Don’t have one.

Need an alternative. Preferably a kitchen-cupboard D.I.Y special.

Bad things happened to the BB7’S in the mud today.

There is absolutely nothing you need a cable puller for with bb7 set up.

Use your hand?

EDIT – meaning what he said.

Cable puller?

What is a cable puller?

noobs 🙄

Or for shop folk – third hands

Thought it was something like that.

Why have I built and rebuilt a good few bikes and not found myself needing one? Have I been flirting with death the whole time and not realised?

I have one , they can be useful – most recent use for mine was setting up the cold idle wax stat on my van.

No need for one.Screw all the adjuster threads all the way in. Pull cable hand tight. Screw out adjuster thread to take up any slack.

Job done.

Anyway, the cables are shot to hell. They will not be replaced until Saturday.

I need more tension. Barrel adjusters, check, pad alignment, check, cable slack HUGE.
Raising the arm on the moving pad works, but blue book says bad.

So, if by using all my super-man strength I can’t get more cable by hand, shall I just shut up about it?

CHB-On it.

Big blue books assuming you have good cables

If raising the arm works do it. You will not explode.no way no how.

Sounds like the spring at end of strokes just not got enough oomph to pull the cables back .

I’ve pulled the cable held in a pair of pliers in one hand, tightened the bolt with an allen key in the other. And then tensioned to suit with the adjusters as above.

If you’re not able to get it set up like this, are you using the right kind of cable outer? Is there a ferrule that only pings into position after you tightened that’s producing the slack?

ignore mine, started writing before the others, answered the phone before sending.

Is a cable puller somehow magically better than a pair of pliers?
Why, as a strictly amateur home bike fettler, would I need a cable puller?

I’m willing to be enlightened here.

Probably bits are wrong. But all of the bits i’ve had on it are a bit wrong and that’s how I like it.

Getting a full inner & outer replacement pronto, there’ll be a “what cable” search for that.

TBH this thread has received much more interest than I anticipated, so, what cables for… :-).

I found a deal on an XTR brake cable set, so I got that for my bb7s. Not quite long enough, though, as it’s meant for v’s and/or flat bar levers, and the stretch from drop bar levers to BB7s is just a wee bit much.

Avid flak jackets, or home-made plastic lined ally tubing will give the best performance, but whether it’s worth the extra money or faff for the improvement over SP41 outer (is that it? or is it SP40? Or is that the gear stuff?) is up to you.

Used bb7s on since 2004 . Never used anything but basic shimano brake inner and outer

Smooth cable runs and big radius curves are more important than the cable brand

I don’t know how to use one, I just presumed it would solve said problem. 🙂

If it does what it says on the tin, I thought I’d figure it out.

Or not.

I’m an anal-pedant about how super-tight the pad alignment is with a true rotor but i’ve never had to go and research “what cables” before. Always better if someone just tells me, like in “what tyres” and “what pads”.

Only bin ridin’ couple t’years, need to expand my knowledge base innit.

Thought it was something like that.

Why have I built and rebuilt a good few bikes and not found myself needing one? Have I been flirting with death the whole time and not realised?

I use one of these, they work quite well 😉
Plus they are quite handy

Put that palm to yo’ face lipseal!

Brakes in commuting condition to be readied for actual riding condition asap. I feel this has been a waste of everybody’s time but mine 🙂