Looking at buying a Rad City but the upside down rear brake cable worries me. It looks like water will just drip down into the cable and collect there where corrosion can start. Is this a problem or not?
This isn't an issue I've ever heard of. Maybe a RadCity owner can chime in.
After quite about 2 years and 4000+ km (2500 miles) my RadRhino's rear brake cable is hardly moving. Dirt, sand, dust etc. inside, can hear it well when trying to move the cable by hand.
Now trying to figure how long the whole set (cable + housing) is, should not be too difficult to change though.
So yes, it is a design fault in my opinion to place the rear brake caliber like this way. :(
I'm assuming you are referring to the Rover 5 with the mechanical brakes. The new Rover 6 plus has hydraulic brakes, so the brake lines are sealed.
It's very easy and cheap to replace mechanical brake cables. If the cable is just frayed on the end and not real dirty inside the sheath, you can install the new cable in about 10min. Loosen the cable at the caliper. If it's frayed, cut the fray away. Then go to the brake lever and pull the cable through the sheathing. Glide the new cable through the sheathing, starting at the brake lever. Once through, fish the cable through the caliper bolt, adjust brakes and tighten bolt.
If the sheathing is dirty, you need to buy a cable with sheathing. Cut all the zip ties holding the cable and route the new cable the same way and zip tie it back together. Maybe 30 minutes at the most.
I wouldn't be afraid of mechanical brakes.
Yeah, I love too the simplicity of the mechanical brakes. And yes mine is RadRhino my 2019 750W EU version.
In my case like I mentioned there is quite a lot dirt inside, so removing only the cable is not possible (have tried it) or recommended, anyways not a big deal to change the whole thing. Just bough a spare one, just need to find the time to change it.
The cable and housing is all generic. So a replacement cable can be bought anywhere. And besides the time it takes to clip all the zip ties and then zip it back up, the repair is pretty simple. You will be surprised how easy it is.