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I bought a new bike and when I put it on my bike rack in my garage the arm of the rack sits on the rear brake cable, putting some tension on the cable. Could this cause brake problems and if so what can I do to mitigate this?

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    It's not a good thing to have going on, long-term.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented May 15, 2016 at 1:16
  • Can you route the brake cable differently? Or modify your rack to put a channel where that cable is? What kind of brake problems are you experiencing ?
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 15, 2016 at 2:09
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    A photo would help. I'd be inclined to modify the rack by adding padding to a block so the bike sits properly.
    – Móż
    Commented May 15, 2016 at 6:29

2 Answers 2

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Could this cause me to have brake problems

Yes: The weight of your bike will pinch the cable and slowly cause the cable to lose its structural integrity and become damaged: They are designed to take stress along them (tensile strength), not laterally (shear strength)... hence how they can withstand huge amounts of force from braking yet can easily be cut with cable cutters by most healthy people.

what can I do to mitigate this?

Don't pinch the brake/shifter cables between anything. If your rack pinches them, adjust the rack or get a new one.

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  • I disagree - consider the pressure and deformation of the inner cable where it is held to the brake by the pinch-bolt. Much much more pressure than your bike's weight will ever put on the inner wire by pressing on bare metal. Even if you were mounted-riding on your bike while it was on the rack, the pressure on that inner cable would be far less than under that pinch bolt. Instead, simply pad the rack to spread any load-problem solved.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Jun 4, 2019 at 1:35
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Thanks everyone for the help. After doing some investigation I actually came up with a pretty simple solution. Simply turning the bike around and facing it the other way made it sit so it no longer pinched the cable.

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  • Now that's good work. You should mark this as the Accepted Answer by clicking the tick/check box to the left.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 17, 2016 at 3:38
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    It seems more like a solution to the problem, instead of an answer to the question.
    – Eric Smekens
    Commented May 17, 2016 at 6:19
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    @EricSmekens Isn't that the same thing? ;)
    – Tim Malone
    Commented May 17, 2016 at 8:08
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    This answer does not answer if the bike-resting on cable is bad or not. That's why I prefer the other answer.
    – Eric Smekens
    Commented May 17, 2016 at 8:10

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