I got a set of reba solo air on my ‘dale and I noticed the cable had worn away a little of the powder coating . Being a typical bloke I thought that won’t get any worse don’t worry about it , and now I’ve noticed it’s actually worn into the metal on the crown . Not hugely but enough to annoy . What are you guys using for Crown protection ? My cables show no sign of wear at all .

Either bog standard helitape to protect where it rubs, or route cables so that they don’t rub, with the latter being the preferred option.

Helicopter tapes a bit of an eye sore , would like something black ideally . Also everything’s running smooth so i don’t wanna be shortening cables an re routing . Didn’t know if there was a neoprene cover or similar about .

Helicopter tapes a bit of an eye sore

heli-tape is clear and near invisible when applied correctly?

Helicopter tapes a bit of an eye sore , would like something black ideally . Also everything’s running smooth so i don’t wanna be shortening cables an re routing .

Well make your mind up about which is the bigger problem, rubbing, an eyesore (clear tape?) or a bit of faff re-routing.

Didn’t know if there was a neoprene cover or similar about .

Chances are, if it still makes contact it’ll rub through it, whatever the material, Heli-tape is the best option and can be re-applied if it does get damaged, but really, correct cable routing and length is the answer.

Adding tape/covers etc. is a workaround for a problem that shouldn’t exist, crowns* don’t need protecting because a cable shouldn’t rub on them!

* plenty of other places will/do rub, but a fork crown shouldn’t be one of them.

You could try cable rub protectors as used in pics here: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ribble-gran-fondo-frameset

A number of manufacturers make them e.g. Jagwire, SRAM, BBB

Nothing wrong with helitape imho – should blend in once applied correctly.

You need to sort your cables out, end of.
Sounds like they’re far too long.

So clear Heli-tape is an eye sore, but a neoprene cover isn’t?

Clear he’ll tape is awful in my opinion . Also where the cable has rubbed the powder coat off you can see the alloy . I just wanted something to cover it up that was all .

I use the Jagwire ones mentioned above – great wee things.

Black electrical tape. Just reapply every so often, but it’s actually pretty tenacious.

I’ve got some black carbon sticky patches on my road bike. They have lasted years. They were just some cheap ones from eBay.

Bikes in the shop getting cables shortened slightly……… they’re already pretty short , just the right length to rest on the crown with a bit if force . Hopefully they’ll get it right .

Helitape on anywhere that will get cable movement, saves rubbing through the frame (more important on Full Sus) As for forks and brakes, right length, I’ve fixed them on the crown before in some cases and in others with braided used a strip of inner tube underneath though based on the earlier replies this won’t sit well with your aesthetic.

🙂 ^^^ I. Just don’t like heli tape lol , guy in the shop argued that shortening cable wouldn’t be the solution . Well if it ain’t we’ll be having a falling out !

My current setup has the front brake line rubbing/hitting the fork crown making an annoying clicking noise and wearing away the paint. Coloured it in with a black marker and spread a bit of urethane glue on that area of the crown; problem solved.