Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

My front brake cable on my 1986 spree is rusted to crap. I was wondering if I could get away with a pedal bike cable. Everyone I've asked thinks its a bad idea. They all think it will snap. I've looked at bike cables in comparison and they look to be around the same thickness (no idea on the tensile strength though). I know the stock ones have that threaded end on them so I was just gonna tie it on to there somehow.

Basically I don't really wanna order any more OEM parts.

Any ideas?

Thanks In Advance!

Brake cables run around $15 bucks. Just buy one and save yourself the headache

if it fits, it should work. but the real question is, do you want to pull up to a light thinking you are going to stop, and slam into the back side of a bus or something? it may work, but i would rather get a cable that i know will take the stress.

coolgangsta24 wrote:My front brake cable on my 1986 spree is rusted to crap. I was wondering if I could get away with a pedal bike cable. Everyone I've asked thinks its a bad idea. ...Basically I don't really wanna order any more OEM parts.

I know it is tempting to go on the ultra cheap route and use a bike break cable, but don't. Yes, it could work, but you don't want to go cheap on a safety feature as such. Cut corners on cosmetics and fast food to save some money.

Also, i might have a cable i could sell you - many folks on the forum might. Ask around and you might find a deal.

I thought of this at one time before also, never did it tho. Just saved myself the hassle and ordered a new one from my local honda shop for about 13 dollars. Well worth it.

If you have a cheap life buy cheap brakes.

Kenny_McCormic wrote:If you have a cheap life buy cheap brakes.

Yeah. You could also go with a bicycle helmet instead of a proper DOT one. The're cheaper too!

If you compare the thickness of a bicycle inner cable vs the Honda version there is a big difference.

Also consider the crashes you could cause when your cheap cable breaks.

Having some cables and bicycles around - made some brake cable measurements.

Old Trek road bike - 0.065
Trek Mountain Bike - 0.070
Spree Front - 0.080

Doesn't look much difference in diameter, but calculating the cross-sectional area shows the Spree cable is 54% greater than road bike, 30% greater than Mountain bike.

I would want that 30%.

I bought an OEM cable. Thanks for giving me a good dose of common sense here. I'd feel pretty bad if anyone got hurt riding a moped that I fixed and the cable snapped.

I looked at some bike cables in comparison to the original one I took off the spree and the bike cables seemed pretty flimsy. I wouldn't recommend using them to anyone else!

Thanks everyone!