I’m looking for something to replace the PAR cable in my Marzocchi forks.

It needs to be fairly fine, 2mm or so, and able to take 30kg or so. It also needs to be able to withstand, as well as possible, going through the hole in the fork shaft which is reinforced with a curved eyelet but the radius isn’t that great so it’s a reasonable corner to have to go around. I’ve got clothes line in there now but it’s showing signs of fraying after not too long. It also needs to be floppy so possibly something braided would be best.

I was thinking of looking in the fishing world, but I’ve got no idea what’s what. There seems to be braided cord on sale but they list strength as 20lb. ISTR reading that doesn’t mean it snaps at 20lbs of load though – is that right?

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/re-action-gravel-20lb-x-20m-p277751

What about the line used for kitesurfing???
The loading should be fine, just not sure about the wear resistance

Is that a fire damaged, piss-soaked mattress?

Dunno, not my pic, but looks more like some kind of flooring to me 🙂

Dyneema
http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelter-accessories/WA109-121.html

I have some 1.5mm if you want to try a bit.

2 mm dyneema could do the trick? Breaking strain will be in the order of 300 Kg. If the part gets hot, then it won’t be ideal (low melting point)

It’ll be sold as ultra-light guy lines for tents, amogst other things.

I’d like to pick something up today, Go Outdoors have fishing stuff and camping so there’s a *chance* they’ll have dyneema cord. They do climbing stuff afaik so maybe.

Kite shop should have Dyneema line. Is there one near you? They’ll also know over the phone which I suspect Go Outdoors won’t

Some discussion here as well about having to get the length correct.

Do http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/ not sell that part anymore??

Dave

Couldn’t find it on uk bike store under Marzocchi spares.

Can’t find a kite shop in Cardiff either.

Depends how abrasion resistant it needs to be, but spectra/dyneema (trade neames of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) would be strong enough, not sure about abasion resistance, I use a lot of it on my boat but it’s not keen on sharp corners so prefers being spliced rather than knotted. Normal pre-stretched polyethylene rope would be adequate and half the price. You can get wire fishing line too, braided fishing line is just multiple nylon fillaments, wire would probably be more abrasion reistant, but doesn’t like being bent repeatedly.

Strimmer line?

I might head to Go Outdoors and pick up some cord and 40lb leader. I might be able to braid it further or maybe double it up.

Got to think about knots too!

I guess it’s not really abrasion resistance I need – just resistance to relatively sharp corners.

@molgrips – go to a sailing shop (chandlery) there are some in Cardiff (or ask the yacht club) they will have dyneema. What I cannot answer is how much chafe you’ll have – you say abrasion resistant ? Dyneema isn’t chafe resistant and in fact from your pic neither is what they used. It’s not uncommon to cover the dyneema in something (inc plastic tubing) which you then replace regularly as that chafes. Generally you don’t tie knots in dyneema type line but splice it.

EDIT: resistance to tight corners – again not a quality modern high tech line is good at. That’s why boats use “turning fittings” to round out corners.

The dyneema is really strong in terms of load bearing, you might just have to inspect it and swap it out as/when the chafe (abrasion) starts to damage it. FYI that’s what you do in many boat applications

When I look at your photo I can see it’s been spliced on at the bottom

Oi, pop along to a Yacht Chandlers or kite/windsurfing shop, it’s used all the time that stuff. You can get it in sizes from 1mm right upto 25mm and it’s not only used for Kitesurfing/Windsurfing but loads of ropes/warps in Dinghies and Yachts too.

Go for the core only and not the braded/core type and you’ll also save some weight.

HTH

Failing to find a Chandlers try online at Rooster Sailing or Aladins Cave.

LOL – I was surprised bikebouy or sharkbait hadn’t been along yet 🙂

Bit of a punt perhaps but, Wales Archery maybe? They’re in Monmouthshire, might carry Dyneema (it’s used in some bow strings).

They list a few ‘cords’

Up and Under

Hth
Marko

Archery shops stock a cord for making bowstrings , its fine and incredibly strong and waterproof.

Kevlar/aramid braid. Abrasion and cut resistant.

Dyneema and Spectra are very strong for their weight and thickness.

However, they have crap abrasion resistance.

jambalaya – Member
LOL – I was surprised bikebouy or sharkbait hadn’t been along yet

Working.. epic STW failure 😆

Molgrips, I’ve got some 80lb fishing braid if you want some, I could send you a few feet in the post. Email me if you like.

gear cable?

I’ve been looking for exactly the same thing today! But for tree-climbing throwline.

The 1.5mm Dyneema cord I’ve been lookng at (Marlow, Stein) has a breaking strain of 300kg (3kN), the 2.2mm more like 450kg.

I’m also considering fishing line…

I’ve been looking for exactly the same thing today! But for tree-climbing throwline.

The 1.5mm Dyneema cord I’ve been lookng at (Marlow, Stein) has a breaking strain of 300kg (3kN), the 2.2mm more like 450kg.

Have I misunderstood?

Are you considering using this line for climbing in trees? Seriously?

Even with only 4x safety factor that doesn’t give much of a SWL.

Also, this stuff has almost zero stretch, so any dynamic load will be much greater.

no, for use as a throw line. Weight on the end of a thin line, hoy it up and over a limb/ fork, use the line to pull up a rope to use for climbing.

Thanks for the kind offers folks. I was hoping to get my forks built tonight, so just stopped by the archery shop and the fishing shop.

I’ve got 150lb leader which can be crimped (this is a plus) but isn’t that flexible being monofilament. I also got some archery cord but it’s really a bust. Bowstrings are made of bundles of fibres, each one I can easily break. However I could braid them together, and perhaps even weave it back into itself to avoid having to use knots. Interesting idea.

Something like this: http://www.pecheur.com/en/gb/buy-predator-rig-braid-technipeche-natural-kevlar-9513.html?af=393329&gclid=CNi0l9XPi8ECFfMZtAodvBkAQA

Have you’ve got a climbing shop near you, Snow&Rock or Cotswolds?

pop in and ask for a metre or two of dyneema cord, 1.5mm or 2mm

I checked Go Outdoors, and they only advertise 2mm nylon cord rather than dyneema. Also called our local specialist shop and they didn’t have anything thin enough either.

or some Kevlar sowing thread?

Seeing as everyone is recommending dyneema I’ll be deliberately contrary and suggest animal sinew. You could try raking through the bins behind the local butchers.

As above, the archery bow string was made of a bundle of smaller maybe 1mm cords with a very loose twist, so I considered plaiting them. Then I thought that instead of a knot I could make a loop in each end of the cable and thread the three ends back through the plait, which is kind of how the original one was made.

A bit of googling revealed that this is called an eye splice, and since most instructions show it done with braided rope (rather than plaited) I thought I’d try making a three string braid. Well my rope work was pretty dodgy as you’d expect, and the splicing looked a right mess but to my astonishment, it seems to hold really well! For good measure I’ve bound the splice with the very fine thread that was originally holding the bow string together.

Home made PAR cable by molgrips, on Flickr