Salamandrine 

Yep. That's the old school way to route bar ends and it does work. Nice.

I think if going with old school housing and old school friction shifters, this is a better choice. If the OP wants the housing wrapped all the way to the top, better to use modern slick cables and lined housing.

BTW, cables used with unlined housing would have had a very generous smear of grease. Pretty much as much as you can get on there. Grease is not optional. For some reason this seems to scare people today.

Anyhow, as far as friction, it all adds up. Lube, cable routing, rebuilding the shifters, filing and dressing the housing ends, ferrules.

Going to under BB routing as suggested could help too. If this bike has a clamp on RD stop, it'd be easy enough to shift that around to the bottom of the chainstay. I'd do the other stuff first though.

seypat

No, I meant did you route, then anchor the cables to the handlebars with electrical tape before you wrapped the handlebar tape? I think you are supposed to route your cable along the bars and secure them with electrical tape before you put the wrap on. At least that is what I do. Tape the cable close to where it connects with the shifter. Then work going away along the bars routing your cable and taping it every 3-4 inches until you get to where it will exit from the handlebar tape. Secure it again there, then wrap it. If you wrapped it with the cables loose, they might be sliding slightly under the bar tape when you try to shift. If there is friction between the cable and housing this could happen. Just a guess.

mgopack42 

I have never used barcon shifters. having said that, I have set up numerous bikes with them BITD when wrenching at a LBS. The stated reason for the routing shown above, was always to minimize the friction inherent in tight curves of the housing. if you look at it from a physics point of view, more friction along the length of the housing (the sharper the bend, the more friction), and the shorter levers, all coupled with the pinkie centric operation, all made for difficult shifting. Modern housings and cables will likely defeat a lot of friction in the system, but there is no way around the fact that the tighter the curve, the harder it is for the cable to negotiate it. YMMV

alexnagui

Okay, I see what you mean, that does make sense. Yes, I did tape the cable housing before wrapping the bars.

The Golden Boy 

Definitely the best way to do it- I don't think I'll ever route them 'normal' again- if I can help it. I also don't think I'll route the cables out in front of the bar again- if I can help it.

Here's how I used to have my barcons:

CrissCrossCables by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

CrissCrossFront by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

UnderDownTube by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr



And this is how I have them routed under the tape these days:

IMG_0220 by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

1990 Miyata 1000LT by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

seypat

I let mine touch/cross in front of the head tube before arcing back into the tape.