I think I’m going to try opening out the guides on my HT to see if it will help keep things moving a bit smoother a bit longer in the shifting dept.

Any tips for doing so? Also, once done what outers / inners?

Ta v much.

Use this card (cereal packet is thick enough) and masking tape to cover anywhere the chuck/drill touches. The nature of the job means that you’re going to have to get the drill right up to the frame, and the chuck will make a huge mess of the paint/frame in no time at all. Be constantly aware of this when you’re drilling.

If you don’t have one, get a round/pointed file. If you can’t get a drill in at the right angle, a few minutes of filing will get the same result.

I Dremel’ed the slots in my stops out to just under 6mm. The (6mm) braided hose that I use can be ‘popped’ into the modified stop and is held perfectly without the need for ties. Careful here, though, as if you open it too far you’re going to have to get handy with a drill to make holes for a cable tie. Measure thrice: Dremel once.

Whatever cable set you go for, just make sure that the ends of the outer are cut perfectly square. Any kind of angle and it’ll deform under pressure and lead to vague shifting.

Thanks 3 Fish.

I had wondered if filing would be as good, and a bit ‘safer’.

What, if anything, did you use to touch up the paint around the area drilled? I was going to try one of those car paint toucher uppers that look a bit like a big nail polish pot and brush in one. Anything else work?

I didn’t need to tidy it up because I strip the paint off my frames. A touch-up brush is probably the simplest, although it’ll set a little thicker than spray. If you use a file and take your time you could probably do the job without making a mess of the paint – just do the filing on the ‘in’ stroke otherwise the paint around the end of the stop will most likely just flake off.

I forgot to mention: you need to be entirely decisive with the drill at a high speed and have a good, firm grip. If the bit gets jammed in the existing slot of the stop, it’ll twist the drill very quickly and could damage the frame.

It’s essentially a simple task; but one with plenty of potential for making a mess. I’ll confess that I was sweating a bit when I was doing mine!

I did one for a friend years ago,I masking taped the frame up first and then taped on some opened up drinks cans on top of the masking tape.just where the chuck will be and where the drill bit could touch when it comes through.

It only takes a few minutes but will stop any unsightly damage

Just buy a set of needle files and use some elbow grease. Far less to go pear shaped

Why don’t you just hacksaw the blind end off? Much safer.