Vertigo Bicycles will install internal hydraulic lines, for a price...

By -



017 :: Internal Hydraulic Routing
Posted: 2011.03.13
Since returning from NAHBS I've received quite a few inquiries about the hydro routing on my personal 29er. It seems fair that I write a little bit about it.
It will cost $1500 for that option. I want to be straight forward by saying that the hard internal line doesn't do anything at all to help performance in any way. It doesn't make the brake stiffer and it's definitely not going to do anything to help you with the ladies. What it does is add two days and about $900 in material costs to the build.
Material costs are high. Error tolerance is low. For example, the tolerance on line length is about 0.020" making the banjo mount hole location critical. It obviously has to be tested leak proof, requiring a test procedure, a line cleaning procedure. It's not going to work with all bottom bracket combinations as the line location inside the BB shell is highly dependent on where the chainstay meets the BB shell. It's also critical that the line itself won't interfere with the BB spindle or spindle sleeve.
It's a big expensive job with a lot of risk and I won't compromise any other functionality on the bike just to implement this design feature.

Comments

Post a Comment