venturi95

Got any simple and elegant solutions? I'm more interested in road applications. I already know about stick-on tape, I would rather eliminate the rub altogether.

easyupbug 

These work and I have used the Jagwire protectors and they also work w/o discoloring your frame.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/114386974397?

venturi95

Thanks, that's worth investigating.

cxwrench

What bike and which shifters? How about going around the head tube to the opposite side of the down tube if you're not already. Post a photo of your current set up.

Iride01 

SRAM eTap or Shimano Di2

rosefarts

Except for the rear brake.

Iride01 

OP mentions nothing about brake cables.

I wondered about that too, but figured it was the slap of the bare shifter cables they were more concerned with.

I suspect I'm mistaken in what the OP is asking specifically though. Maybe we'll get some more detail.

rosefarts

Anything that passes the head tube is vulnerable.

I’m wireless on my gravel bike, I still need tape for the rear brake hose across the head tube.

Ill probably put a little bit of a MTB frame protector sticker on it, once my new MTB arrives, if I have stickers left over.

venturi95

Well, if you insist on seeing a boring old bikes here ya go. The bark blue Hybrid sort of needs new cables, and I will do the opposite routing when I get around to it. It has a new fork and I want to ride it more right now, thus the point of my thread.



The gray road bike has the aforementioned routing, but there is a very modest rubbing.

Iride01 

Are you doing left shifter for the rear thing that confuses most of us? That does make keeping the shifter cables off the head tube difficult.

Troul 

thats a very up-close picture. you might be able to shorten them at the time you change there routing. i could see all that extra housing causing frame slap.

cxwrench

Run them around the head tube...rear derailleur housing to the left, front to the right. They'll cross under the down tube to end up back on the correct side.

gpburdell

I went with a bit of helitape / 3M PPF.

Nearly invisible and does the job.

SpedFast

I lose those faster than I can put them on. I found some surgical hosing that slides tightly over the housing and you can cut it to length and it works really well. It also comes in different colors if you want to dress it up and it won't damage the finish on the bike.

biker128pedal

Small zip ties kept my from being lost. One in the center worked.

RGMN

Putting a zip tie on the protector sort of defeats the purpose, now you have to position the zip tie so it doesn't rub the frame. I put the tube top where I want it then secure it to the housing with a drop of super glue.

SpedFast

I might try that in the future. I never thought about gluing the protectors to the housing to keep them in place. Thanks

biker128pedal

Super glue failed for me after a couple of months. Positioning easy to do. In my case rotating it so the end part of the zip tie was away from the frame.

Reflector Guy

Contact cement would secure them if need be.

I've never lost one but that may be a function or road bikes vs. mountain bikes.... I don't make the sharp turns or bump up and down on rough terrain like a mountain bike might do.

Flatforkcrown

I run my right shifter to the left stop on the frame, and left shifter to right stop. Cross cables again under the down tube. Of course, if you have internally routed cables this probably won’t work.

Kapusta

Jagwire Mini Tube Tops work really well.

I got a few of them with the last Mountain PRO cable/housing kit I ordered from them.

icemilkcoffee 

You can also cross the shift cables both in front of and behind the head tube. Such that right shifter still goes to the right cable stop and left shifter left cable stop.
Another alternative is to use either Shimano or Microshift brifters with external cabling. You can set them up so that they don’t run the head tube when going straight ahead.

Camilo

I use these things to keep the cables more or less organized and from rattling against each other. Also can result in keeping them spread out and away from rubbing the frame
20 X Rotating Bike Brake Gear Cable Protection Tidy Clip, Cross Guide S Hooks | eBay

I use these where the cables do contact the frame. They never come off
5Pcs Bike Bicycle Brake Cable Protectors Rubber Protector Spiral Hose Frame Hose | eBay

Troul 

the spirals looks promising.