STI/ergo levers with disc brakes?

[Brucey]

just out of interest what kind of cable/housing did you use to start with and how were they prepped/lubed?

cheers

[foxyrider]

I'm currently running 2003 Veloce with Deore discs - they work (jagwire low comp.cables full run) but compared to my rim brake set up on other bikes not as good. My tame mechanics don't rate the Deore brakes very highly, for most riders low braking expectations they'd be fine.

I will be putting TRP hydraulics and Chorus ergo's on in the new year to satisfy my braking demands

[stewartpratt]

just out of interest what kind of cable/housing did you use to start with and how were they prepped/lubed?

Was that to me? If so: standard Shimano outer, not sure what inner, and unlubed (which I've generally found better than lubed, to be honest; but right from the fresh installation the brake was completely ineffective). I've long used full (non-Shimano) outers with the same inners and no lube on the MTB, so hopefully decent housing will fix it…

[andrewjoseph]

I've got full length rear brake outers for my bb7's, no problems with power or modulation. Just used whatever my lbs has in stock. Shimano I believe.

[Smut Pedaller]

I only found out about compressionless outers recently and gave them ago when I bought my Spyres. Tektro recommends using them, also they shipped a free set when I had my Spyres replaced under the recall

The compressionless brake outer used by a lot of the companies uses strands that run parallel to the cable direction, much like gear cable. They also run a secondary layer which wraps this to prevent the housing rupturing under the increased tension of braking. Pic from the Jagwire site:



Compared to standard spiral wound brake cable, it does not compress much at all. So the engagement point is a lot stiffer and less mushy because less of your hand effort is going into compressing the outer. It definitely improves the feel and power of my cable discs. The disadvantage is that it isn't that easy to get hold of, particularly in long runs as well as being expensive. Also the compressionless outers are a lot stiffer so don't bend around corners so easily like normal spiral wound outer. Still I'd highly recommend it for road bikes with cable disks.