Originally Posted by Pele
Okay, looks like I've got a couple different options and they both lead to loosescrews.com.
Operator: If I go with under the BB, how confident are you that super glue will really hold it in place? Given my track record of super glue with tough plastics.... my inclination would be to tap a hold in the bottom of the BB just in case. How ideal is it to have a drain hole in the BB? I live in seattle.
So sorry it took me this long to get this stuff together, but here I go ......
As you will see from the pictures, my bike had the Shimano cable routing bracket that you can get from Loosescrews. When you go to that Loosescrews page, you will see in the part description that it includes a cable housing stop in the bracket. It also says that you needed an FD that had it's own cable housing stop. I am including a picture of the old FD so you can see what that was like. The other piece that you will need to do this job, in addition to the Shimano cable routing bracket, is a clamp on cable stop for the seat tube. Here is the one I used:
http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...20Cable%20Stop
I see that the 1 1/8" are out of stock at BiketoolsEtc, but these are also in the QBP catalog and can be ordered from almost any LBS. Obviously, you need to measure your seat tube and see what size you need, but it's most likely 1 1/8". You can get black or silver.
In the pictures you will be able to see the clamp on the down tube, the short piece of cable housing to make the turn up to the FD cable clamp, the way the cable housing piece is "stopped" by the cable guide bracket at one end and the Tektro clamp at the other end, how the RD cable is routed over the top of the BB tube to the cable housing stop on the top of the chainstay, and the old style FD. All of the part on this bike (an '83 Nishiki Century) are plain ole Shimano 105. This is my rain bike and it gets a lot of mileage. I apologize for everything being covered in pollen in the pics, but that's what we have in southern NH right now (ah choo!!!).
With all due respect to the other posters, this solution does not include glue, tie wraps, bubble gum, or other not_really_great solutions. There are real cable stops and by using a piece of cable housing that is about 6" long you actually get a smoother bend in the bottom of the FD cable than you do with the modern solution that give a tight bend under the BB. This is a very solid solution. I hope the pictures will help you get a good installation for your FD on your vintage frame. Best luck with your project ;-)