I now run a continuous piece of housing from the top tube cable stop near the seat post all the way to the rear dérailleur. The great benefit is that mud and gritty water is much less likely to get into the cable housing and gum up the shifting. Most cross bikes route the rear mech cable along the top tube and down the seat stay. This means that gravity greatly assists water (and grit and mud) to travel down the cable and into the housing. Running a continuous piece of housing down the seat stay protects the cable and housing from much contamination.
I’ve used zip ties to attach the housing to the seat stays but some folks will drill the stops and run the housing through them. The long piece of housing wants to deflect under load and that can result in mushy shifting. Therefore, I recommend at least five very snug zip ties to attach the housing and if you drill the stops, I suggest that you supplement them with a couple more zip ties.
Here’s a picture of Andy Askren’s Speedvagen that was built for continuous housing. In the two following photos, you’ll notice that there are four routing points plus the top tube cable stop. I’m guessing that Sasha did this to keep housing play to a minimum.
The shifting on my A bike is still acceptable after an incredibly muddy race this past weekend. I’d bet that there are a bunch of other guys changing out there cables this week. Not me.
Entries (RSS)
November 26th, 2007 at 9:11 am
I do the normal housing route but easily maintain by lubing the cable when needed. This is easily done by shifting into the largest cog (smallest gear), now shift all the way down to smallest cog WITHOUT pedaling. You will now have a large amount of slack in the cable, which allows you to pop the housing out of the cable stops so you can lube all parts of the cable. Now simply slide the housing back into the stops. The beauty is the cable doesn’t need to be readjusted.
November 26th, 2007 at 9:22 am
After muddy races, I’ve found that lube might make the shifting okay for maybe one more race. But once the dirt starts packing in the noodle, there’s nothing for it but a housing change. Lube turns the dirt into a ductile mud. Anyway, since I’ve gone to continuous housing, I haven’t had to touch it. Problem solved.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
I never understood the decision to route the rear shifter cable along the top tube. Routing under the BB shell made more sense. Mountain bike builders kept trying to string the top tubes like guitars. Looked badass but was never as functional as routing under the BB.
I was really stoked to see the new Konas with braze-ons on the TT that allowed either full or split rear brake cable housing.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Another option could be the sealed version of the gore ride-on cables. I was fortunate enough to get a free pair to test for the mag and found that held up really well once it got very muddy here in january – no real adjustments needed at all – and one continuous sealed cable, but without the weight of full housing and hassle of zipties. Not cheap – but perhaps worth it for shifting and if you’re changing up cables a lot.
It seems like TT cable routing is far more popular nowadays – but I’ve never had issues with downtube cable routing, and also prefer the barrel adjusters on the frame over the klunky inline ones companies are adding to make up for the lack of adjustments on the TT routing.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:38 am
Andrew, I’m leery of fancy sealed cabling. My opinion is that I might spend a lot of money for a set of cables and housing, take a lot of setup time, and then get let down after a muddy race or two. I’ve found standard housing with a continuous section along the seat stay to be an effective solution — and that means cost effective too.
But you could get Gore to send me a set and I’d test them to see if they are Pacific Northwest approved.