Best way to protect cables of Shimano Steps System

[hlspassos]

Hello.
I had the Obea Rise from one month.
I'm a little worried about the cables from system os shimano steps - cables of SC-E7000(display) and SW-E7000L (buttons), because in my opinion are very fragiles..
Is there any way to place the cables (along with the handlebar) to be more secure?
Thank you..

 

[Rod B.]

Hello.
I had the Obea Rise from one month.
I'm a little worried about the cables from system os shimano steps - cables of SC-E7000(display) and SW-E7000L (buttons), because in my opinion are very fragiles..
Is there any way to place the cables (along with the handlebar) to be more secure?
Thank you.. View attachment 107171

Hispassos,

I often ride tight and twisting high desert trails which feature pine scrub and small branches which will grab at cables and wiring. Because of this, I like to keep the cabling on my bikes compact and organized so that the chances of snagging the cables on brush are very slim. Besides, it just looks better than a tangled up mass of cabling.

There are several ways to go about securing the wire and cables on an eBike. Which method you use depends on how involved you want to get with the process and your mechanical skill level. It's been my experience that most parts coming from the factory i.e. front brake, dropper, etc., are universally too long because of the need to work with a lot of bikes. The parts will typically require shortening to fit a particular brand of bike. It's also been my observation that many bikes sold new from bike shops will often come with cabling/brake hose which is way too long and needs to be shortened.

When trimming cable and or a brake hose, you want to be able to fully turn the handlebar without the cable or brake hose binding or rubbing tight against the head tube. On the other hand, you don't want to turn the handlebar and have the cable/brake hose stick out four inches from the head tube due to excessive length. I like my cables/brake hose to be about 3/4 (19mm) of an inch from the head tube on a full turn of the handlebar.

Note: If you cut and shorten a brake hose and do not allow the brake line or brake lever to drain, you will only need to do a very minor bleed after reconnecting the shortened brake hose. A minor bleed on a Shimano brake system consists of threading a bleed cup into the brake lever bleed port. Fill the bleed cup up halfway. Pump the brake lever repeatedly until all the bubbles disappear. The process takes about five minutes.

Below I will include pictures of my Rise M20's cockpit and also my buddy's Rise M10 cockpit as examples of how I decluttered cabling on a Rise. My Rise (I sold to my brother), had a Shimano SC-E7000 display, SRAM GX AXS wireless shifting and OneUp carbon handlebar and stem. My buddy's M10 has a stock 12 speed Shimano cable shifting and SC-EM800 display.

The easiest and quickest way to secure cable and wiring is the use cable clips. They are easy to install and somewhat effective at securing cabling. I personally dislike using cable clips. They tend to rattle and slide around on the cable. However, they are very easy to install.

Technically speaking, it is possible to shorten an overly long mode switch wire on an eBike. I would not suggest doing this unless you are familiar with splicing, soldering and making waterproof, small micro wire. I prefer to coil the wire around an object on my handlebar, i.e. dropper post lever mount, in order to take up excessive slack in the mode switch wire.

My Methods:
I will always cut and adjust to length the cabling and brake hose and also adjust the length of the mode switch wire before I secure everything. I use three methods or a combination of the three, for securing wiring, cabling and brake hose on my bikes.

1) Zip Tie
A quick and easy way to securely fasten or tidy up a cockpit is by the use of small black zip ties. I use a small piece of 1/8 inch (3mm) tubing together with the zip tie. I cut a small length of the tube, about 3/16th to 1/4 inch in length (4-6mm). I place the tubing between two cables/brake hose. I loop the zip tie around the cabling and through the small tube so that the zip tie resembles a figure 8 with the small tube acting as a collar in the middle of the figure eight. I pull the zip tie tight and cut the tab flush with the zip tie head.

Here is an example of the zip tie method on my Yeti SB5.5 and SB130. I find zip ties do not rattle and hold cables securely.

2) Electrical Heat Shrink Tubing.
This is my favorite method for tidying up a cockpit. Heat shrink tubing is a rubberized sleeve that will shrink when heat is applied to it. Heat shrink tubing typically shrinks two to four times it's original diameter. How much shrinkage which will occur, depends up the brand. Heat shrink tubing comes in a variety of wall thicknesses. You want to use thin wall heat shrink tubing which will flex with the suspension and movement of the handlebars. You can get heat shrink tubing in various colors.

To use heat shrink tubing, you cut off a small length of heat shrink tubing from the roll. You run your cable, brake hose, and or mode switch wiring through the heat shrink tubing. Apply heat to the tubing with a small butane lighter or heat gun. The heat shrink tubing will shrink and securely fasten the cabling together.

Using heat shrink tubing requires work and patience. It takes effort to remove the dropper cable, brake hose, mode wire, etc. from the handlebar and feed it through the heat shrink tubing. However, when it's done right, it looks beautiful and you will have absolutely zero cable rattle.


Heat Shrink Tubing

3) Silicone bands
Shimano sells heavy duty silicone bands specifically made to hold the mode switch wire firmly against the handlebar. On Amazon you can purchase small silicone rubber bands which can be used to attach the mode switch wire to the handlebar. Lastly, you can cut small sections from a road bike inner tube and use the bands to attach the mode switch wire to the handlebar. I put 3,200 miles on my Rise and I never once had an issue using the band method to attach the wire to the handlebar.

