Most bicycles with handlebar-mounted shifters run the rear cable on the right, the front on the left. This causes some awkwardness in routing the length of housing from the shift lever to the frame stops. Due to the need to allow these housings to be long enough to permit the bars to be turned all the way back and forth, the housings often wind up making a reverse bend--for instance, the rear will go from the shifter, which is on the right, swing forward and cross over past the centerline of the bicycle, then back over to the right side of the top tube, before heading down the down tube. These extra bends increase friction, and the fairly forcible contact between the housing and the side of the top tube can damage the finish.

A neat solution to this is to run the cables "criss-cross" style: The rear runs from the lever, (on the right) around the top tube, and to the cable stop on the left side of the downtube! The front cable crosses over similarly from the left side of the handlebar to the right side of the down tube.

The bare cables then cross one another under the middle of the downtube, making an "X". The cables may touch where they cross, but they will do so very lightly, since they are both straight...the tiny bit of friction at this crossing is more than offset by the reduction in friction in the smoother-flowing cable housings.


much easier to understand now that I read this as actually crossing twice (my interpretation).so I fiddled around with the bike on the repair stand today. seems there were a couple of things going on. at the left shifter, a strand of the cable had come free at the factory blob end and for about 3" had made itself accordion around the remainder of the cable hence the need to shift up before shifting down (I think!)I stripped and section of cloth/ twine/ shellac which covered the cable housing and replaced it with a new shimano cable & housing cut about 45 mm longer than the old one. i took a tip and ran some Pro Gold or something or other chain lube on the cable & drizzled into the housing. oiled the other shift cable too since the bike was on the rotisserie and I could get the cables vertical in relationship to their housing ends. wiped down the chain & oiled it too. adjusted the front derailleur the best I knew how and went for a ride. the front shift cable now can be tucked under the handlebar bag.

after about 18 miles the chain wouldn't get onto the big ring. I took up about 5 mm slack and adjusted the limit screw a bit. seemed okay the rest of the way home. shifts easy, runs quiet. I noticed once there seemed to be an auto-shift but i'm not going to freak out unless it happens a few times.

the only bummer is that not only do I not have any newbaum's yellow cloth tape, I tossed the new quart of amber shellac I bought last week since I did the Peugeot bars and gave my surly bars another coat. shellac gets hard quick in the can (there's a joke in there somewhere) and I saw no use for it until next spring.so I just wrapped the new cable section (about 110 mm) in black 3m electrical tape and went over the whole section in heavy, hard finish (no fuzzy), twine. I pulled the end "whipping style", tied them off with a clove hitch, and rubbed beeswax on the hanging ends. now I have a repair, busage, & beeswax = the retro grouch trifecta. I hope Grant will be proud!