you'd have to run the housing all the way to the brake caliper for it to work properly? No way this would work with hydraulic brakes as is, so I would think that useless flap of CF covering the hole is a screw up. Dremel it out, sand it smooth, then run the housing through. It'll operate with or without the plug Coffeebreak linked. The plug will help keep water out of the opening, help guide the housing, and make for a cleaner install, but I would think that you really just need an opening big enough to run the housing through.

[Sebastian]

Spoke with 4 different local bike shops & every single one of them declined to work on the frame & drill the rear brake hole.
So at this point I'm going to run the housing internally & have just the brake wire go through the rear hole & then add the sleeve & another short piece of housing

Frankly, I have no idea how I am going to thread the actual cable through this tiny hole, but will figure something out.


Same with the rear & front shifter, but those seem to have rubber or plastic grommets that can be replaced.

You’ll be fine. The frame is not that fragile. Just use a drill. Be careful. Widen the hole. Use a round file to smooth the edges or a bit of rolled sand paper. Run full length brake housing and that’s it. That’s what I did. Everything else will be a bodge. No rubber grommet is needed for that hole. It’s not in a position where water ingress is an issue.
In the early Di2 days Cervelo actually advised customers to drill their frames because they did not come stock with the respective holes.
It’s not like you’re drilling the fork steerer or the handlebar.

Same with the FD and RD. Run full length housing. There’s really no other way of doing it with this frame.

[madmax]

Ok I could use some expert help here, since I am probably overthinking this

I found an old box in the garage that has a Tack Life toolkit that was a Dremel kit I bought from Amazon in 2018 or so & forgot I had it.
It still works

Pix #1 shows the various bit & speed settings

Pix #2 shows the grinding bits (Grinding wheel in pix #1) & on the extreme right is a bit with a diamond carbide tip (Diamond Grinding Needle in pix#1)

I have never made a hole or tried to work on carbon before

1. Which bit do I use ?

2. What speed setting ?


My main concern is screwing things up & at the moment I still haven't received my garmin mount or other parts from velobuild & Chris hasn't replied, so I don't want to be stuck ordering another frame & going through the whole hassle again

Thanks for all the earlier help as it helped resolve some other issues & I was able to order the extra housings from amazon

[madmax]

All pix are taken on my desk with my iphone & the brown underlay in the pix is this one

Londo Leather Extended Mouse Pad - Desk Mat
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PVC5ZVL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Very durable & has lasted a few years now, mine is faux leather

[Sebastian]

Use actual drills. Start small and go wider gradually. Don’t force it in but rather let it gently eat its way in. 5mm is the diameter of the housing. You’ll need it slightly bigger because the housing enters at an angle. Once it’s big enough you can use those bits to smooth the edges. You need something straight rather than comically shaped to smoothen it evenly throughout.
It’s really not that difficult. The carbon won’t fray or crack that easily. Don’t worry. I mean be gentle and don’t butcher it. But it’s really unlikely that you’ll ruin the frame there in my opinion as long as you go easy and gradually and use good tools.

For what it’s worth: I just used drills and carefully scraped my way through by hand and tested it again and again until the housing fit the way I liked it.

[coffeebreak]

Also its Dremel so no need to force your way the way you will do it with a normal drill. Set it to high(est) speed and use a straight bit (not conical, as Sebastian said) and touch it ever so lightly on the area to be drilled/sanded - you will see the "impact" and get an idea how much material it is actually removing. I speak from experience - I screwed my fork cut a bit and ended with uneven edge. At first I used Dremel's small grinding wheel to even out the bump to a flat and then used sand paper to make it as flat is possible. Again, Dremel, so use high speed and sand that baby lightly.

Edit, I think personally I will use 3rd bit from right to start with though I have never seen pink ones.