Note: Some companies are now offering handlebars which have been ported with small holes. The holes allow you to run the mode switch wire inside the handlebar, where is exits out at the stem. This type of handlebar simplifies the running of the mode selector wire.

Here are examples of heat shrink tubing used on some of the bikes I've owned in the past.

Yeti SB130

Santa Cruz Hightower LT

My Rise M20 a few weeks old. Note how excessively long the cabling is. In the photo, the Deore brakes have been removed and SRAM G2 brakes installed. I used zip ties to secure the EW-EN100 junction box and wiring to the cables. It's an accident waiting for a branch to rip everything out.

In the photo below, I've installed a SC-E7000 display on my Rise. Note that the cabling is still a bit too long. I later shortened everything even further. In the picture, you can see I ran the mode switch wire along the bottom of the handlebar and over to the display. I secured the mode wire with black silicon bands which I purchased on Amazon.

At the time of the photo below, I was experimenting with using small sections of heat shrink tubing instead of using one full length piece. I found the short section method did not work. The small sections could not grip the cabling tightly enough and eventually the bands loosened up and slid down the cable.

The pictures below are the final version of what I finally settled upon with my Rise. In the photo, the SRAM G2 brakes have been removed and Shimano XT four piston brakes installed. I also switched to full length pieces of heat shrink tubing. Everything is cut to a perfect length and protected as much as possible from snagging.

These last set of photos depict my friend's Rise M10 with Shimano 12 speed cable shifting. I installed a SC-EM800 display on his Rise.

In the photo you can see that instead of running the mode switch along the bottom of the handlebar, I chose to run it along side the dropper cable and brake hose. I used heat shrink tubing to hold everything in place. This setup has proven to be extremely durable.

Here is another picture of the Rise M10. In this photo you can see that I continued the SD50 wire (Seen with blue dots) coming from the mode switch to the EW-AD305 adapter which I removed from the head tube. Using the adapted I converted the wire to SD300 and ran it to the back of the display. The SD300 wire coming from the motor and exiting out of the head tube (Red dots) is run directly to the back of the display. I used heat shrink tubing to fasten the two wires together at the display and EW-AD305 adapter.

 

[cookie70]

I've had my rise for nearly a year, its done 3.5k and snagged,crashed and beaten.. no problems with those cables, I wouldn't be too worried about them TBH. Nothing fancy setup on mine, just the way it came from the factory, those rubber rings on the bars and clips. I have shortened the other cable ALOT but no dramas at all..

 

[JStrube]

The switch & display wires are a mess on my brand new Santa Cruz Heckler. I know they will get snagged. Are those wires a cable of multiple little wires, or just a single copper wire? Can they be shortened?

 

[RustyIron]

The switch & display wires are a mess on my brand new Santa Cruz Heckler. I know they will get snagged. Are those wires a cable of multiple little wires, or just a single copper wire? Can they be shortened?

Does the Heckler no longer come equipped with the handlebars that have internal cable routing? This should be the standard for all top-tier eMTB's. Anything less is just laziness on the part of the manufacturer.

To answer your question, the cables are just single-conductor wires that carry communication signals. They're not even shielded. But they are super flexible. The connectors are pretty critical, too. Technically, you CAN shorten them... or lengthen them... or change them to neon green. Rather than shortening the cables, I'd stuff the excess back into the frame or the bars.

 

[Downhillr]

The switch & display wires are a mess on my brand new Santa Cruz Heckler. I know they will get snagged. Are those wires a cable of multiple little wires, or just a single copper wire? Can they be shortened?

What handlebar are you using? The SC e-bike specific carbon bar integrates the switch and display wire quite cleanly, switch wire goes into bar under grip comes out of bar at headset into display, the other wire from display goes into head tube for internal routing to motor...
My Bullit and other Hecklers I’ve seen on trail all run this way.
Another option if you don’t have that bat is the OneUp Components
carbon “e-bar“ that also integrates wire set up on Shimano equipped bikes, this is probably best riding bar on the market with innovative design for smooth ride (saving hands/wrists) and great steering, I along with several guys in ride group have switched to that bar.

 

[theremotejuggernaut]

Oneup do a carbon bar with holes in for running the cables internally.

 

[JStrube]

Yes, Carbon SC bar. I am going to try to stuff that loop up in the bar a bit more, and get the longer one tied into the dropper line somehow. That big loop just seems like a mess waiting to happen. I always grab it when I go to lift the bike. It just seems sloppy to me, I would rather see it better protected.

 

[Downhillr]

Yes, Carbon SC bar. I am going to try to stuff that loop up in the bar a bit more, and get the longer one tied into the dropper line somehow. That big loop just seems like a mess waiting to happen. I always grab it when I go to lift the bike. It just seems sloppy to me, I would rather see it better protected.

View attachment 109350

Looks like the loop you’re showing is from battery compartment, not handlebar. That’s poor assembly, usually the slack is taken up in battery compartment. Line from mode switch goes under grip and out at stem… both cases almost no slack.
Brake (or shift cable?) on left in photo blocks view under your display, so not sure where mode cable is exiting your handlebar?

 

[JStrube]

That little loop is out of the bar to the display. It comes out right under the display. The big loop, I think I need to open up the battery compartment & try to pull in some slack to clean it up.

 

[Downhillr]

That little loop is out of the bar to the display. It comes out right under the display. The big loop, I think I need to open up the battery compartment & try to pull in some slack to clean it up.

Right, on my Bullit it is looped and then tied under with the plastic wire tie inside battery compartment.