Cable housing rubbing on carbon frame
 

I just got a carbon fiber bike and the derailleur cable housing rubs on the head tube. Should I put some protection like electrical tape or something there, or am I worrying about nothing?

It will wear away at the paint and give it an "smudged" look after a while.

You can put a clear piece of "tape" there (not sure what's called). Ask your LBS about it.

I use helicopter tape, one roll will last you the rest of your life. It works quite well and is easy to cut into shapes for different areas of the bike

I'd recommend putting something to protect the finish of the frame.

I put some reflective 3M Scotchlite tape (check my signature), which doubles as reflective tape. It looks like it should be durable, but I'll have to see.

Tape AND criss-cross your shifter cables. It minimizes the pressure of the cables pushing on the sides of the head tubes and if they are short enough they don't make contact with the head tube.

my bianci came with some sweet rubber washers that they placed on the cables by the rub zones......they tend to move about but do work when adjusted "each & every ride"...good luck

I picked up some Lizard Skin protectors off ebay for the same issue.

+1, I found those at my LBS (had to pay for them), but they are clear and almost invisible at about 5' distance.

make sure you wash your hands before you put them on.

i had the frame protection stickers and they worked fine until the regular washing caused them to fall off. then i replaced them with electrical tape because bf members said electric tape fixes everything on a bike. they were wrong. it wore through quite quickly.

I run my cables criss-cross style. The left shift cable to the right stop and cross back over on the down tube. Better shifting and no rub.

My Trek came with some clear stickers to address this issue. They have been on the frame for a year and work well. They are thick plastic, thicker than typical tape. I believe auto parts stores also sell clear tape to protect car headlights and paint. There are several heavy plastic or poly tapes available from 3M that work great. Some are marketed for bike finish protection (velo tape, etc.) but you can find others designed for ski protection that work great.

My bike is a little over a year old and the tape has taken a beating from my cables. I am happy the finish is protected (even though I'm nursing an injury that has limited my riding over the past couple weeks).

My two bikes are blue & silver and red & white in color. I picked up some round 1/2inch diameter self-adhesive backed velcro dots at The Dollar Store (white and black) that works great. The white for the road bike, and the blacks for the mountain bike. You use only the fuzzy part for the cable housing to rest on.

It is cheap and very effective. Moreover, you can change them regularly when they get dirty. Just peel off, wipe the area with some alcohol, then put a new dot on there. Also much better than the expensive lizard skin protectors.

Electrical tape works well (my bike is black, so the tape doesn't stand out).

+1 Those were the first things I bought to put on my ORCA frameset.

I like the helicopter tape as well. Plus you can get it anywhere there's an aviation mechanic, the local air field. Like your link says, its the outdoor one you want. It's removable because the adhesive is not like scotch tape. I got a whole sheet of it from a mechanic. I ended up using it on my Garmin 305 to protect the glass. I also use it on my cell phone to protect from scratches.

Park Tool Super Patch has worked wonder for me and is readily available from the LBS.

this is the way to go! I do this on all 4 of my bikes with cables (one bike is a track bike).

+1. My Jagwire cables came with these as well. Mine stay put fairly well.

Common problem. Pick up a roll of clear isc racers tape and you're all set.