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Internal cabling

Old 02-26-23, 09:38 AM
  #1  
hybridbkrdr
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Internal cabling

Even though I only look at this site from time to time, I was here when people voted for internal cabling. Now that people are saying on Youtube that their bikes are no longer as "serviceable" as they were, would some of you vote the same now?
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Old 02-26-23, 11:37 AM
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I know I will never buy another bicycle with internal cabling. I'v had my fill of threading shift and brake cables but I will admit some manufacturers do it better than others.

For that matter, when my current carbon fiber steed is done, it will not be replaced with carbon fiber.
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Old 02-26-23, 11:47 AM
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Internal cable routing is one of those innovations which should of never happened. Just another example of bike industry pushing people to buy things that they don't need. Luckily there are still frames out there which have external cable routing.
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Old 02-26-23, 11:54 AM
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Originally Posted by hybridbkrdr
Even though I only look at this site from time to time, I was here when people voted for internal cabling. Now that people are saying on Youtube that their bikes are no longer as "serviceable" as they were, would some of you vote the same now?
There was a vote? It must have been a midterm, because I don’t remember it.
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Old 02-26-23, 12:00 PM
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Internal is not needed for mechanical systems, the cables were just fine routed on the exterior of the frame. With electronic its marginally safer for the cable to be on the inside of the frames. That then brings up a design problem for the manufacturers as they want frames to be "electronic ready" (really they mean Di2 ready) yet still be able to use mechanical, and that means all cables and housings internal.

Cannondale and Specialized solved this by designing the frames with ports or openings at the bottom of the bottom bracket that facilitates the running of cable and housing. It then becomes a no brainer to change mechanical cables when needed.
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Old 02-26-23, 12:05 PM
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Originally Posted by hybridbkrdr
Even though I only look at this site from time to time, I was here when people voted for internal cabling. Now that people are saying on Youtube that their bikes are no longer as "serviceable" as they were, would some of you vote the same now?
Link please, we may have forgotten how we voted.
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Old 02-26-23, 12:09 PM
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People moan about internal cable routing but it has been done for a long time and these days most manufacturers (at least of quality bikes) are using internal guides to make it easier. Maybe not perfect on all stuff and there are certainly some nightmare ones but lumping everything into it is silly. Yes external cables are easier to work with generally but internal cables look clean and so long as a manufacturer has done their job your job shouldn't be as hard.

My Cinelli Mash Work frame has internal cable routing for the rear brake and it was zero faff to install and doesn't make noise. It also looks good.
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Old 02-26-23, 12:27 PM
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Any bike can be cabled externally. Run the housings external. Use duct tape or electrical tape to keep it in place. (Some of the new tapes hold up very well in sunlight and weather.) Might require some thought on how to provide the stops but it can be done. Not saying it will be pretty but with enough thought and a little skill, you can come close.

Modifying bikes to better serve their owners is a concept as old as the hills. We have fellows over in C & V who have done stuff to hundreds of steel bikes. Epoxies and the like open the doors to doing all sorts of stuff with CF bikes for anyone willing to do it. (And, yes, there are CF bikes where caution should be used. Same as with steel and any other material.)

I'm fully aware this is heresy to some. My view? They are just bikes. Tools/toys meant to be used.

My bikes? Well one of my best bikes, a ti custom has been cut and welded when an interference showed up after months of use. New WB bosses on I think 3 bikes. (Losing track.) A pump peg. For cabling - I always bypass the stops for rear brake bare wire along the top tube and run full length housing. So far, all my bike that have some with stops for bare wire have been steel so the 1" clamps work but if I had the same on an oversize TT, I'd have to get artistic or take it to a pro.

I wish I could remember the ingenious modifications I've done to bikes in the past. I've done a couple of fun epoxy projects. (A CF wrap around soon to break chainstays on a Peugeot that turned it into the stiffest BB'd Peugeot probably ever and came out looking near professional. But that was a save-the-frame-from -the-dumpster, not a modification.)
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Old 02-26-23, 12:33 PM
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Someone told me long ago that internal cabling was for those guys who did not service their own bikes... Ha

