BrockLee

On new bikes being sold today, I gotta say, internal cable routing is very important to me. I don't understand why EVERY new bike doesn't feature internal cable routing. It makes the appearance of the bike so much cleaner AND it makes hanging the bikes on several car bike racks much easier.

Your thoughts on internal cable routing?

DorkDisk

They make for a sleek look, but as someone who maintains his own fleet of bikes, I prefer externally routed cables. Plus sometimes they rattle

Shimagnolo

Term: Internal Cable Routing
Definition: Solution looking for a problem.

DorkDisk

They do make sense for electronic wired transmissions combined with large crabon tubes

FBinNY 

Looks nice, but can be a pain to work on. Choice is a wonderful thing.

badger1

Internal cable routing?
All part of the effort to add pointless complexity to a relatively simple machine/activity.
But hey! If it increases the 'vanity factor', go for it

Little Darwin

I have one bike in my fleet that has internakl routing, It is a 10 speed that weighs as much as most anchors and has the ugliest lugs I have ever seen... It is a Sears bike from the 70's.

Instead of using the internal routing, because I got tired of dealing with it, the cables are now routed more conventionally.

I strongly suspect that the new integrated computer mount points will continue to only be present on a few bikes in the future also, but I could be wrong. Another solution looking for a problem.

Of course then again, I don't understand why so many bikes are migrating toward components that are only necessary for a rider able to produce 500 watts of power, when most of the technology from 20 years ago would still be perfectly functional for most of us mortals.

BrockLee

I see. Seems that I'm a minority here and I'm cool with that. I have not had to work on the cables on this type of bike. On my last bike, which I had for 8 years, I never had to work on the cables either, though they were routed the conventional way. I know when they sell the frames, and I'm assuming the whole bike, the frames come with flexible stiff 'rods' pushed through where the cables will go. I wonder if having a set of those things would make working on the internal cabling a piece of cake or not...

FBinNY 

Buying a bike with internal cable routing is like buying sausage. You never know what's inside until it's too late.

fietsbob

If you pay for a custom bike the manner in which the cable tunnel is done is a separate choice ..

a stainless steel tubing Silver soldered inside where it penetrates the tube, top or down,

and running uninterrupted housing through that will make the service simpler .. just shove it in till it comes out the other end..

Di2 electronic wiring plugs and such can be tunnel routed as the carbon is laid up in the mold ..


your wallet your choice.. Ill take a Pass, myself..

Grey.

Vanity factor? How about being able to mount devices to the top tube without having to worry about crimping the brake cable, or putting it on a car rack and not having to worry about the shift cables on the downtube? My bike got pretty messy last November and being able to wipe down the entire bike with no external cables getting in the way was a big plus.

And aside from that, yeah, it does look better.

Cables are easy to replace unless they break off in the middle, just attatch it to the old one and pull it through. Trek uses guide tubes which pushes them in the right direction and stops them from rattling.

GlennR

My new road bike had internal cables and it does give a nice clean look. Since it's carbon fiber you can use magnets to drag a cable through which makes it very easy.

My new Trek DS also has internal cables. On a off road bike its nice to have them protected inside.

The down side is servicing them. So if you have a bike that needs them replaced often then external are easier.

practical

Internal cables should be better and probably are. They are also harder to service so that's a plus for LBS. And yes, sometimes they do rattle.

Blue Belly

Internal routing for me, please! Just looks much nicer/cleaner! External cables are for cyclocross

FBinNY 

internal cables are like the proverbial half glass of water.

The half full folks see and like the clean look.

The half empty folks think about the added effort at service time. Many of the second group have fond memories of some very ill-conceived internal cable designs, and some may have vowed, "never again".

GlennR

Think about a bike with no cables....

Sram Red wireless electronic with hydraulic brakes.

Grey.

I'm inclined to say no thanks to batteries and electronic circuitry. While I realise i'm falling back on the same "unnecessary complexity" arguement that others have used against internal cables, I do have a personal line in the sand. It's a good thing we all have so many choices, isn't it?

GlennR

When spec'ing out my new Emonda I did think about going with DI2, but decided to stay with Sram and got Red 22 instead.

I've been reading and viewing videos on the Sram wireless and would consider it.

Hey, you charge your cell phone every night so what's the problem with charging the bike every month or so. And with wireless charging soon available, it might just charge by itself whenever its in the garage.

Grey.

I have a few reservations. "Wireless" charging is a bit of a misnomer, it's inductive charging. My phone has this capability, I set it down on a pad and it charges. The big limitation with this technology is proximity, a distance of more than a few milimeters between the charging surface and the device and you get no power. Knowing that I don't see how it would be applicable to bikes, and inductive charging is actually a relatively old technology, having existed since the late 1980's. It hasen't changed much since then and I haven't heard about any recent breakthroughs that would extend the range or effeciency.

As for charging it the old fashioned way, the SRAM group uses a seperate battery for each derailleur, that's two batteries to keep charged. My main concern is it dying in the middle of a ride, or getting wet.

Furthermore, I think it's safe to say cables are always going to exist on a bike for the braking system. If you have to have them anyway, why not have all of them.

GlennR

I'm sure it's weatherproof and that you'll get many rides before charging is needed.

My Garmin lasts 8-10 rides before needing a charge.

I also like Sram's shifting. Right shifter downshifts, left shifter upshifts and press both to change the chain ring.

Grey.

I'm not really arguing for it or against it, i'm just curious about how much this technology will actaully catch on.

The cable for the RD on my Trek runs through the downtube and the chainstay, with black-on-black it's almost invisible. If the lack of cables is the only benefit of wireless shifting over conventional technologies, I couldn't see myself investing when i'm already halfway there. (I'm specifically referring to wireless shifting, not electronic shifting in general.)

badger1

Fair enough!

However, I've no desire or need to mount appliances of various kinds to my bike; one or two bottle cages suffice. I've never, since resuming cycling in a serious way in 2002, attached my bike to my car and driven to a place from which to ride. Just a personal principle (and nothing more!): doing so strikes me as defeating the purpose. Rides should begin and end at one's front door. As to cleaning the bike, never found conventional cabling to be an impediment.

Grey.

That kind of mantra would have stopped me from riding through the mountains in Colorado or along the lakes of Wisconsin. There's more to see in life than what lies outside your front door.

itzwill

I'm really new to cycling, I'm learning the ins and outs of biking and how to repair the basics. Since my bike is internal cabling this makes it so difficult for me to try and repair the cables inside if needed. I have taken my bike to my lbs and the guy did not want to repair it in the future if needed because he simply said it's a frustrating job even with 33+ years of experience.

GlennR

Find another mechanic.

If he finds working on a bike frustrating, he should never work on a car.