Road Cycling - Protecting Headtube from Cable Rubbing?

i'd like to protect my new frame from having the paint rubbed off by the cables. my concern
is at the headtube where the shifter-cables run. in the attached photo, you can see my present
solution; i have placed some rubber bands around the cable.

in the past some folks have recommended using cable donuts that are commonly sold
at bike shops. those washers or donuts are typically designed to go around a bare cable
and not around the cable plus housing as in this case. so does anyone have a bright solution
to this??? i just came back from the hardware store, but did not find a washer that would nicely
fit and was soft enough to not rub the frame raw by itself.

thanks in advance,
-astrocub

Clear package sealing tape placed on the head tube will protect the paint, while not being visible unless you are looking for it. That's what I use to hold my computer wires in place, it looks far cleaner than the zip ties that most of us use, and it doesnt give gunk a place to hang out either. Just be sure to wear powder free exam gloves, or have VERY clean hands so the adhesive doesn't get gunked up with fingerprints.

I was having the same problem. I had the bike in for an unrelated issue a couple of weeks ago and the LBS said 'want us to take care of that rubbing?', I said go ahead. They put what looks like ovals of some kind of plastic tape or something like that right over where the cables would rub. See if your LBS has them or if somebody knows exactly what those are, you could probably pick them up in a store.

Dimension makes transparent adhesive chainstay protectors that come with several other smaller pieces for cable rub. $5 at my LBS. Distributed by QBP so it should be available at any bike shop.

Electrical tape. Whatever tape you use, make you can take it off without leaving a nasty residue.

Clear tape, either basic packing tape or special bike made stuff if you want to spend the extra money.

But the real fix may be to re-route your cables so they don't rub. First, run the shifter cables to the opposite side of the bike, then have them recross under the down tube. This works better or worse on different bikes, but on some it is a very elegant solution which also decreases the sharpness of the bends in the cables.

gios makes little thingies with their logo on them specifically for this purpose. they also make a bunch of other superfluously logo'd things...odd company...

Having the STI cable holder thingies on the head tube instead of the down tube obviously stops this, but I've found that you then have a problem with the STI cable hitting the brake cable. I had to swap the calipers over on one of my bikes to avoid the problem.

What do you guys think?

Clear hockey tape works well too.

as an update to this thread, i put some clear packing tape on my headtube to
protect from the rubbing of the shifter cable housing. even though i put 2 layers
of tape, the cables have worn through in 2 weeks (500 miles of riding) and have
begun to remove my beautiful paint job. the packing does not appear to be a
good solution if it needs to be replaced every week.

-astrocub

let it rub. a used bike is a beautiful bike.

sd

No tape will work because it is too thin.
They sell a plastic, clear circle sticker just for that purpose. Those, unfortunately tend to fall off but better than nothing.

There are also rubber donuts that are fat enough for the cable housing. Those work best.

The bootleg racer's trick? Get some adhesive-backed velcro (like .25 cents) and cut the fuzzy side into a little square. Stick it to your frame and let the cable housing rest on the fuzzy part. Invisible and keeps the housing from vibrating on the headtube.

let it rub. a used bike is a beautiful bike.

sd


that's the way i'm thinking about it now. it's aluminium so
rust shouldn't be a concern w/o the paint coverage.
-astrocub

try this,

http://www.xpel.com/products/default.asp

Expensive, but it works.

that's the way i'm thinking about it now. it's aluminium so
rust shouldn't be a concern w/o the paint coverage.
-astrocub

from the little i can see of your bike in that pic, it looks great already. you notice the missing paint because you scrutinize every part of the bike, but frankly nobody else in the world would, except _maybe_ the prospective buyer when/if you ever decide to sell your bike.

it's wierd how we obssess over these things, but i've noticed nobody looks at my bike the way i do, not the blemishes, not where it looks good either... people just get the general impression.. not to mention half the time on the bike you're just a blur to other people.

sd

let it rub. a used bike is a beautiful bike.

That was my attitude until I noticed that the cable was actually digging a hole in the alu!!

A beautiful bike is one that is cared for. Some headtube protection is as basic as bar tape. A scratch here, a dent there; it's all well earned in my book but unneccessary damage like this is just bush leauge bike building.

Love your bike man! ;)

I saw small stick on carbon fiber squares somewhere..on some Website. In fact, if I can find them again I'm going to get some for me new Zurich.

PJ

Haven't tried it, but glueless tube patches might work.

Dave

I saw small stick on carbon fiber squares somewhere..on some Website. In fact, if I can find them again I'm going to get some for me new Zurich.

PJ

PJ,

I stopped into a Lemond dealer today and asked if there was anything to protect the head tube from cable rubbing the paint. He said that the Lemonds had high enough quality paint where it should not be a problem.

But, being better safe than sorry, let me know if you find them.

Thanks, TR.

i stuck a few Park glueless patches in areas where i'd get cable rub. they're clear, and thick enough to protect without getting worn through themselves, at least for quite a while.

I just put self adhesive fuzzy velcro on mine a couple days ago after reading this thread and it really works great!!

Do you have STI or bar-end shifters?

Two options:
- if you are creative with zip ties, you might attach one or two zip ties around the head tube, so that the shifter cables rub against the zip ties instead of the paint. I did something like that on my tourer, but it is very dark blue, so the black zipties are almost concealed.

- If you are somewhat mechanically inclined and if you don't have an under-the-tube water cage, re-route the cables to the opposite side. Basically, from the right lever, the cable runs to the LEFT cable stop, then crosses under the down tube (insignificant cable rubbing there), reaches the (proper) right bottom bracket guide and eventually the rear derailleur. Ditto for the left cable to the front derailleur. That way, cables housings tend to stay away from the head tube.
The trick works especially fine with low handlebars.

Two years ago, I cut a small piece of white electrical tape, about one and a half times the width of the cable housing, and placed it inconspicuously behind the housing on the head tube. I worked beautifully until this season. Now the adhesive is gone and the tape has come off and left some gunk behind. I've cleaned the head tube and replaced the tape. No problems.