Yes Master...

Two can play this game. The screw-on clamps and white housing just look right on my red Capo. My much more collectible Capo Sieger has unique built-in under-tube cable housing clamps, which I do not particularly care for.

When I worked at a Peugeot/Nishiki dealership in the early 1970s, I found it interesting that the higher-end PR-10 and PX-10 used screw-on clamps, whereas the lowly AO-8 and UO-8 featured cable stops offset from the bottom of the top tube.

On a related note - I'm building up a bike that has no cable braze-ons on the top tube at all, and I'm wondering if there's any elegant way to set it up so that the bike is still easy to shoulder. Clamp-on cable guides make the most sense, but I'm concerned about catching my shoulder/clothing on the part of the guide where the screw goes through....

That's a legitimate concern. The bottoms of those screw-on clips are very painful if they bear the weight of the bike on your shoulder. If you don't mind the look, you could install them sideways so the hurty part faces to the side and there's nothing sharp on the bottom.

Then I'd be worried about hitting them with my legs!

I like these kind

Only if your legs are fat and tend to rub the top tube.

Another interesting contrast -- it was the very low-end road bikes, such as Free Spirits and Steyr Clubmans, which had full-length derailleur cable housings, often secured with tacky plastic clamps. Cheapo derailleurs and compressible full-length housings made for some slow, sloppy shifting.

Almost all of the mid- and higher-level bikes used open cable runs with various combinations of cable stops and guides, with just a bit of cable housing to each derailleur or out to barcons.

I think I might have a solution. I happened across this shim: https://www.jbi.bike/web/checking_pro...t_number=57741

It has a 25.4mm inside diameter and 28.6 outside diameter. So I'm thinking it could be cut into pieces as wide as as the cable stop (and then cut in two pieces to get around the top tube), and use a couple of these: https://www.jbi.bike/web/checking_pro...t_number=14472

Any reason this isn't likely to work?

Looks good, but why do you need the shim?

Because the bike's top tube is 25.4mm in diameter, and nobody seems to make a clamp-on cable stop like that in anything smaller than 28.6mm.

Oh. Weird.

There are and Have been for a Long time , screw Band clips to run Housing along 1" top Tubes ..

If the screw that secures the clip is an issue try Gaffers Tape..

or(agmetal) make a sewn on Leather sleeve for the top Tube that will also cover the Housing.



want stops ? Braze them on then do a repaint ..

I'm well aware of the existence of those steel guides, and I like the look of them, but then we're back to my original concern about being able to shoulder the bike......

There's always zip ties, those were pretty common on "home grown" bikes. I think the partially exposed cable runs was a 90s thing, generally, and aimed at weight saving. I seem to remember that on more than one Cannondale, not always well placed, for carrying or comfort.

people do crocheted bike racks and parking meter Post cozies ..Here .. Make something!


'Shirley*" tape and a decorative cover will be super .. *Hey Movie "airplane " you understand..

add a Sewn velcro closed Padded tube around the top.. If You're gonna shoulder it for a hike-a-bike Portage.

Interesting reasoning in this thread.

Just a few thoughts on the original question: There are two differences between full-length housing and housing stops. One difference is the extra length. That section is straight, not bent. So I can't see how it would create much friction as long as the cable wasn't rusty inside and was clean when inserted. The second difference is the cable ends in the stops. In my experience a poorly-fitted cable end can produce a fair amount of friction, more than 20 extra inches of housing. On the other hand, if I were building thousands of bikes a year I could save housing by installing stops. To me this argues for stops on high-production, lower-cost bikes.

Jagwire cable guide stoppers are made to convert the 3 brazed on loops into 2 cable stops.

Would these work with clamp-on cable guides?

I like cable guides on the top because they will fit in my ancient Part work stand that only has a cut out in the rubber jaw covers on the top and rotating them for different for a bottom cable is out of the question. I not have three stands!

Attach the clamp to the seatpost. Thatll remove the cable from being an issue and will keep your frame from potential scuffs and scrapes from any rotation while clamped.

These would be a good for full cabled top tubes that you would want to shoulder,
https://www.jbi.bike/web/checking_pro...t_number=14771

I got this Park shop work station in '80 or '81 and it is a gem with soft enough pads I can do BB work w/o damaging clear coat on even the Italians. I have the other stands so I don't have to rotate which it does not do easily as back then pretty much all bikes had top cables. Probably weird but to me rotating this C&V stand would be like finding my gail Paramount and pulling the NR and putting on an 11 speed group set.

Iiiiiiiinteresting

I think it is mostly an aesthetic thing. Bikes of a certain vintage look nice with shiny clamp on guides, even better if they are drilled to save 0.01 g. Later bikes look better with open stops, still later with internal routing.

Rust shouldn't be a concern unless you're going to leave the bike out in the rain, which doesn't happen to most of my bikes.