motorapido

I will be putting an Alfine 11 internal gear hub on a vintage touring bike, and I need info on shifter cable routing. I have frame braze-ons for the derailleur cable, but I see that many people retain the full cable outer on internal hub gear setups and zip-tie the outer onto the down tube and along the chain stay. Is there some advantage for running fully covered cable versus running it the way that my current derailleur cable runs bare between the braze-ons?

Dan Burkhart 

I've done it both ways with good results. Running full length housing is preferred because it reduces the number of points that play can develop, but I've done a few Alfine 8 and Nexus builds with interrupted housings, and as long as the housing ends are cleanly dressed, and firmly butted into the stops, it works fine.
One of these was my own bike, a vintage tandem with extra long cable, and since the initial setup, I've only had to do one or two minor adjustment tweaks. Works great.