Originally Posted by
Don Buska
- Really Weird Item #1. On the lower portion of the non-driveside on the top-tube are two braze-on cable guides. When I saw this frame initially I thought these were cable stops, but they are not. The weird part is they are made for the 4mm cable jacket size. Their placement indicates these would most likely be for the rear brake cables, but 4mm is usually reserved for derailleur cables only! Yes, I thought it could be a drop-down run for a front derailleur, but that doesn't make sense as the BB has the guides for both derailleur runs and they have been used. Anyone have a guess why they would have used 4mm guides along the top tube? BTW, I plan on using these for the rear brake run by inserting 4mm to 5mm stop ferrule reducer adapters into each of these guide braze-ons. I will run 5mm cable jackets fore and aft and only bare cable between the two guides along the top tube.
Your plan is exactly right. I am 99.9% sure that using the top tube braze ons with step down ferrules was the original intent. It would have been a slightly retro thing in 1986 to have lower side mount top tube cable stops, but not that unusual really. Maybe it was a JDM thing. 5 mm cable stops at that time were generally intended for MTBs and would look kind of bulky on a fine road frame. Helmet stops were a better choice.
Beautiful frame. Clearly artisan built. A notch above the normal top model.