headtube cable routing issue

I've been finishing up a 1994 Team Marin build and I'm so excited to almost be able to actually ride it! Unfortunately though I've run into another annoying bike problem and this time it's to do with cable routing.

The 1994 Team Marin frame has the derailleur cable stops brazed onto the head tube (about 1cm from the bottom of the head tube). I have a stem mounted brake cable hanger which means that the front brake cable inner is running in between the two derailleur outers.





The problem is that when I steer more than a certain amount, the brake inner, scrapes on the derailleur outers, and eventually catches on the derailleur outer ferrules, which results in the front brake being pulled. I know I'll rarely be steering to such an angle for this to be a problem at speed, at low speed manoeuvring it is an issue and I know it will eventually result in the derailleur outers being worn through.

Am I being stupid here? It kinda seems like bad bike design. lol. Does anyone know of a possible solution to this problem? I thought about maybe attaching a cable hanger to my stem where the handlebar bolts on. Like this:



Or maybe use one of these to do the same thing:



I think I may run into problems doing this though since the handlebar mount bolt may bottom out before the bar is tight.

One option I thought of was a fork mount cable hanger, but I'm fairly certain this would still have the exact same issue.

Or maybe one of these? I think it would still rub badly though, but at least it would be outer on outer.

Re:

Ignore, it'll be fine.

You'll find the outer cable cracks before it wears through due to the extra strain at the stop.

They're race frames, not designed with popping to the shops and slow riding in mind ;-).

Looks like you have a lot of cable going on there. It might be possible to minimise your issue by shortening the cable runs, like in the pic with the ritchey bars, as steering should pull the cable round when you turn a little.

The best of the options you've listed imho are the power hangers, which also improve braking so could be win/win.

Re:

Nah the hanger would just put the cable into the cable run and touch easier on turning.

Run as designed.

other than fitting v-brake, can't see how you can get round that.

Re: Re:

FluffyChicken":19vu42wg said:

Ignore, it'll be fine.

Click to expand...

ha ha! I like the laissez faire attitude. The problem is mostly when the inner cable catches on the ferrules, it kinda hinders steering past a certain point. I might try just putting some cable housing over the inner cable at the problem area to stop it catching.

ishaw":19vu42wg said:

Looks like you have a lot of cable going on there. It might be possible to minimise your issue by shortening the cable runs, like in the pic with the ritchey bars, as steering should pull the cable round when you turn a little.

Click to expand...

Somehow you managed to see outside the frame of the photo lol. I think you are right that the cables could be shortened a bit, but I'm not sure that this will improve the situation. The cable routing on the bike does not cross-over i.e front/left shifter cable goes to left cable stop. rear/right goes to right.

You could cross over the cables out front and then cross them under the down tube. You can get lengths of inner sheath to protect the cables from rubbing against each other under the down tube and fraying.

Second recommendation to cross the cables from shifter to downtube, and cross again beneath the downtube. Gives a much better cable arrangement at the front end, too, with less severe bending of the shift cables at hard steering angles.

J

It's not really a laissez faire attitude, its more that it really doesn't matter. All my canti/downtube routed bikes have had the same layout, all the canti/downtube routed bikes i've ever worked on (hundreds at least) are the same.
I can't ever recall it actually being any sort of an issue, either through more rapid cable wear, or interfering with the front brake, other than actually on the stand. Or when the bike is in the back of a car with the bars turned to 90 degrees.

It's much like the ranting and raving about toe overlap on the front wheel. In 99.9% of cases the only time you have a problem is when you go and look for it, if you just got on with it and rode, you'd never even notice.

And FWIW, its likely that the outer cables will require replacing before you come close to wearing them out enough to cause an issue.

Woohoo! So maybe it's not so much of a problem after all then. One step closer to being able to ride the bike . I put a little bit of very narrow heatshrink tubing over the brake cable which rubs, and shrunk it in place. Has helped somewhat with the catching problem.

As always, some good advice. Will try crossing, then recrossing the cables as suggested. A trip to my LBS is in order for tomorrow if I get time, to see if I can get hold of some inner cable sheathing. Or does anyone have a recommendation of where I could pick up a roll of the stuff online or a substitute?

Thanks!