Full end to end gear cable housing?

[foz]

Quite a few modern steel/alu/ti frames seem to have internal gear cabling from just behind the head tube to just before the dropout. I imagine this requires a full outer cable all the way from the levers to the mech. Does anyone find this gives any problems, or worse shifting than an almost fully exposed cable on the outside of the frame?

 

[Takingabreak]

I wonder why all bikes don't have end to end cable outers. People will say it's due to extra friction but modern lubricants must negate that plus end to end outer would stop any crud that must get dragged into the outers every time the cables move

 

[foz]

I think modern outers are less compressible than older types, but even so there might be some difference between them and a fully exposed cable?

 

[wynne]

Quite a few modern steel/alu/ti frames seem to have internal gear cabling from just behind the head tube to just before the dropout. I imagine this requires a full outer cable all the way from the levers to the mech. Does anyone find this gives any problems, or worse shifting than an almost fully exposed cable on the outside of the frame?

My experience is that it gives worse shifting, especially in poorly designed frames with tight angles, and particularly on bikes where cables are routed through the bar, stem and headset. The latter is effectively moving you towards wireless shifting.

 

[foz]

Yes, I'm not daft enough to try mechanical shifting through the bars and stem... Would be exposed cables to the HT or DT then fully internal from there. There seem to be a lot of frames with this arrangement

 

[wynne]

I've put lots of new bikes together with mechanical shifting routed through bar, stem etc. Companies are daft enough to design them. Awful.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Full length outer cable needs replacing sooner than short sections, and is more difficult to do so.

In the short term it keeps out muck
In the long term it traps it.

 

[benjabbi]

Quite a few of the semi internal routed (not through bar/stem/headset) bikes I've worked on don't have full length outer, outer weighs more than bare cable and we can't have that can we. There's stops in the holes in the frame and a guide at the BB like normal, just inside. Making a simple job much more of a pain in the arse for no apparent reason aside from aesthetics, which I'm not sure anyone gave a second thought to external cables anyway? It was just how it was. But I suppose the Bike Industry is gonna Bike Industry.

 

[ChromeChainstay]

yes, the shifting is worse, and the whole industry is now a 'dirt torpedo. so sad

 

[legrandefromage]

There were lots of bikes about 15 years ago with full length outer. They always seemed to come in with shifting issues due to sticky inners.

Proper gear outer isn't supposed to be compressible either. It's made of twisted steel and has been done so since at least the 80's. Old outer is no more easy to compress than new