tbenjaminsen

Hi all!

First post, so please go easy on me :-)

I知 currently rebuilding a Trek 4300 Disc for my 10yo son. I知 going all the way, refinish, new brakes, new drivetrain, conversion from a 3x to 1x setup, the whole shebang! For the rear derailleur I would prefer uninterrupted wiring, but the frame is clearly manufactured with interrupted wiring in mind. I知 really not a fan of exposed shifting cable, both from an aesthetic and weather sealant perspective.

Would it at all be possible to drill or cut the interrupter lugs to fit the cable with housing, allowing for a fully uninterrupted routing of the shifting wire?

TIA,

Tom

squirtdad

long term you will get worse shifting by doing this as there will be increased friction from the housing. if it were better overall or had any significant concerns high end bikes would do this....but you only see this in very old or low end bikes. If you are dead set on this, you could try it just using zip ties rather than permanently modding the frame

_ForceD_

What's the problem with exposed shifting cables? I mean that's really the norm. IMO, if it were possible to have absolutely NO cable housing (and it probably is)...that's how I'd go. When you have housing, that just creates friction, and someplace for moisture, and possible gunk to accumulate.

Use stainless cables and use less housing.

Dan

dsaul

All of the frames I build are made with no cable stops. I only use cable guides for full length cable housing and have never had a problem with shifting performance. The only exposed spot for "gunk" to get in is at the derailleur and that is no worse than an exposed cable setup, which has at least 2 spots for that gunk to get into the housing.

For the OP - I wouldn't drill out the stops, because it will be difficult to do and you may want to switch back. There are several different adapters that bolt into the cable stops and provide a cable guide for the cable housing. This is one of those adapters. https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...199&category=7

FastJake

Short answer: use the housing stops as-is. They're better than what you want to do.

Well designed bikes have historically used exposed cable whenever possible. Full length housing is heavier, lazier, and offers mushy performance when the setup is anything older than brand-new. I suspect it must be cheaper for frame manufactures, since I can't think of another reason why it's becoming common on new bikes. As far as aesthetics, I'm also not a fan of the appearance of full-length housing.

tbenjaminsen

Thanks for the input, these are all valuable considerations to be included in the decision process.

The main reason for the wish to go full length is weather sealant. We live far up north in Norway, and the weather is probably at the harshest end of the scale, featuring moist, rainy, muddy and snowy conditions, well, kinda most of the time.

On a side note, I知 a little baffled over the comment regarding full length housing on lower level/cheaper/older bikes - my 2014 Mondraker Factor XR, which I firmly believe is a high-end FS trail bike, has full length housing, and I致e never had any shifting problems or excessive friction from the housing. Go figure 🙂

tbenjaminsen

Great reflection, it is also quite in line with with my observations and conclusions, although I value the input from the other comments also.

Oh, and thanks for the link to the adapters - I wasn稚 aware such existed, and they may well be the smartest route for solving the challenge 👍🏻

dedhed

Hooded or sealed end caps.

https://jagwire.com/guides/end-caps