Cycling UK Forum

One of those jobs that turns out to be much bigger than it seemed…
I wanted, for reasons I won't bore you with, to replace the cable hanger for my front cantilever brake, with a drop hanger. Easy peasy, I thought, whip the old one off, stick the new one on, put the kettle on. But –
The new, aluminium, hanger is 4mm thicker than the old, steel, hanger, and doesn't leave enough thread to screw the top headset nut back on. So what are my options –
I think there's enough meat on the new hanger to grind maybe 3mm off it, but I'm a bit reluctant to do that sort of thing where brakes are concerned.
Is it feasible to drive one of the bearing cups out, and shorten the head tube 3/4mm? How do I get it out?
New front fork? I'd really rather not.
Any other options?

At the risk of stating the obvious, don't do any of that. I know the al one probably looks nicer, but stick with a thin steel one and save yourself a huge amount of aggro. Those ones with a quick release https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dia-Compe-Fr ... SwyjJZz4Uc are very handy if you ever go for wider tyres.

options include

- a thinner (e.g. pressed steel) hanger
- a hanger built in to the stem
- a hanger that clamps round the upright part of the stem (with a shim if necessary)
- an 'uphanger' that bolts onto the fork crown
- a headset with a shorter stack height

as well as options involving surgery on the frame/fork

cheers

What fausto99 says. Forget the alloy idea and just get a replacement steel hanger like the old one.

I found that an "uphanger" extending up from the fork crown eliminated brake judder. And it will not add to the stack height of the headset arrangement.

I would if I could (use a thin steel one). I haven't seen a steel hanger with the inch or so of drop that I need. Have you? Plus, of course, being a cheapskate, I'd rather use the one I've already got!

cheers

Heres an alternative

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brakes/tekt ... er-brakes/
They are fiddly to set up and go out of adjustment as the brake blocks wear. You can arrange them with cable adjusters to enable one to keep them at their optimum efficiency but they should have had them in the first place.
like these.

it seems to me that with the rocker type arrangement, it would work best if it had a barrel adjuster on both halves of the straddle. In practice this would mean that you would need a barrel adjuster on one arm, and on the main cable, either at the lever or inline perhaps.

cheers

That's a neat little idea

Brucey wrote:

cheers

Ah, Brucey, you took my words too literally. Seeing it - even against such an attractive background - is no great help unless I can also buy it.

e-bay is infested with them

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAFAC-Front-Cable-Guide-Wire-Hanger-NOS/173008582424

NB you may have to

a) bend it slightly to match some headsets
b) modify it with a file so that it fits some steerers OK

BTW it is also neither as strong nor as stiff as many modern cable hangers. There are other ones such as weinmann and shimano hangers that fit 1" steerers and have a similar drop.

cheers

Many thanks for all the suggestions – what a helpful bunch.
Putting the hanger on the stem wasn't going to give me enough height gain (the issue is having enough room for the brake outer to make a 90degree bend as it comes out from under the bar tape, and still have room for a bit of adjustment) the uphanger on the fork crown would do the job, but looks, to my eye, a bit inelegant. I'd looked online for the thin steel drop hanger, but must have used the wrong search terms.
In the end a homemade head-tube-bearing-cup-extractor let me "tap" the cup out (it took more than tapping, believe me. Is this what engineers call an "interference fit"?), and then a very careful half-hour with angle grinder and file shortened the head tube by 3.5mm. To my relief/mild surprise, everything went back together as it should, and seems to work nicely. Thanks again.