I have a couple of questions regarding gear cable routing for my 1987 Battaglin.

Firstly should the front changer cable route only go around the BB or should it then go around the chainstay joining piece? I ask this because the cable route to the Ultegra front changer clamp is just clearing the mechanism.

Secondly, the BB cable guide tubes have split wire retainers. Am I supposed to open these up to allow two short pieces of outer cable to fitted in? The "closed" retainer will not allow outer cable to pass through otherwise. To date I have never used outer pieces but I can understand the advantage.

Ian

You mean looped behind the bridge between the chainstays just behind the BB? I've never seen any FD cable looped this way. Not sayin' it wouldn't work, but it seems an odd angle to have the cable go that far back.

If they are what I think you are describing, i.e. cable guides riveted to the the bottom of the BB, then no you don't want to open them up. Thread the cable through them and run it directly up the back of the BB to the derailleur. If your derailleur is a type that requires a section of housing because the part that moves is the housing stop instead of the cable anchor on top, then you can't use those guides. You'll need to add a DT housing clamp anyway so run the housing any way that fits under or even on top of the BB. If your derailleur doesn't require the housing, then run it through the guides, and yes it may rub on the DT or be very close to it.

Jim,

My Battaglin has a brazed on mount but I'll accept your advice on both of my questions.

Thanks,

Ian

Pictures would really help in this discussion. There are several types of cable "guide" configurations used. some are plastic attached by screw, others are braze on parts or part, and there is a Cinelli BB that has holes in the BB to accomidate the cable. What you discribe is a short section of tube with a slot in it, i think.
Here is one example

Note that originally the cable liners weren't used. I like to add them to protect the BB and provide smoother action as the cable slides. In this case, there isn't a chainstay bridge either, but that is not relevant as the cable routing remains the same for all under BB routings that I am aware of (TIAAO?).

The second photo in this thread might help I think - https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...attaglins.html