Bikepacking Bags - Cables/Housing
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 947
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 286 Post(s)
Liked 261 Times
in
129 Posts
Bikepacking Bags - Cables/Housing
My allroad/gravel bike has internal cable routing and I use a couple bikepacking bags without a fuss. My road bike has external cable routing and the 1/2 frame bag attached to both the top and down tubes contact the cables, so I haven’t used that bag on this bike. If I used full length shifting and brake cable housing would it be okay for the housing to contact the bag?
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,203
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3459 Post(s)
Liked 1,465 Times
in
1,143 Posts
My allroad/gravel bike has internal cable routing and I use a couple bikepacking bags without a fuss. My road bike has external cable routing and the 1/2 frame bag attached to both the top and down tubes contact the cables, so I haven’t used that bag on this bike. If I used full length shifting and brake cable housing would it be okay for the housing to contact the bag?
#3
Senior Member
Consider where you might hve cables without housings and whether they may be an issue with the bags you plan to use. If you need to you could go with full length housings.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,203
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3459 Post(s)
Liked 1,465 Times
in
1,143 Posts
There are two possible issues I can think of. One is if the cables are routed in such a way that the bags cause kinking. Seems unlikely though. The other is that you should avoid having a bag strapped tightly against a portion of the cable with no housing. Avoid straps binding those portions of cables. It might wear the bag and bind the cable.
Consider where you might hve cables without housings and whether they may be an issue with the bags you plan to use. If you need to you could go with full length housings.
Consider where you might hve cables without housings and whether they may be an issue with the bags you plan to use. If you need to you could go with full length housings.
Photos and clarification would be useful.
#5
Senior Member
sandwiched between the frame and the frame bag should be fine. just check the curvy bits where the housing jumps between triangle tubes. loose/unsecure bag could pull cables out of alignment in the corner curves and affect braking/shifting.
Last edited by saddlesores; 11-06-21 at 06:05 PM.
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Maine, USA
Posts: 1,612
Bikes: Corvid Sojourner, Surly Ice Cream Truck, Co-Motion Divide, Co-Motion Java Tandem, Salsa Warbird, Salsa Beargrease, Carver Tandem
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 435 Times
in
227 Posts
Sometimes it is a problem on my bikes with manual disk brakes with exposed cables with couplers. Kinking definitely happens if I don’t pay attention how I position things
#7
Senior Member
One of my bikes has full length housings and I know it has little guides for the housing to nestle into and little holes in these partial guides for zip ties to hold the housing in place.
with your road bike, how do you see full housing to be held to frame, zip ties around the whole frame tube? And wouldn't the standard housing stop things get in the way?
photos would certainly help
I'd Google ideas also.
with your road bike, how do you see full housing to be held to frame, zip ties around the whole frame tube? And wouldn't the standard housing stop things get in the way?
photos would certainly help
I'd Google ideas also.
#8
Senior Member
I fully agree with you, but he said:
My expedition bike has full length outer housing, so I was thinking that. It is possible that his bike has cable stops on the frame so he can run bare inner cable, but if so I interpreted his plan to be to use a section of outer housing between any cable stops so that nothing would rub and chaf on the bag(s).
My expedition bike has full length outer housing, so I was thinking that. It is possible that his bike has cable stops on the frame so he can run bare inner cable, but if so I interpreted his plan to be to use a section of outer housing between any cable stops so that nothing would rub and chaf on the bag(s).
Photos and clarification would be useful.
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 209
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 86 Post(s)
Liked 51 Times
in
35 Posts
I've run a full frame bag on my touring bike with exposed cable for ~10k miles. This has rear brake cable exposed between cable stops on the underside of the top tube, and exposed front and rear shift cable on the down tube. All three have Ritchey couplers (S&S couplers on the frame), so the coupler for the rear brake does move a little between the top tube and the top fabric of the frame bag, but it's fairly loose between top tube and bag. (If you have a frame bag with laces along the whole top edge, you might need to take care not to lace it extremely tightly.) The shift couplers just move in free air below the down tube.
No problems to report. One does need to take care with any velcro straps -you want the strap under exposed cable, not over - but with housing it doesn't matter. And I had this bag custom designed to this bike - between the cable stops, cable couplers, and frame couplers, it's a little fussy about where the velcro straps should go. Plus at the time (2013?) there were not many off-the-shelf frame bags yet.
Custom bags from small makers are the same price or cheaper than ready-made ones, so this shouldn't deter anyone reading this post. It's usually quite simple now, you just upload a good quality photo of the frame, with a ruler or tape measure in the photo
No problems to report. One does need to take care with any velcro straps -you want the strap under exposed cable, not over - but with housing it doesn't matter. And I had this bag custom designed to this bike - between the cable stops, cable couplers, and frame couplers, it's a little fussy about where the velcro straps should go. Plus at the time (2013?) there were not many off-the-shelf frame bags yet.
Custom bags from small makers are the same price or cheaper than ready-made ones, so this shouldn't deter anyone reading this post. It's usually quite simple now, you just upload a good quality photo of the frame, with a ruler or tape measure in the photo
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 947
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 286 Post(s)
Liked 261 Times
in
129 Posts
Thanks for the responses. Sorry no photo - right now I have exposed cables under the top tube and under the down tube. When I next replace cables I was going to get full length housing in those areas so that I can run a bag. Pretty confident this wouldn't be an issue thanks to the positive feedback.
