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The devil is in the details…

Written by Marc Basiliere
31 Comments
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Just a reminder to pay attention to the details, via Bikeworks Albuquerque:

…In news of the not-awesome, the above photo shows the surprisingly damaging results of a little inattentiveness. What you are looking at is the bottom bracket and lower linkage on a full suspension Felt. The front derailleur cable was accidentally routed through a cutout in the linkage, rather than around it. It looks like this was done when the bike was bought new, about 3 years ago (not from us). As a result, every time the suspension moved, the shift cable acted like a little saw blade and slowly cut a deep groove, almost completely severing that section of the rocker.

Pretty amazing how the seemingly smooth shift cable can cut through the aluminum rocker, without any visible damage to the cable itself…
Marc Basiliere
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bart
bart
12 years ago

question of the day : Did it effect the shifting over the last three years?

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Huffman
Huffman
12 years ago

I would assume the cable is stainless steel and should easily cut through the softer aluminum.

I agree with bart, the owner should have noticed shifting issues.

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mountguitars
mountguitars
12 years ago

and that is why felt should stick to making TT bikes.

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Mike
Mike
12 years ago

Felt should only make time trail bikes because a bad mechanic routed a cable wrong?? I don’t understand the logic.

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Bill
Bill
12 years ago

I don’t see any obvious way to route the cable around the linkage. Maybe there is a way, but it’s hard to tell from this photo. If there isn’t though, it’s a poor design and that can be blamed on Felt. Hey, I ride hardtails, but wouldn’t a top pull derailleur be the obvious solution?

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h2ofuel
h2ofuel
12 years ago

I advise the guy to keep on riding until it completely severs, if possible running the bike into a tree when it does, and then take it back to the shop he bought it at. It would probably take another 10 years to get through that thick section though. Even better, newer replacement bike.

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Matt
Matt
12 years ago

It might be me but I can’t see any sensible routing for the cable… You can’t run an outer from that BB guide. Weird…

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dgaddis
dgaddis
12 years ago

I’m with Matt, where else would the cable go??

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Brandon
Brandon
12 years ago

I believe the cable is supposed to route through the triangle at the front of the link, which would be the lowest opening in this photo. The cable sticks tight to the BB, I believe.

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RAC
RAC
12 years ago

Was that done by an inattentive shop mechanic or was it done at the factory before the bike was boxed for shipment?
It’s possible it came from the factory like that and nobody at the store noticed the error.

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King County
King County
12 years ago

IS THIS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY?

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King County
King County
12 years ago

IS THIS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY? I DON’T KNOW HOW THIS FELT MODEL ARRIVES TO A BIKE SHOP, BUT USUALLY CABLES ARE PRE-ROUTED. IF THAT IS THE CASE, WOULD FELT COVER IT EVENTHOUGH THE ASSEMBLER SHOULD HAVE NOTICED THIS?

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mike
mike
12 years ago

Probably the only way they could get the big squishy to shift.

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Josh
Josh
12 years ago

That rear derailleur routing isn’t any better.

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mateo
mateo
12 years ago

I agree with Brandon. It should go through the triangular opening. If he rides it for a few more years, it’ll get there on its own.

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dojester
dojester
12 years ago

This is not the first time that I’ve seen issues like this. I agree that it doesn’t look like the cable was thought through in the design. I’ve had to actually make brake noodles bend and form a route for a derailleur cable to keep things working. This is a good example to look at where your cables go when replacing them. Just like not cutting chains to the length they were on the bike, don’t assume anything!

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carl
carl
12 years ago

Poor cable routing from the manufacturer is nothing new. I can’t tell you the number of road bikes I’ve assembled the last few years with Dura Ace 7900 and Ultegra 6700 that have the cables routed incorrectly coming out of the levers. Shimano acknowledges that although you CAN run the cables two different ways you SHOULD run it around the back of the bar to improve shifting…… so, what do the manufacturers do? Guess……..

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Matt M.
Matt M.
12 years ago

Who doesn’t replace their derailleur cables within 3 years? And how did it go this far before the rider notice shifting problems? Even if Felt or the shop accidentally routed the cable wrong, there is definitely bike neglect going on here regardless.

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Topmounter
Topmounter
12 years ago

I find it surprising that anyone would find it surprising that a derailleur cable would saw into and through a piece of aluminum. I’m also surprised that the owner rode the same shift cables for three years.

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Strawberry Sram
Strawberry Sram
12 years ago

bad things happen to crappy frame designs

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Johnny
Johnny
12 years ago

Having worked at a shop, it is amazing what the “home mechanic” can do wrong to their bike without noticing it. Not a Felt issue, just a rookie move changing a cable.

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Mel
Mel
12 years ago

Felt makes mountain bikes?

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Dan
Dan
12 years ago

The cable did go through the triangle opening closer to the bb shell. You can’t tell on the photo, but that routing worked okay. I agree though, the entire bike’s cable routing seemed poorly thought out.
The customer said he never noticed shifting issues. Surprising, considering you could watch the front derailleur move around as you pushed through the travel of the rear suspension.
It’s not surprising that stainless stell can cut through aluminum, it’s just surprising when we actually found the problem, that it had gone unnoticed for so long, and that after 15 years in the bike shop it was something we hadn’t seen before.
Lastly, here in the desert, 3 years on cables and housing isn’t unheard of. They were certainly past due for replacing, but it wasn’t unreasonable.

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mountguitars
mountguitars
12 years ago

my point being felt should’ve used a different routing for the FD cable instead of under the BB. what are the chances of this happening? probably there’s someone out there who has a similar problem.

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mountguitars
mountguitars
12 years ago

i bet you wouldn’t get the same problem or the chances of this happening on a TT bike.

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zach
zach
12 years ago

Ummmmm… mayybe somebody should reconsider being a bike mechanic.

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Mel
Mel
12 years ago

Don’t let Marc set touch your bike.

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Marc Basiliere
Author
Marc Basiliere
12 years ago

Mel,
?
marc

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Mel
Mel
12 years ago

Look at that felt. He almost sliced that bike in two.

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Marc Basiliere
Author
Marc Basiliere
12 years ago

Mel,

To be fair: I’ve made some mistakes (everyone does), but have never been anywhere near the bike pictured… Dan at Bikeworks discovered the issue and blogged it- it was just posted as a reminder to make sure that we all pay attention to the little things when it comes to bike setup. That’s all…

marc

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Jeff
Jeff
12 years ago

Something tells me that it wouldn’t take 3 years for a stainless steel line to cut through aluminum… If the bike looked brand new then, yeah, maybe a factory job but really… 3 years?… I’d give it two months to do that.

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