Trek Domane Eats Brake Housing

[Peter P.]

My buddy has a Trek Domane which tends to eat brake housing. Note in the attached photo that the rear brake housing enters at the headtube. The short length of housing from the handlebars as well as the tight curvature results in the housing bends eventually causing the housing to fray/kink/buckle/whatever. Looks like crap. Trek apparently discovered this themselves as newer iterations have the housing entering the top tube some distance from the headtube.

My buddy says he can't find a ferrule to fit the housing stop (which he thinks is the solution) and the ferrule in the photo is just a kluge part from a parts bin. I'm inclined to say it isn't. So, 2 questions: Does Trek sell a special ferrule to fit the housing stop, and is there some other solution to getting long life out of the housing before it fails at that housing stop? I'm thinking maybe some Nokon housing, but the end has to fit inside that proprietary housing stop, which I haven't measured yet.

Apologies for the blurry photo; I didn't take it .

[DRietz]

That stop isn't designed for a ferrule, it's just for 5mm brake housing. There is no magic ferrule, just a dopey frame designer at Trek HQ.

A linked-style housing is a good solution.

(worked in a Trek shop for _too_ long, have encountered this issue many times)

[Kontact]

The photo makes the current housing appear to be on the short side, causing more bending.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by DRietz

There is no magic ferrule, just a dopey frame designer at Trek HQ.

A linked-style housing is a good solution.

(worked in a Trek shop for _too_ long, have encountered this issue many times)

Not only Trek. This absurdly bad design of brake cables entering at the head tube and on the wrong side for 99% of riders is not unique to Trek. I don't know who started this awful trend, but it's common today.

[Davist]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Not only Trek. This absurdly bad design of brake cables entering at the head tube and on the wrong side for 99% of riders is not unique to Trek. I don't know who started this awful trend, but it's common today.

Yep, cannondale supersix does this as well.

[benb]

Bad Build...

I've got the same frame and have had absolutely 0 trouble with it. I haven't changed the housing in almost 2 years and that's a really long time for me, usually I change all that stuff at a minimum once a year. It's either got the wrong end on the housing or the housing is the wrong length and/or positioned wrong.

The one thing I would say is the internal routing + giant hollow tubes + openings in the chain stays + BB area do make it make some weird noises from the cable vibrating/shaking inside the tube sometimes.

Also chain slap on the giant hollow chain stays with the back end open to the air... sounds like a bomb went off if you hit a really bad bump.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Not only Trek. This absurdly bad design of brake cables entering at the head tube and on the wrong side for 99% of riders is not unique to Trek. I don't know who started this awful trend, but it's common today.

I could not agree more. They do it to have a straight shot for the cable from the head tube to the back of the top tube. They don't have to futz with internal guides or having to run the housing all the way through the frame, just the cable. It is lazy and way to save a few bucks at the expense of good design and functionality. It sucks.

[Mark McM]

Jagwire makes some Anti Kink ferrules that appear to be made for just such situations: