Compressionless Brake Housing // Night and Day!!

Compressionless brake housing can make a huge difference in braking performance for mechanical disc brakes.
The stock coil-wound housing was preventing the Poseidon Redwood's Tektro mechanical disc brakes from reaching their true potential. Swapping to compressionless brake housing made a night-and-day difference in braking power and lever feel. Full discussion and review in this video.
Jagwire Pro 5 mm Compressionless Bicycle Brake Housing
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[@MelvinHughesatp]

The compressionless housing also works great with rim brakes! I use it on both my bikes with Paul Racer and Racer M brakes.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Right on.

[@Likelybiking]

It sure does. I bought some for my Paul Klampers and had extra and used them on some v brakes and definitely improved a bunch!

[@david78212]

I bought these to put on a bike I used with cable pull hydraulics. Damn! What a difference it made! I bought the cable pull hydraulics because the OEM brakes were vague at best, the cable pulls helped some, but, not much, the housing made all the difference. I probably could have just bought the housing and solved the issue in the first place.

[@austinsp00l24]

This stuff makes a huge difference. I'd heard you talking about this stuff on some of your other videos so I bought some when I converted a frame to a longtail cargo bike. Even with a 6 foot run of cable it's nice and crisp, feels way better than the short run on the front that I didn't bother to replace.

[@Pedals_n_Pints]

Just did this. Incredible how much of a difference it makes.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Right?

[@CL-dh2mf]

Thanks for the tip! I had the same issues and tried the Dura Ace cable set. Its the first time my Canti Rando Bike actually stops.🤩😉 All the best from still cold Germany!✌️

[@Casual_BackPacking]

idk how i got back to this video , ive used this stuff twice its really good , only had enough housing to do my bike twice , if you dont use this for your shift cable like i did you can do 3 bikes

[@MrRay645]

great video, stuff I remeber from mountain bikes before hydraulic took over completely (Avid BB7's and only one pad moved :O ) . Thought it was weird that both mine and my wifes cable disk brakes were so much worse than I remembered our mountain bikes were. Got some new pads and better cable and night and day. the stock cables on mine were cheap rubbery type and my wife's were just cut at an sharp angle allowing them to compress at the lever and caliper.

[@gb-bp1me]

Great video! Compressionless all the way

[@neeloy]

Did this upgrade a few years ago on a bike with Spyres and it was awesome. One major downside though is it is way less flexible than normal brake housing. I could not for the life of me get the housing through my bottom bracket area which required a tight bend. I ended up splicing in sections of coil brake housing along the route and connecting them with ferrules. That was a fun weekend

[@donttouchthisatall]

how did you get it to bend at the handlebars? Sincerely curious to know!

[@neeloy]

@@donttouchthisatall the kit comes with a short section of more flexible coil housing that is meant to go from the brake lever to the end of your handlebar tape

[@TheBikeSauce]

Just bend it. Bit stiff, but it goes in fine

[@MrRay645]

you can get non compressing cable thats is still flexible. Not like hydraulic brake hose but it varies a lot! Pretty sure I used some form of JagWire specifically because they mentioned flexibility in the description.

[@jonathan_f2]

Nice video! I know other Redwood/X users also take the next step swapping out to dual piston TRP Spyre calipers or cable hydraulic brake setups such as the TRP HY/RD or Juintech F1. Shimano ice rotors also give a nice weight reduction and the possibility to use metallic brake pads for more bite. Looking forward to seeing what upgrades you go with!

[@TheBikeSauce]

Considered the Spyres, but wanted to see what I could get away with. Totally happy with the power in this setup now.

[@icecreamheadache]

Just to stress the point made in the video, never use shift housing for brakes. It'll burst longitudinally. In addition to the difference in diameter, compressionless housing has an extra reinforcing layer of kevlar or metal.

[@pgreenx]

His point was the diameter is diff. I don’t think he knows shift housing is weak longitudinally as you point out

[@TheBikeSauce]

No one’s suggesting to use shift housing as brake housing. I’m well aware that it’s not supported radially like the compressionless brake housing

[@pgreenx]

@@TheBikeSauce ok - you said "unfortunatly the diameters are different so they are not compatible" Implies if the were its ok. I think you know better but people watch this stuff.

[@TheBikeSauce]

I hear you man, but it’s literally saying that it’s not ok, despite some thinking it may work.

