Originally Posted by CATZ
How much of an advantage is it to run the cables "open" rather than in a housing?
What is the best setup for bottom pull front DR?
"top pull or bottom pull front DR"? Which is better?
Rear Center pull cantilever brakes:
1. Truthfully, I'm not sure. It seems to me that a completely closed system would be better because you'd have fewer places for grit to enter the housing. On the other hand, most stock bikes have significant areas of open cables and they generally seem to work OK. I'd think that on a recombent you might have some long cable runs so, if everything else was equal, that much cable housing would be ugly.
2. I'd think that the derailleur that you choose would determine that. Most are designed for a bare cable to attach onto so cable housing at that point might get messy.
3. Top and bottom pull front derailleurs work equally well. You can even get derailleurs that have been designed to work either way. If you are planning to use a road crankset with a 52 or 53 tooth big ring, you'll need a road front derailleur and they're all bottom pull.
4. Honestly, if it were my bike, I'd use a linear pull brake because they're so much easier to set up. Center pull canty's require some kind of cable connection on the centerline of the bike. I'd think that the design of the rest of the bike would dictate how best to do that. Linear pull brakes just require a cable stop almost anywhere on the rear of the frame.
Good luck!