Infernal cable routing. . .
 

No, not a typo. . . .

All during the 80's and 90's I avoided internal cable routing (brake cables)
coz I thought:
1) the aero advantage ain't all its cracked up to be
2) sidepull brakes of the day were dicey enough,
why mess with weird lever configurations
3) it's a fad, this too will pass.

so, fast forward 20 years and I have a new(old) bike with
you guessed it Infernal cable routing.
The brakes are Modolo Professional (not sure if the levers are Master pro's).
For the initial build I just threw parts at the bike to get it out the door
for a ride or two, now I'm ready to build it right.
I have to admit the cables exiting the top of the lever
and looping over the bars and disappearing into the
top tube looks dumb (wrong?).
So my question (you knew there had to be one):
How do I route the cables through the brake lever body for
the aero routing?

thanks in advance,
Marty

You need aero brake levers . something post 1985/6 i think.

Tektro R200A's is what I put on my traveler. Got them from lickbike.com. Believe they are the same (Campy knock off) levers that are often branded by Cane Creek. Aero levers with quick release, internal return springs all for about $30 shipped (26.xx + shipping). check out my schwinn traveler page on my website (link below) for images or do a google search for the item.

As far as routing the cables outside of the tube - loosescrews.com or www.bikepartsusa.com will probably have a clamp on part that will help route the cables on the exterior of the tube. Ebay would also be a good place to search for these parts.

I was under the impression (incorrectly I'm guessing) that
the modolo pro's could be used either aero or non aero. . .
would really like to keep whatever I use as period correct.
looks like e-bay here I come.

marty

Lotek, you are correct, some of the Modolo levers provided the option of internal or external cable routing. It's been a while since I've done one, but I believe you remove the carrier/cam that holds the cable end. It should be held in place by a Allen key nut and bolt that goes though the lever body. The carrier/cam is replaced by a nylon pulley. The cable is then routed down through the top of the lever body (the normal cable exit hole) so that the cable end plug sits in recessed hole where the cable housing end normally seats. Route the cable down past the pulley and then through the back, bottom of the lever body, where there should be an exit hole.

I'm not sure if this is 100% correct, as I'm going solely based on memory. Hopefully, someone else can corroborate this. If not, I'll check through my literature on the weekend. I believe Modolo had an ad in the mid 1980s that showed cross-sectioned levers with both routing options.