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Resizing Sturmey Archer drum brake cable?

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Iridis Nocturnus

Look Ma, No Hands!
My apologies if this is discussed anywhere already but I couldn't find anything using search... I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to brake cables, until recently all I ever had was coaster brake single speed cruisers and I am learning as I go, but I have run into something no amount of internet searching has come up with an answer to: How do you resize a brake cable that is finished on both sides?

This is the bottom side that connects to the Sturmey Archer drum brake hub. The other side is the regular finished end that goes into the brake lever on the handlebar.

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Is there something I am not finding that makes it so this can be removed, the cable resized, and then replaced? It doesn't seem to be a thing, at least not one I can find anyone talking about anywhere, and this cable is ridiculous leaving it the stock length. I can resize a regular brake cable (that is unfinished at one end) just fine, like on my old Schwinn or the rear brake (Shimano drum brake) on this bike, now but can't figure this one out for anything!

Any help is appreciated! Thanks...
 
Odyssey makes what are called "knarps", which are little anchorage bits that have a set screw that grabs onto the cable and make a barrel that is adjustable to wherever you need it on the cable. These are what I've always used for drum brake cables. You cut that head off at the end, and slide the knarp on to where you need to be after shortening up your cable housing. They work great and I've used them on everything from bicycles to mopeds to carburetor linkages on cars. Your local bike shop should be able to get them and they come in sets of two with the correct size allen key.

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I believe they offer a round version two more similar to what's on the cable already, but I like these hex one because you can hold it with a wrench while tightening down the set screw. I've never ever had one fail.
 
Odyssey makes what are called "knarps", which are little anchorage bits that have a set screw that grabs onto the cable and make a barrel that is adjustable to wherever you need it on the cable. These are what I've always used for drum brake cables. You cut that head off at the end, and slide the knarp on to where you need to be after shortening up your cable housing. They work great and I've used them on everything from bicycles to mopeds to carburetor linkages on cars. Your local bike shop should be able to get them and they come in sets of two with the correct size allen key.

View attachment 1576265

I believe they offer a round version two more similar to what's on the cable already, but I like these hex one because you can hold it with a wrench while tightening down the set screw. I've never ever had one fail.
Interesting. Thank you!

I think that is pretty close to what I need for this. I'm going to start Googling knarps and see if I can find one that closely matches the one I'd be cutting off / that will properly fit in the Sturmey Archer arm that catches this part of the cable (and makes the whole thing work).

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So if I'm getting this right, you are installing new brake cable. The universal brake cable has two different ends that go on either the tourist type brake lever of the road bike brake lever. Figure out what end fits your brake lever and then cut the other end off. The one in your picture goes to a road bike lever so the other end was the lolly pop end.
 
So if I'm getting this right, you are installing new brake cable. The universal brake cable has two different ends that go on either the tourist type brake lever of the road bike brake lever. Figure out what end fits your brake lever and then cut the other end off. The one in your picture goes to a road bike lever so the other end was the lolly pop end.
No. I wish it were that easy. I would have been done with this the first day I started working on it.

I am using the cable that comes with the hub. It is not a universal cable at all. The end you see in that picture does not connect to the lever, it connects to the hub itself. The cable is double ended so if I cut one side I have to finish that end somehow after I shorten it... Either the lever side or the hub side.

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This is the cable. The handlebar/lever side is on the left in the photo, the side that attaches to the hub is on the right.
 
If you are certain you need a double-ended cable (and given that it's British, certainly possible), then you need a means of fixing the end you intend to cut. You can do this with a cable knarp (it's like the pinch bolts above but smaller and running along the cable rather than across), a properly crimped cable end (for example, a spoke nipple crimped with a Bell Systems Type D crimp), or a properly soldered cable end (generally considered the best solution - you take a properly sized motorcycle brass throttle cable end and solder to the end of the cable).

The knarp and the crimped spoke nipple are the easiest but also a little sloppy looking while the soldered brass fitting is the cleanest. If you have some skills with flux and solder, I think this is doable, but it's not a beginner project either. Measure twice, cut once (because you don't want to have to keep soldering stuff on).

This photograph of the materials used for soldering a cable end is from another British bike enthusiast who recently made a couple double-ended cables:

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The Sturmey drum brake kits that I've seen have the end barrel that's needed when you cut the cable to size. If the cable comes in the correct length that you need, then no modification is needed. But that's as rare as chicken's teeth! And then what happens when the cable breaks and has to be replaced. There are the round cylinder pieces like what Skunk posted verses the hex cylinder. Example below.

 
Un-Soldering then Re-Soldering the nipple back on at the required length is the traditional method as stated above.
Or use a 'knarp'.
The reason the original is too long is because it's "universal", they have to make it suitable for a wide range of bicycle sizes/designs.
 
I prefer the knarp method because it can be changed if you don't have it dialed in perfectly the first time or if you experience cable stretch. Soldering an end on is the most professional method, but it requires a 100% clean cable, finding a cable end or making a cast for one, and if you don't get it right, it can still fail. The knarp is endlessly re-usable, takes seconds to install, and is mechanically bound to the cable which...if it's good enough for holding the cables into your disc/V/caliper/cantilever brakes, should be fully acceptable for a drum brake.
 
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