Small Cable Puller

[garage nut]

On my last cycling outing I could feel the front deraileur's cable has either slipped or the cable was starting to break as the shift was long and slow.

Getting home it was clear the cable started slipping.



This changer has no post fitment cable adjustment so when you tighten it it has to have the correct pre-tension so the shifter will reach the big blade and slack enough to return to the small blade with no touching the chain rings. There is a cable plier puller on the market, but I found it to be too large to allow me to have it in place and rotate the crank and go through all the gears to ensure I have the correct tension before tightening the cable.



So I came up with this little puller.

I took some 6mm ali bar I salvaged from an old TV antenna and drilled a clearance hole(2mm) through the center for the cable.Then found a off-cut steel fuel line with an ID of about 7mm...perfect fit, then just added a 6mm brass nut to apply the needed tension and an electrical connector block's steel part as the anchor to the cable.



In place before tensioning the cable.



And by turning the nut the tension is applied to the cable and the shifter can be put through its paces with the tensioner in place and fine adjustments can be made before finally locking the cable in place.



Basically made from bits from the "scrap bin"

PS...Happy new year and happy spannering for this year.

[ncollar]

garage nut
Nice job and it came out of the old parts box. I hope everyone has such a box.
Nelson

[DIYer]

Thanks garage nut! We've added your Derailleur Cable Puller to our Bicycle category,
as well as to your builder page: garage nut's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Derailleur Cable Puller by garage nut

tags: bicycle, adjustable

[Toolmaker51]

Keen bit of parts, only 'scrap' because they're waiting to be used. Certainly as 'homemade' can be, joining unrelated items to perform a task.

[racardon]

Nice tool design. Simple, built from available material. I'm going to have to add one of these to my bicycle tools.

[racardon]

Very nice. Even for derailleurs with a fine adjustment, it would be nice to get the cable nice and tight at the beginning. I'm too cheap to buy the tensioning pliers. So, I am always trying to tension with a pair of pliers while I hold the derailleur in position and tighten the cable clamp. Your tool should make that much easier. I think I can find enough scrap bits to put one together. The hard part will be not losing it in the tool box.