René Herse Rear Cable Hanger
Compass Cycles is re-introducing the René Herse rear cable hanger. I have loved these simple, lightweight, elegant cable hangers – so much that I made my own when I built my Mule. There are many ways to design a rear cable stop for centerpull and cantilever brakes – this is the one I like best.
The hanger is held by the seatpost binder bolt – just make sure your slot is at least 2.5 mm thick. This is a much better solution than a cable hanger that uses a seatstay bridge (or even worse, a single post): Since the René Herse hanger is loaded in tension rather than torsion, it can be lighter, and yet it will flex less. That results in a more positive braking action, removing some of the springiness that you often feel in rear brakes.
There are other cable hangers that attach to the seatpost binder, but none are as small and light as the Compass René Herse model, which weighs just 3 grams.
The secret is simple: Instead of making the hanger large enough to hold the cable housing and a superfluous ferrule, the Compass René Herse hanger is sized to fit the housing without the plastic covering. Stripping the plastic covering (and deleting the extra ferrule) gives you a metal-on-metal connection that also reduces the flex between housing and hanger – again improving the braking action. It’s not rocket science, but it’s a better, more elegant way of doing this. Of course, to make the René Herse rear cable hangers requires custom-machined parts, which are more expensive than standard ferrules.
The Compass René Herse rear cable hanger is made by Nitto to our specifications. Hand-brazed from steel, it’s polished to a mirror shine and then chrome-plated for durability and beauty. It’s equipped with a slot to make removing the brake cable easy – useful for Rinko and travel bikes.
To match the minimalist cable hanger, we also offer cable stop braze-ons in the same size. I’ve often been bothered by the huge cable stops used on most modern bikes – they seem almost as large as the top tube! Even though I intended my Mule to be just a “working bike”, I couldn’t bring myself to using those oversized stops. Instead, I made my own, smaller stops by cutting down derailleur cable stops.
I won’t need to do this in the future, as we now offer these stops. Of course, you can use the René Herse rear cable hanger on many bikes, but if you build a new frame, these braze-ons result in a more elegant, lighter and more functional setup. More functional? Less flex because there is no ferrule and no outer lining of the housing.
At the front, where the brake cable housing turns with the handlebars, we recommend using a guide (arrow) to prevent the housing from getting kinked at the exit of the stop. This is a good idea no matter what type of cable stop you use. It’s just a short piece of tubing. On this bike, it’s been slotted to allow removing the brake cables when the bike is disassembled for Rinko.
Click here for more info on the René Herse cable hangers and housing stops.
The René Herse® name, logo and designs are registered trademarks of Compass Cycles.