But in reality if I had a high end bike with internal cabling I would not complain!
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Old 02-26-23, 12:50 PM
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Do you guys remember how you voted that other time?
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Old 02-26-23, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by shelbyfv
Do you guys remember how you voted that other time?
Yes, now I remember! People actually voted 78%-22% against internal cabling, but Specialized challenged the results in court. They successfully argued that on-line votes should be thrown out, and the measure then passed 100%-0%, based on the one ballot that was hand delivered to the forum headquarters.
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Old 02-26-23, 01:54 PM
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Just not going to win against BigBike....
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Old 02-26-23, 02:45 PM
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Not to worry. Soon everything will be wireless, and Big Bike will stop making anything that is cable -- or hose -- ready.
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Old 02-26-23, 02:57 PM
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I never received my ballot.
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Old 02-26-23, 05:00 PM
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Going to be overly honest here. Wrenched and managed bike shops since 1981. Seen it all. Internal cable and hose routing is a labor booster as we do charge more to do the internal stuff vs. external stuff. The current craze with routing through the bars and stem is a total pia, but once we get good at it and figure out the tricks to do it quickly (if that ever happens, thus far it ain't looking good) we will then reap the rewards of this routing.
Before I retired from the biz I left management and went back to wrenching and it took a couple dozen bikes to figure out some tricks to routing hoses and cables inside a frame. This is when the extra time paid off in labor dollars. What we billed for 30 minutes became 15 minute jobs. In a day that can add up provided the shop is a higher volume shop.
Keep in mind not all frames, even from the same maker and same model, are created equal. Some routing goes smooth, other routing does not. Especially on carbon frames where there are scraps and crevices inside the frame tubes that catch things as they pass thru.
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Old 02-26-23, 06:43 PM
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IMHO there is little need other than looks, for internal cabling, unless you are a Tour de france level rider who can take advantage of the aerodynamics.

.
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Old 02-26-23, 06:46 PM
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A solution in search of a problem. Frankly it's easier to check the condition and lubricate as needed external cables.
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Old 02-26-23, 07:07 PM
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I also prefer house wiring / plumbing to be external - mounted to brackets on the interior walls

TV cable - have that come into the house and the cable is laid on top of the floors through the house

at work - no false floors or wiring in the ceiling - all communications handled by cable laying on the floor

on our cars / trucks - replaced any sealed parking brake cables with a long exposed cable run through steel eyelets attached to subframe and floor

transmission - combo of cable and lever to shift actuator assy

and for the throttle - no fly-by-wire and no sealed cables or metal rods / linkage - drilled holes in the windshield hood ... use a pull cable fed through hole in the windshield and the hole in the hood ... cable is attached to the butterflies on the injectors
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Old 02-26-23, 07:14 PM
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Huh?
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Old 02-26-23, 08:17 PM
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Originally Posted by squirtdad
IMHO there is little need other than looks, for internal cabling, unless you are a Tour de france level rider who can take advantage of the aerodynamics.
This comment falls into the "you're not strong enough to deserve a high performance bike technology" category.

Don't do that.
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Old 02-26-23, 08:44 PM
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Originally Posted by veganbikes

My Cinelli Mash Work frame has internal cable routing for the rear brake and it was zero faff to install and doesn't make noise. It also looks good.
Your rim brake frame with a single internally routed cable is not even close to what is actually being discussed.
Routing a single cable thru a toptube is nothing like full internal cables and hoses on a carbon disc frame.
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Old 02-26-23, 09:47 PM
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Originally Posted by 79pmooney
Any bike can be cabled externally. Run the housings external. Use duct tape or electrical tape to keep it in place.
Are you seriously saying that duct tape could hold some sort of external cable clamp in place against the forces of hard braking?
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Old 02-26-23, 10:40 PM
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
Your rim brake frame with a single internally routed cable is not even close to what is actually being discussed.
Routing a single cable thru a toptube is nothing like full internal cables and hoses on a carbon disc frame.
Oh I know it isn't totally the same but internal routing doesn't always have to be faff and not all of it is but we treat it like that sometimes.
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Old 02-26-23, 10:43 PM
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Originally Posted by KerryIrons
Are you seriously saying that duct tape could hold some sort of external cable clamp in place against the forces of hard braking?
No. I said you might have to come up with some stops. Duct tape will keep that housing in place along the tubes just fine.
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Old 02-27-23, 03:43 AM
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It's one of those faffs that I think is worth it for the improved aesthetics alone. Also makes cleaning the frame easier without all the grime that gets between the cable housing and frame, especially on mtbs. No rubbing issues either. Once you move to electronic shifting it's just a couple of brake lines anyway. Once installed you can just forget about those.
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