#11
Senior Member
Thanks for the responses. Sorry no photo - right now I have exposed cables under the top tube and under the down tube. When I next replace cables I was going to get full length housing in those areas so that I can run a bag. Pretty confident this wouldn't be an issue thanks to the positive feedback.
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,203
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3459 Post(s)
Liked 1,465 Times
in
1,143 Posts
Thanks for the responses. Sorry no photo - right now I have exposed cables under the top tube and under the down tube. When I next replace cables I was going to get full length housing in those areas so that I can run a bag. Pretty confident this wouldn't be an issue thanks to the positive feedback.
Likes For Tourist in MSN:
#13
Senior Member
and if you do really go the full housing route, be sure to put some layers of electric tape or whatever for where the zip ties will contact the frame, as with frame bag strap contact points, just so paint doesnt get rubbed off over time. Pretty important.
#14
Miles to Go
I have run a frame bag for years with exposed cables on my LHT without issue. The weight of the bag is pulling down. If they rub, they aren't rubbing hard on the bag.
#15
Senior Member
I am not surprised. I wasn't going to suggest that would be the case without personal experience, but am glad to hear it has worked out tht way for you.
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,203
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3459 Post(s)
Liked 1,465 Times
in
1,143 Posts
If I was going to put outer housing over the inner along the top tube, I would just cut a piece of outer housing that is a hair shorter than the distance between the cable stops. (Also factor in the ferrule length for two ferrules for that distance.) If the outer housing there is shorter than the distance between the cable stops by a couple mm, then the cable stops still serve their purpose, as the frame and cable stops is as compressionless as the shifter compressionless shifter cable is. In that case you could even use brake outer housing between the stops because the sole purpose of the outer housing is to prevent friction between the bag and cable and the outer housing is not under compression. No need for zip ties to hold the housing to the frame.
I used to put electrical tape on my frame in chafe spots. Then on my Nomad Mk II frame, they had sprayed clear coat over the decals which were over the color coat. Some of the clear coat stayed stuck to the tape when I pulled it off. You probably can do the electric tape thing 9 out of 10 times without any problem. But after my experience with the tape lifting the clear coat off, if you plan to do that you might want to try putting a piece of tape on in a small spot and see if it peels off ok a month later.
I used to put electrical tape on my frame in chafe spots. Then on my Nomad Mk II frame, they had sprayed clear coat over the decals which were over the color coat. Some of the clear coat stayed stuck to the tape when I pulled it off. You probably can do the electric tape thing 9 out of 10 times without any problem. But after my experience with the tape lifting the clear coat off, if you plan to do that you might want to try putting a piece of tape on in a small spot and see if it peels off ok a month later.
#17
Senior Member
Last edited by BobG; 11-10-21 at 05:27 AM. Reason: delete photo
#18
Senior Member
as you'll inevitably wind up with a bit of unsecured
housing "plinking" against the metal tube each
time you hit a bump, especially if you ride with
the frame bag removed.
nothing more bothersome than weird noises
coming off your bike, random clicks or tapping.
worst has gotta be aiglets slapping your grommets.
#19
Senior Member
Some of this probably comes down to how careful we are as individual about wear points and so on. Some go to great lengths to avoid even the slightest scuff. Others don't sweat it if a little paint gets rubbed off over time. Similar attitudes can apply over wear on bags and other gear.
Personally I figure I am not much worried about hurting resale value since I seldom have ever sold one of my bikes. I keep them either forever or until they are ready to donate to a co-op. A scuff here or there that is normal wear doesn't bother me. A scar from a crash may bother me more, but is less avoidable and I see it as just another battle scar. Wear on bags and stuff like that concerns me if it actually shortens the life of the bags. Otherwise not so much.
I have almost never bothered with tape or other protective stuff on the frame unless I was putting it under a metal p-clamp or something.
Not suggesting others should do as I do. Just pointing out that there is a range of approaches to how much we fuss over this stuff. Some of us go to great lengths and some of us pretty much just don't sweat it.
Personally I figure I am not much worried about hurting resale value since I seldom have ever sold one of my bikes. I keep them either forever or until they are ready to donate to a co-op. A scuff here or there that is normal wear doesn't bother me. A scar from a crash may bother me more, but is less avoidable and I see it as just another battle scar. Wear on bags and stuff like that concerns me if it actually shortens the life of the bags. Otherwise not so much.
I have almost never bothered with tape or other protective stuff on the frame unless I was putting it under a metal p-clamp or something.
Not suggesting others should do as I do. Just pointing out that there is a range of approaches to how much we fuss over this stuff. Some of us go to great lengths and some of us pretty much just don't sweat it.
#20
Senior Member
I've been anal about maintaining paint on steel frames since the demise of my Bill Vetter frame, particularly the thin mid-section of the top tube. The frame below was 12 years old ('82-'94) thus it owed me nothing. Despite having been freshly re-painted with Imron a bubble appeared. I peeled it and this crack was revealed below. I think I waited too long to re-paint ...
Powdercoat on my current frame with thicker tubes has held up better for 27 years with one re-application.
Powdercoat on my current frame with thicker tubes has held up better for 27 years with one re-application.
Last edited by BobG; 11-12-21 at 10:14 AM.