Time to re-cable. Anyone offer experiences with routing bar end shifter cables under the tape on drop bars? Currently have the cables "flying" from the bar ends to the down tube; shifts great, looks sketchy. If you did route them under the tape and around the drops, what type of cable housing did you use?

Thanks,
DP

Back in the day before I decided I hated bar end shifters... I ran only the portion of the housing along the flat part of the drops under the tape.

These days I have been riding with down tube shifters a lot, but the rest of the time I use STI brifters.

Jagwire and it works great and much cleaner looks.

I ride a 63cm frame and don't want to pay for tandem length cables.

One bike with Jagwire, the other with Yokozuna. Both worked perfectly fine.

I've done it using generic indexing-compatible cable, but I always felt that it added too much clutter where the cables exit from the tape, and it increased the friction noticeably. Now I just install it completely outside the tape and use a slightly shorter than average length of housing (just enough to get full swing of the bars without pulling the cables.) It gives me plenty of room for a handlebar bag.

I routed my Fargo bar ends all of the way to the end of the tape near the stem. To minimize the bend to the down tube cable stops I run the cable housings to the opposite side from normal then cross them under the down tube to get them back on the correct side for the shifters. I used jag wire housing to minimize friction. This way eliminates loose floppy cables, gives unlimited room for a handlebar bag and shifts flawlessly. I was worried about the extra bends in the cable housing causing sloppy shifts but it is absolutely perfect with my 9 speed Shimano setup. To get cable housing past brake levers I just ran them up beside them on the inside and covered them with tape. Absolutely perfect setup. If I can find the link to pictures I posted here last year I will add it later. This is an uncommon setup but has been done by others also with great success.

Jagwire is my preference. You can get them in different colors which is a nice plus aesthetically.

I love bar end shifters, have had them on several bikes, and routed every which way I could think of. I`ve been using a seemingly infinite roll of Jagwire housing with generic stainless cables no matter how I route.

I guess the "standard" way is under the tape to the start of the hook, and that was okay for me, except that it occasionally caught my fingers when I slid from the back of the hooks to the ends.

Have also been fairly happy with the housing wrapped the whole way under the tape. The relatively tight curves seem to add a little bit of sponginess to the action, but liveable, and I can manage it with standard length cables.

My favorite way, with regular brake levers, is to route under the tape up to the hoods, then through the hoods and out right along side the brake cables. It`s killer- no nasty bends, and isn`t in the way because it goes where you already have the brake cables going anyway. The only catch is that the new style brake levers don`t feed out the top of the hoods any more, so unless you`ve got some old levers hanging around it won`t work. Pic attatched.

I also have a bike still on its original factory cabling that stays outside the tape and cuts very short, like Chris in Miami has. That doesn`t work for me because my usualy grip is right there at the ends with my hands cupping the shifters, and I find my fingers constantly fighting the cable. Can`t wait until I have an excuse to recable that bike. Pic of that one attatched, too.

I have the cables routed under the tape all the way to the top, exiting with the brake cables from aero levers on two touring bikes. I used the long shifter cable and housing set from Rivendell ($18). It is Yokozuna cable/housing. Just ordered another set to do the same on another of my bikes. It works great and I have had no problems with it at all. You can see it on my Fuji TS IV here. I think I am going to shorten the cables a bit on both bikes and definitely when I do the next one, so there is not so much cable in front of the head tube.

If you decide to do the conventional housing routing (under the tape until the handlebar starts curving up to the hoods), you'll get a cleaner breakout from under the tape by wrapping from top to bottom rather than the usual bottom to top.

- Mark

i like this idea of routing along side the brake cables for non aero-brakes. if you have any other photos of the details (i.e. exiting the brake hoods) i'd love to see them. thank you.

I tape bar end shifters till the band clamp for the Brakelevers,then it runs up from the inside .

no interference with bar bag.. aero brake cable stays under the tape to second brake or end tape.

I drilled the bar about 3 inches from the end and again where the double groove starts near the brake lever. If you stand on the pedals while you yank on the bars to accelerate or climb hills or if you do anything else where you don't want to have a drill hole weakened bar, forget that you read this. And if drill your bars and if your bars break and you get hurt, don't sue me.



I have done this on both of my touring bikes, one bike needs a tandem length cable, the other just barely does not.

I used to use Jagwire cables. Never thought a cable made much difference, really. Boy was I wrong! I now have Yokozuna cables on my main road bike and I'll be switching the touring bike over shortly. It's crazy how much less friction the Yokozuna cables have than Jagwire or other standard cables...

Have to see if I can find pictures...mine are routed along the bottom flats under the tape, then loop back to the frame, puts them below the handlebar bag. I have Suntour friction and used the stock stainless (?) cable housing that came with them, the inners have been replaced a couple of times but the housings are well over 30 years old and still work well. When I replace them it will be with Jagwire more than likely.

Aaron

I did almost the same, except my BB cable guides are on the top, so I couldn't cross the cables. I bought a standard Novara (Jagwire) kit at REI and had to add a long rear cable (3000mm). No troubles to date, 9-speed indexed works great. No sluggishness or feel of excess friction.

I have mine routed under the tape all the way to the top where they exit with the aero brake cables, just like in the post above that popped in while I was writing this. The bars are also double wrapped with Cinelli cork and leather over that. I have large hands and it makes for a very thick, comfortable grip. I really want to replace the Shimano brake levers with the Cane Creek levers like in the pic above because they are so much wider and more comfortable.

Well, it`s pretty straight forward really, not much to see. The first time I did that, my hoods were very old and rotted, so I just pushed the housing through the hole with the brake housing. When I installed new hoods last winter, it would have been a very tight squeeze, so I chopped the tit off the top of the new hoods, leaving a slightly bigger hole. I use a few wraps of electrical tape to keep both together, but it probably doesn`t make much difference. You can see here how the docked hoods go and electrical tape about ready for "clean up" trim.

That's brilliant, great idea!