[@hardmtnbiker]

I think it’s great when frame makers allow routing to be full length housing compatible for shifters and brakes. My brakes are hydraulic Hope RX4 so obviously my lines are full length sealed but on my frame externally routed to the rear and internal through my fork to the front. But with that said I definitely use Jagwire shifter cable and housing and I have the polished cables. That’s means no coating that deteriorates with exposure and usage. Think of that Teflon coated pan that you cook eggs on every morning. Coating is not as good as polished, in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing your build. I’m looking to build up a second gravel but something with flat bars this time.

[@williamlebron9873]

Thanks for the AWESOME tip. I’ve had my Redwood for almost a year now. The only thing I change off the start is the seat. Everything else still original. I will most definitely be upgrading cable housing real soon.

[@positiivi_teme]

Ooh, I kind of find having the same issue with my spyre brakes, no matter how new the parts are, it still gets that spongy feeling quite fast.

[@vmxd]

I swapped it with Compressionless Jagwire Brake Housing as well on my Redwood, the difference is not night and day, but yes, good improvement :)

[@TheBikeSauce]

No endos to endos is a pretty big difference

[@max1000000ify]

Been suffering this exact issue on my Poseidon X which I love for basically everything but it's poor stopping. Putting this on my weekend to do list!

[@TheBikeSauce]

Routing will be a bit tricker on the X, but totally doable. Use the existing cables to guide the new housing

[@greenneck5396]

How did it feel?

[@chaotictattoo]

I did this to my redwood drop bar and it’s a big difference. The stock brakes are almost dangerous to use

[@antoineg639]

Great video, thanks for the explanation. I think I'll give this a try on my 6061

[@yynnooot]

Can you make a more in-depth video where you actually go over the whole installation from start to finish? I tried to do it myself following this video and gave up.

[@roymacasaet3285]

The bike shop nearest my place didn't know what compressionless cables are. But I was stubborn (and excited) so I still asked them to put the cables on along with my JuinTech brakes The result was a vague and sponge-y feel just like Bike Sauce said in the video. It was very disappointing and I'll probably have this serviced again Would you happen to have a guide on how to install brake cables that's relevant to compressionless cables, Bike Sauce?

[@MTBRadDad]

Totally gonna try this 🤘

[@TheBikeSauce]

👊 nice

[@jakew8553]

Would you be able to do a more in-depth/step by step guide for installing the brake housing?

[@samuraioodon]

Off topic. But you have cool bike tricks there 😲😎

[@todd92371]

Nice riding man!

[@speedikat6822]

No more filing housing ends? Yes!

[@prof_writer]

Holy smokes Professor Sauce is that you doing the fancy bike moves while you're testing the new brake housing? Pretty slick with the stop start bunny hops and pivoting the back wheel.

[@TheBikeSauce]

😆its basically my whole repertoire of skills

[@prof_writer]

@@TheBikeSauce impressive.

[@stillsyncing]

Any chance we'll see that "full upgrade video" you mentioned you were working on? I'd love to make the upgrade to compressionless on my Poseidon X based on this vid, but as someone who's new to tinkering with bikes I'm apprehensive of doing so without a guide to follow.

[@wchu702]

What type of brake cables did you use? I have mechanical Tektro's on my Diverge and was hoping for a "cheaper" solution then going with TRP Spyre of switching to hydraulic. I really enjoy your informative content.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Standard inner cables. The big difference is the housing

[@Alistair_Spence]

Interesting video. I'm wondering if you have any experience of the Jagwire Elite Link housing/cable system and if so, how that compares with the compressionless housing you're using here?

[@MrSatchelpack]

I wonder if you can use bmx compression-less brake housing for this purpose. They are 5 times cheaper.

[@wheezin_mtnbkr3576]

Maybe. The Tektro pads packaged with the Redwood should be illegal they are so bad. I did not need compression-less housing, I needed quality pads, and to sand them down to 75% material to allow fine caliper pinion adjustment (and caliper alignment) on the bike. The Tektro MD-550 do not have enough adjustment at the frame on this bike, and that needs to be revised. After the sanding of the pads, fine tuning caliper position, adjusting the cable tension to be correct, and moving both pistons in as close as possible without rubbing the rotor - Anyone can achieve a firm grab that starts early on the brake lever stroke. The bike needs to be adjusted properly. The pads should go in the trash though, facts.

[@ncruzalayza]

can you lock up the wheel braking from the hoods position?

[@ElRealista.]

How much is the difference between these with rim brakes? Is it noticeable?

