Hide and tidy cables

[cwah]

I'm trying to hide and tidy my bike cables but I haven't found a good solution. Everything seems quite messy.

And my goal is to hide as much as possible that it's an electric bike.


I tried the tidy roll wrap but you can see the red cables from the outside:

Then I tried sleeved wrap, but it just doesn't work on the extremities:

With what do you hide your cables? Anything good?

 

[itchynackers]

Those sleeves will work better if you melt the ends a bit with a lighter or heat gun. It will seal the ends.

 

[dogman dan]

I've never worried much about stealth per se, but I do like it fairly tidy. Step one is often to take black electric tape and bundle up the wiring into a harness that fits the bike. Any excess lengths of wire are concealed in the bundle. Then wires are routed as much as possible along brake or shift cables. By following the cables, the wires just blend.

 

[cwah]

Itchynackers, thanks for this idea. I'm going to do that

Dogman, do you hide your wires with black electric tape? Does that work well? Any picture? Does that look clean/tidy with tape?

 

[ddk]

imho using tape to bundle cable is not so gud.

Auto parts stores sell several types of cable organizers, such as spiral wrap and slit-cable harnesses that do an excellent job of neatening up the mess, with the added advantage of being able to add more or take away unneeded cabling.

Myself I use plastic cable tiestraps which are cheap and easy to apply
when I'm first laying out cable harnesses I use Velcro tiestraps then replace the Velcro with plastic cable tiestraps, saving the Velcro for the next job.

Looking at your bike I see the manufacturer provided cable tiestrap brackets for holding cables securely to the frame.
might be a hint :lol:

the nylon sleeve someone used on your bike is my favorite for a clean-looking bundle, but as mentioned you need to seal the ends before they fray- I apply a short piece of heatshrink tubing to the ends of nylon sleeve which I think gives a cleaner look... in addition to sealing the ends with the same application of heat for shrinking the tubing
ymmv

 

[dogman dan]

This thread shows an example, you can see some improvement between the first installed pic, and a later one after I bundled the wires into a cable. Would have looked better with black zip ties.


http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10466&p=160867&hilit=Fusin+36v+gearmotor#p160867
This kit in particular had a lot of wire, so there was no hiding it. Battery wire went from the battery to the handlebars and back to the controller, which had plenty of stuff dangling out as well, for tail lights and other stuff.

The main thing is, routing a black wire along a black brake cable at least lets it blend in visualy from 6 feet away.

 

[ddk]

...and there's nothing in the e-bike rule books that says you has to use red cable for anything (lol-no rules)
You can use black insulated cable for all your connections but you need to easily identify the wires at the terminations.
I use very short pieces of colored heatshrink tubing or tiestrap identifies which provide a small labeling area you can write on with a Sharpie pen
for that matter you can write on the light-colored heatshrink tubing with a Sharpie (before you shrink it)
-gives a clean identification with the added advantage you only need to stock one color of heatshrink tubing that way

just some additional thought for wiring bundles and if you haven't guessed, I've made a bundle off bundling.

 

[ddk]

Panduit is one company that specializes in wire management solutions.
I'm not associated with this, or any other manufacturer but I've used their products for over 30 years, along with other manufacturers' products.

 

[cwah]

Thanks guys, really nice advice. Ddk you're right, I can just use black wire for stealthyness (and mark it appropriately)

Dogman, is it this picture you're talking about?

 

[nicobie]

I like this stuff. It's cheap and reusable. I like to cut it down to 1" strips. Comes in lots of colors.

http://www.horse.com/item/syrvet-flex-bandage/SLT181151/

This is hiding;

3 phase wires
5 hall
1 brake cable
4 break light switch
2 temp sensor

 

[izeman]

looks a bit like a bike mummy scnr *ggg*

 

[izeman]

this is how i did it. i did remove EVERY cable/connection i have no use for (pas, ca, break switch etc ...) and then put everything in heat shrink tube. so only 2 thick "wires" come out of the controller. one goes to the motor, one goes to the front.

 

[amberwolf]

i havent cared on any bike yet, but will on the one i am replacing crazybike2 with eventually. it will use stainless hose like these:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=472458#p472458

 

[cwah]

Nicobie, your solution is indeed cheap and reusable, but I wouldn't say it's clean. :lol:

Izeman I like the heatshrink tube. I may do the same rather than using braided sleeve. How is the final appearence on the bike?

Amberwolf, I looking forward to see how stainless hose would blend on the bike

 

[izeman]

Izeman I like the heatshrink tube. I may do the same rather than using braided sleeve. How is the final appearence on the bike?

i'm quite happy with it. route the cables together with braking and shifting cables and they will hide nicely.
take a look at my buidl thread (scroll down to page 4 to see what it looks like atm)

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=32267

 

[Kingfish]

There's the spiral wrap stuff (I haven't used it):

...and stuff called Techflex that I have used.

Terminating the Ends of Techflex:
Splaying is a big problem and looks ugly, so I use a lighter and flame the ends, and that prevents it from coming apart. Just expand the ends a tiny bit and keep it round as you slowly melt the tips with the flame. It's pretty easy; experiment on a sacraficial piece to build your technique and you'll be fine.

Exposed red wires: I paint/dye them black to hide the Magpie effect.

+1 on Heatshink.

Cheers, KF

 

[auraslip]

Quick trick with the spiral wrap stuff:

Cut with scissors. Insert scissors in the end to spread. With scissors holding it spread apply heat.

 

[auraslip]

bike tubes over the connectors to waterproof.

 

[Phoebus]

+5231990 for that Techflex stuff. Looks great and easy to use.

I terminate the ends differently from everyone else here; I just wrap the end in electrical tape. Looks fine, and easy to do. If I weren't using electrical, I'd use heat shrink on the ends.