Drilling out cable stops

The modernisation of my Cotic Soda continues! I’m switching to 1×11 and dropper, so need to redo the cabling. I have some Jagwire (like the old Gore stuff, with cable, inner liner, outer liner), but since the shifter comes with cable already installed it’d be easier just to drill out the cable stops and run full length outers.

First up, is there any reason not to?

Second, how easy or otherwise is it? The angle looks a bit of a bugger for getting a drill in, but is it tricky or does it work reasonably easily? Anything to bear in mind before starting?

I’ve done it previously.  A 6mm bit for 5mm outers as I remember.

Aluminium cable stops are easy.  What metal are they on the Soda? Steel or Ti is going to be a bit more challenging to drill without the bit grabbing the slot. Ti will need a good drill bit a steady hand and patience I’d say.

A long drill bit helps with the angle.

I did this on an aluminium hardtail, it seems to be working ok.

I used to do this a lot.  Used a Dremel as the angle was easier.  Also used to wrap the area in electrical tape just in case of an slips.

I did it on a Solaris with a Makita cordless drill and worked fine. Just go carefully.

I did it on my aluminium frame, just using a standard cordless drill and HSS drill bit. Went fine.

Why drill?  Just hacksaw off the stop end and file it smooth.

Easy on alu.

Titanium work hardens with heat so you need to go slow and keep it cool or you’ll end up hating it.

BigJohn wins for today

I’m now wondering why I didn’t just hacksaw the ends of. Seems so obvious!

As BigJohn says – a mini hacksaw works just fine. That’s what I used on my Ti touring frame.

or a round needle file

Why not use these rather than risk damaging the frame

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cables/jagwire-stainless-steel-adjustable-cable-grips-silver-per-pair/

My 2 cents …

with either drilling out ( or cutting off the end of ? ) the stops or using the adapters above you will likely not have the tension over the span as to not need a cable tie or similar in the middle.

I found this recently using some of the above adapters (albeit from the early noughties) and needed a stick on cable guide.

Thanks everyone for the guidance, appreciate it! I’d assumed the cable guides would be steel welded onto the Ti frame, but I guess we shall see…

letmetalktomarkFull Member
My 2 cents …

with either drilling out ( or cutting off the end of ? ) the stops or using the adapters above you will likely not have the tension over the span as to not need a cable tie or similar in the middle.

I found this recently using some of the above adapters (albeit from the early noughties) and needed a stick on cable guide.

Just so I understand – you mean if I cut the stops off, the cable will slap about on the frame? Or something else?

I had thought of the former, so was thinking drilling would be a better bet.

with either drilling out ( or cutting off the end of ? ) the stops or using the adapters above you will likely not have the tension over the span as to not need a cable tie or similar in the middle.

I found some plastic bits (sort of like collets) from another brake cable kit that fitted *really* tightly into the brazed on stops once i’d drilled them, pushed them in, and it kept tension for several months at a time (usually until i snagged an outer on something).

Its all Ti, including the cable stops, so it’ll be a bugger to work with (you can’t weld steel to ti)

Its a nice frame, and there’s absolutely no way it will be “easier” to drill out the cable stops than it will be to run the cables the way they’re designed to be, and there’s a high chance of cocking it up. The cables run on the top of the top tube on mine, so they’re away from the grot and so partial outer cabling won’t get contaminated easily, so I’d say there’s plenty of reasons to do it the original way.

Ah, bugger, I was worried that might be the case.

there’s absolutely no way it will be “easier” to drill out the cable stops than it will be to run the cables the way they’re designed to be

I’m not sure about this. Cables used to be essentially consumable – you’d run them 2 seasons and then get so much grot in them that indexing would drop out and you’d have to redo the whole cable run. My old Gore RideOn cables changed that, as I ran them for 10+ years with minimal maintenance; but required opening up the shifter to install the Gore cable inner (narrower diameter to fit the liner), which isn’t trivial.

But I’ve taken note, and will check out some other options!

Its all Ti, including the cable stops, so it’ll be a bugger to work with (you can’t weld steel to ti)

and there’s absolutely no way it will be “easier” to drill out the cable stops than it will be to run the cables the way they’re designed to be

It took me a few minutes to saw the ends off the Ti cable stops on my Amazon. I was fitting a hydraulic brake hose instead of the original cable so it was a no-brainer.