[@piotrwasilewski7815]

I changed my housing to Jagwire KEB-SL but didn't notice some big change in braking power. Generally they work, but they are not as strong as I would like them to be. I cannot for example block front wheel. I have Tektro MD-C550 brakes Rotor Shimano SM-RT56 Resin Brake pads EBC CFA327 What do you recommend? Should I change the brakes or change pads to semi-metalic I heard that quite often people complain on these Tektro brakes but I also come across posts or comments where people say that they are really good brakes. I'm confused

[@rocoltro]

Besides the housing what mechanical disc brakes do you recomend? Tks

[@sepg5084]

Teflon-coated cables also exist, maybe they'd make brake feel even better

[@TheBikeSauce]

Definitely would. I mentioned that the stock cables were still new, but will swap to slick cables next time

[@aaron9828]

Why do bike manufacturers even use brake housing that compresses that much? If it's that big of a difference, the extra price should be well worth it.

[@DarynRod]

I just installed a set of these on my new X. They seem to work fine. Definetly better than factory housings but I cant find any info on if I should have put end caps on the end inside the hoods. They didnt seem to fit so I didnt use them. Did I eff up?

[@Kcufnoodles]

Hi, is this any better than the Jagwire Road Elite Sealed brake kit? Will be using it on mechanical discs. I figured that the elites doesn't have the Kevlar material in it.

[@pierrex3226]

sweet! so you bought a 10 meter roll. How much do you need to cable front and rear, roughly, given you run full housing the whole length? (ie no cable stops on the frame)

[@TheBikeSauce]

2-3m should do it

[@noybiznatch]

Thinking about putting this on my State 4130. Saw another video where someone did this upgrade but only for the back brakes because of the possibility of locking up the front wheel. Did you run the same cabling to your front brakes?

[@TheBikeSauce]

Same for front and rear.

[@WanderABit]

Did you run the same kind of housing full-length? I am asking, because I try to figure out why in Road Pro Kit Jagwire put a segment of compressible housing next to compressionless. Since it is pre-built you end up with partially compressionless housing and the performance is rather poor.

[@TheBikeSauce]

It’s full length. The short section of standard housing is for tight bends on drop bar bikes. It doesn’t affect performance too much

[@jensenhealey907efi]

But how much does this stuff weigh per meter? I am looking for lightweight brake cable housing for a road bike build.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Good question. Not significantly more than standard housing. Even a modest weight penalty is so worth it for the improved braking performance

[@MThomasHoff]

DAMN!

[@johnp9650]

I wonder if using compressionless housing could help to make the brake levers feel lighter on my 2008 Surly Long Haul Trucker w/ stock cantilever setup (Tektro Oryx cantilever #992)?

[@TheBikeSauce]

Depends on if the current housing is low quality or otherwise gummed up. If so, any fresh housing ought to help. If the brakes feel vague or squishy, then compressionless is more likely to help

[@derekwest2]

Have you ever used "triflow" in cable housing?

[@TheBikeSauce]

Yea all the time. Great trick

[@poobalu]

I actually just got this same housing for my poseidon X, what did you use to cut and crimp this stuff?

[@TheBikeSauce]

Dedicated cable cutters are the best option

[@David-np4vo]

Maybe but Klampers won’t make any difference?

[@etiennesalinasfagalde]

Which brakes pads do you use?

[@TheBikeSauce]

Stock pads.

[@maffei3]

very similar to a bmx brake cable

[@Casual_BackPacking]

Lol good to know that I put my shifting cable on the wrong side of the frame

[@TheBikeSauce]

Ha there’s no right or wrong way really.

[@riffmeisterkl]

You’re showing your endo and fakie kungfu….

[@TheBikeSauce]

lol fakie kung fu..

[@riffmeisterkl]

@@TheBikeSauce fakie or fake LOL. Nice video and keep up the great work.

[@auto6547]

I dont get gravel bikes, whats the point. use a xc for light trail riding or gravel and its good enough for those super rare road riding. if I want fast road performance then I choose road and fast mtb I choose any of the thousands of designs for mtbs out there. gravel just seems like nonsense and especially with drop bars, for me the whole ride feels like im about to crash when making a turn on a trail. offroad should always be flat bar, its better scientifically and anecdotally.

[@rejickmukherjee9154]

Honestly the most pleasurable type of bike to ride..if I could have only one bike it would be a gravel

[@marcelocasagrande3300]

""Do you all mind quitting the fun for now?"

[@alessiob8700]

Gravel is the avocado toast of cycling.

[@TheBikeSauce]

@alessiob8700 mmmmm… toast.

[@Spindatt]

Good cables 🤌🤌🤌 such a massive and amazing upgrade.

[@TheBikeSauce]

Never needed it before, but such a huge difference on the redwood !

[@tjcorbs]

Did you eliminate the inline barrel adjusters?