Originally Posted by
Velo Mule
I use the compressionless shifter housing and slick cable in stainless steel. I like Jagwire. This combination is smooth enough that some of the BikeForum member run the cables all the way under the handlebar tape up to near the stem. I don't but it is a good gauge of how smoothly this combination works.
Housing all the way up to near the stem is my preferred way, and I use the ancient unlined stainless housing that came with Campy and Suntour pre-index bar-ends. Smooth enough for me.
Mostly because that plays nice with a big boxy bag, but also partly for historical reasons. This is a '50s bike, and pro racers in the '50s often used bar-ends, always with the cable under the tape all the way up.
Charly Gaul, dunno what year or race but maybe the '56 Giro, which he won:
He also won the '58 TdF, but wore his national team jersey for that race. (It was contested only by national teams for a few years, I forget which years.)
Coppi and Koblet, '51 TdF, which Koblet won. Bartali also used Campy bar-end shifters that year. Taped all the way up of course.
Fun Fact: In the 1951 TdF, there were only 6 Campy parallelogram derailers in the whole race, and they all used bar-ends. The DT shifters were shown in the 1951 catalog but not seen on any pro bikes until later. So at least for Campy, bar-ends pre-date downtube shifters.