[madmax]

Use actual drills. Start small and go wider gradually. Don’t force it in but rather let it gently eat its way in. 5mm is the diameter of the housing. You’ll need it slightly bigger because the housing enters at an angle. Once it’s big enough you can use those bits to smooth the edges. You need something straight rather than comically shaped to smoothen it evenly throughout.
It’s really not that difficult. The carbon won’t fray or crack that easily. Don’t worry. I mean be gentle and don’t butcher it. But it’s really unlikely that you’ll ruin the frame there in my opinion as long as you go easy and gradually and use good tools.

For what it’s worth: I just used drills and carefully scraped my way through by hand and tested it again and again until the housing fit the way I liked it.

Ok, will do.

Now, did you use any inline tension adjusters for the FD/RD like these ?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029LF1GQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I have bought a lot of extra stuff over the last 2 weeks, trying to get this build done & if it's not needed, then I can send them back unopened.

[Sebastian]

Now, did you use any inline tension adjusters for the FD/RD like these ?

For the RD it’s not necessary. The adjustment on the RD itself is good enough. For the FD I did think about it but ended up not doing it. You could maybe cram one under the handlebar cover. But I think you would have a hard time actually turning it in that position. Or you could put it under the BB cover so you can access it from there. But piecing two pieces of housing together with an inline adjuster in between and routing it through the exit hole down there is quite fiddly. I think it’s actually easy enough to adjust the FD well enough without any additional adjusters IME. And after a bit of initial cable stretch not much more is happening through the life of a cable, I think. As long as you’re using quality cables, that is.

[madmax]

For the RD it’s not necessary. The adjustment on the RD itself is good enough. For the FD I did think about it but ended up not doing it. You could maybe cram one under the handlebar cover. But I think you would have a hard time actually turning it in that position. Or you could put it under the BB cover so you can access it from there. But piecing two pieces of housing together with an inline adjuster in between and routing it through the exit hole down there is quite fiddly. I think it’s actually easy enough to adjust the FD well enough without any additional adjusters IME. And after a bit of initial cable stretch not much more is happening through the life of a cable, I think. As long as you’re using quality cables, that is.

Perfect, thanks

Yes, I am using Campagnolo Record shifter & brake cables that came packages with the groupset. All parts are from the groupset except the housings where I had to buy longer lengths from Jagwire.

I will return the adjusters & a few other items that are no longer needed

[coffeebreak]

Not only is adjusting FD near impossible with ICR, $16+Tax for a single piece cable adjuster is criminal.

[madmax]

Done.

I was unable to get the flex shaft tool working on the "TackLife" tool & then realized I actually had a Milwaukee M12 cordless dremel tool & found that & attached the diamond carbide tip & went at the hole & enlarged it a bit.....somewhat lopsided, but the speed of the carbide tip fused the ends so the hole looks a bit like funny oval but the 5mm cable went thru

Might look at it in the morning & use the sanding cone bit to smoothen the edge out. There was a bit of carbon dust that I vac'd up & for a moment though I had one stuck on my contact lens, which would have been really, really annoying

I also have a couple of the exit covers & I might just trim one & superglue it on there for a cleaner look & probably the same cover for the FD at the bottom

[madmax]

Updated pix of the hole process   

The plastic bits are from Amazon $8 for 20 pcs.

I still have no idea how well they will fit & I know that I will need to cut/grind one down to make it fit the top hole for the rear brake & make it look neat

JooFn Bike Brake Derailleur Shifter Internal Wiring Routing Kits Frame Plugs Bicycle Frame Embedded Single Hole Buckle
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LQP1M2B?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Green wire/cable is $17 & cheaper than ParkTool, but works really well & I decided to keep it.

BESNIN Internal Cable Routing kit Bicycle Internal Cable Routing Tool Cycling Bike Internal Cable Routing Tool for Bicycle Frame Put Out Inner Wire
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5WVXRWL?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details


There's a whole stack of extra stuff thats unopened & will go back because the Jagwire kits came with some of those pieces (end caps/tension limiters etc etc)

I will keep the ParkTool wire/hose cutters (not opened yet), which I thought was very expensive @ $44, but looking at what I need to cut, I will wind up wrecking my regular tools
so might as well use this & keep it