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Back when setting up my Titus Racer X 29er I fitted SRAM Flak Jacket cable housings, which include hollow red plastic tubes and nipples to cover the portions of cable which are normally exposed along the frame. Unfortunately this plastic tubing is quite UV sensitive and within a few months I began to notice it fading. During the summer my bike is frequently on the back of my car while at work, so it probably got a fair amount of direct sun exposure. Today when finishing the installation of some drivetrain components I touched the piece on the seat stay and felt it crack.
Pictured above is an original red piece of tubing and the broken one that I removed. The broken piece shows the light-colored top which was up on the bike and more exposed to the sun and the slightly redder bottom that sat against the frame. The the break shown occured when I simply wrapped my hand around the cable and seat stay and flipped the bike upside down to remove a wheel.
With such a bright color to the plastic I suspected this would happen, but thankfully the kit came with a fair bit more tubing than needed so I was able to replace the broken piece. I wish SRAM would have chosen a UV-resistant plastic instead of the bright red that they went with, perhaps the black nylon used in UV-resistant cable ties. I may try to find somewhere to buy other plastic that could be used in place of the red stuff, perhaps some PTFE or nylon…
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