curieux88

How should I route this cable housing?

im using TT brake levers on my bull horn. It looks like the cable hole is on the top. I was hoping to route it underneath the bar tape for cleanliness, but I don’t think it’s possible.

any thoughts on making it look pretty?

frankenmike 

Is it possible to ditch the housing caps for a flatter transition?

curieux88

Unfortunately, the housing isn’t flexible enough

Scrodzilla

Use different levers.

Speedway2

You don't want to "force" the angle of cable too much or it will affect cable response.
One of the reasons why I choose the Tektro bar-end levers is because they route the cables on the underside. Also, they're easy on the wallet and they came in black

Speedway2

I need to check my eyes for Rx glasses......the cables route along the under-side of the horns(from the Tektro RX 4.1 levers). I then routed the housing under and inside the bar. The cushioned/cork bar tape does a great job of "hiding" the cable.

the sci guy 

I used to have cane creek TT levers, these: https://www.amazon.com/Cane-Creek-Tr...reek+tt+levers
and they were great and easy to work with because the cables are routed underneath.

those ones you got are kinda weird!

veganbikes

SRAM S500 levers always. SRAM tends to have some of the best levers in the biz in terms of comfort and good looks.

curieux88

s500 for bullhorn?

curieux88

thanks! That looks pretty sweet. I’m trying to get in touch with Soma, but I think I’ll give up. Soma has been pretty awful with communication and tech support.

Scrodzilla

Like just about every company in this industry, Soma is extremely short staffed and under a tremendous amount of strain due to Covid-19. Have some understanding for the situation and stop taking it personally.

Besides, it's not their fault you bought the wrong levers.

curieux88

I'm not taking it personally. If they are too busy, I might give up on trying to get their support. It's not a big deal. Stop making assumption that I'm taking it personally. Their communication has been pretty awful. I've asked couple questions, not related to this lever issue, in the past few months, and I just got forwarded to a non-soma email address, and then nothing happens.



I bought the wrong levers? Oh, you mean, the poorly designed levers? I purchased what they posted. They didn't fully disclose the unusual design of the lever. I simply trusted their reputation, and perhaps it's my fault for trusting them.

Also, I don't understand how that justifies anything? Are you saying that because I bought "wrong" levers, I don't deserve any customer service? What do you think I asked in the email? I simply asked how they routed the cable when they went through the design process. I think that's a fair question. I'm a product designer, and I should definitely be able to ask such question for anything I've ever designed. I'm patiently waiting, but at the same time, I highly doubt that they will ever respond to my email. That's the reason why I posted here, and I'm probably moving on to different levers.

Scrodzilla

Speedway2

Op....return the SOMA's and buy the Tekto's @ $30 or the SRAM 500 TT @ $70. Both route the cable underneath........

curieux88

ooohhh the sram one is a beauty. Do you happen to know if that’s routed internally or externally? I’ve seen some TT brake levers that are wired internally, which would require handlebars with wiring holes.

burnthesheep

I jumped in here simply because I saw the letters "TT".

I hope it works out for you either way. But, around here most folks I know that own something like this bought a super basic alloy TT-bike base bar. Often just the round ones that perk up at the brakes like yours. TT bike base bars can almost have the exact same bar shape you have there, but the brake cable routes internal and exits the bar underneath and near the stem.

They can be really cheap too. I've seen alloy "aero" base bars like this, with the "tilt" upwards at the end like you have there......for $70. Then you can run TT bike brakes with the cable run inside.

A clean option.

I own Selcof TT brakes bought through Planet X. Internal cable run.
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BLPXAE...t-brake-levers

Not fully internal, but would use internal cable brake then exit bottom of bar there in the pics:
https://www.racycles.com/equipment/c...SABEgIdwfD_BwE

A Deda Crononero low rider would fit the bill. Almost all internal, cheap, and same shape you have almost.

caloso

I have some of those. I don't know why you'd get anything else unless you wanted CF to save every last gram.

Speedway2

The Sram 500 TT are routed internally. You could always drill a hole in your handlebars and fish the cable thru....

the sci guy 

Dude just get these like I mentioned earlier:
Cane Creek BRAKE LEVER CC TT/BAREND 200TT BK/BK 200 TT Levers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000R9E4C4..._wz-aFbMW4WFW7

they route under the bar, and externally. I used them on my bullhorns and was just able to wrap the bar tape around the entire cable length from the bar end to the finishing tape.

Here is my bike with said levers and wrap: https://flic.kr/p/nUWrdf

veganbikes

Yes S500 TT levers

3speedslow

Thread should have stopped when he said “pretty”.

curieux88

and why is that?

curieux88

I decided to keep it cheap, so I found the cheapest pair on eBay. Thanks for the help everyone!

Speedway2

curieux88....turned out great! The chrome levers works with the rest of your bike.

R200

Sorry to come into this thread so late, but I installed these Soma "Pursuit" brake levers on a Soma "Urban Pursuit" bull bars on my Poseidon SXL-Expressway single-speed. I faced the same dilemma about the cable routing not flowing well under the wraps. However, I found that the cables work well exposed. Although this approach may have more aerodynamic drag than keeping the cables under the wraps, I think that the lower cable resistance and better responsiveness makes up for it. I hope that the original poster found a solution to this issue.