After raising my handlebar I've had to replace my cable runs with longer ones to reach. The bike is a 2016 Novara - Safari, and it has Microshift 9-speed thumb shifters.

While installing the shifter housing/cables, I routed them in what seems to be the most logical way, that is the shifter on the right side to the run on the left side of the bike going to the "front" derailleur, and the shifter on the left side to the run on the right side of the bike going to the "rear" derailleur. I say this because routing them this way avoids tight bends in the cabling at the bars. Unfortunately, that's not how the original cables were routed and apparently "must" be routed, forcing what I think are unnecessarily tight bends on the cables, and adding length to the run itself, which I would think should be avoided if possible.

The right hand shifter is indexed for the rear derailleur and 9-speed cassette, the left hand shifter is not, but rather for the front derailleur and chain-rings only. So I cannot simply adjust or adapt one to control the other as I'd like. Can someone tell me why the routing is "forced" to be the opposite of what seems to be the best and most logical way. Am I missing something about this? Do I have to and should I just rout them as they were stock?

This is the bike,
https://www.rei.com/product/874998/n...fari-bike-2016

These are the shifters,
microSHIFT -The best control system

The modern convention is that the right hand controls the rear brake and the rear derailleur, and the left hand, the front brake and front derailleur.

Do I have to and should I just rout them as they were stock?

Yes, right rear/ left front, don’t waste any brain power wondering why just reroute and ride on

OK, that's unfortunate, but thanks for the help.

You might be able to adopt the "criss-cross" cable routing where the the cables cross under the downtube:
Cables (scroll about 2/3 down the page)
Ask a Mechanic: Crossing Cables Under the Downtube

Crossing the cables under the downtube is done all the time, and it works fine.
But if you really think you need to route the cable straight down the tube, you can use V brake noodles to route the cable around a tight bend straight out of the shifters.

Thanks for the info on "cable-crossing". Since my cables and end-bosses are on "top" of the down-tube, would it be ok to cross them on top?

Is this a close approximation of your bike?


The shift cable run on top of the top tube, not the down tube. As long as the housing stops are positioned so that the cables don't ride on the tube if crossed, I don't see an issue.
If it was mine, I would probably use V brake noodles where the housing exits the shifters and keep the loop on the same side.

I've got the "Jagwire Mountain Elite Sealed Shift Kit", so the cable wire itself is never exposed or in direct contact with anything outside of the housing or liner. I've also got a protective material I put on the top-tube where the cables go, so I've got no worries there. I think I'll go ahead and give crossing them a try.

I've gotten all the cables run but haven't finished the job just yet. I did "cross" the wires, which are encased inside of the liner system of this special set, and they seem to be functioning perfectly. So I was able to keep the better front cable routing I did initially after-all. Once I get it all done up and adjusted, and I get it out for a good test ride I'll report back. Thanks again to all for the help, I really appreciate it!

Crossing the cables was definitely worth it. Now I have the cables routed as they should have been to begin with, and they are working perfectly. Thanks "dsbrantjr" and "Dan Burkhart" for your help with this!