Brake cables dilemma

[roadking]

Re:

Doubt this will be of much interest but I've been going through a photographic archive of late, pro machines of the 70s and 80s for an article, nearly all have cables behind the 'bars and the large percentage of British pros have the front brake on the right.

Never been tangled up in brake cables - obviously not an issue when cables are wrapped under the 'bar tape !

Rk.

 

[allenh]

You're absolutely right Rk, the vast majority of the pictures I see with a longer stem show them behind and those that tend to be in front are on bikes with with shorter stems but I still think it can be a personal preference thing and in my case it's mostly habit.

Since my first childhood racer (Raleigh Arena in light blue) I always ran them in front and carried on when I got into grown up bikes, when it was pointed out to me it was wrong (many years ago and long before the internet) I found it odd when I tried the cables behind because I caught the cables when moving from the drops to the top of the bars so just reverted back to habit which is where I've stayed ever since.

Next time I re cable or build a bike with a longish stem I'll try it with the cables behind the bars and see how I get on, I certainly agree it looks better.