Lazyass

I've been checking out a particular alu bike with internal cables. I read a review on it and it was good except that the cables rattled inside the down tube. Never having (or really wanting) a bike with internally routed cables, is there some common way to fix it, maybe a sleeve inside or something, or would it be something you would have to live with? Because I couldn't deal with that.

Vicegrip

Yes, multiple ways to fix depending on the bike and cables.

svtmike

Pretty common is a sleeve with the same anti-rattle grommets around it that are used on external cables.

rpenmanparker 

You don't specify how the cables are set up. First of all we are talking about shifter cables, right? A properly designed setup for only the inners passing through the down tube with stops at the openings shouldn't rattle as they are pulled tight and don't touch anything on the way down the tube. The plugs/ferrules at the tube openings should suspend the cables and keep them away from the frame. But if the setup is with full outer cables passing through the frame, that is a recipe for problems. The cables can be slack inside just as if they were outside. That allows them to touch the inside walls of the frame. You don't want that kind of setup.

Occasionally you see a bare wire setup where the two cables are criss-crossed on purpose. That is probably not a good idea for internal routing.

Lazyass

I don't know, pretty sure the openings have stops. This is the only info I can find on it. Not the exact model but the same frame.

Mekk Pinerolo AL 1.5 review - BikeRadar

svtmike

Complete replace of my post:

The cables are full outers. As Robert said, that's a recipe for rattling.

https://road.cc/content/review/165906...pinerolo-al-20

I did wonder whether water thrown up from the front wheel would get into the entry ports on the underside of the down tube because they don't look particularly well sealed, but that hasn't happened. Water would find it difficult to get at the cables anyway because they have outers along their full length.

rpenmanparker 

It looks like the problem could be the extreme narrowing of the down tube from the head tube down to the BB shell. The cables may not have enough clearance at the BB to get to the openings there without hitting the bottom of the down tube. If the openings at the top were a little more to the side, i.e. higher in the tube, maybe they would clear better. If the fouling is very near the BB shell as it seems it would be, you can likely get in there (with BB removed) to put a couple of inches of outer on the inner cable to insulate them from the down tube. That could help. I guess that personally, I wouldn't take the risk.

Lazyass

You would think the manufacturer would have identified this problem before selling them.

rpenmanparker 

If you had the frame in hand, you could check whether ferrules could be used as cable stops to allow bare inners inside the frame. But under the circumstances I would run, not walk, in the opposite direction.