Stems with internal cable routing

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murphyk
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 11:17 am

by murphyk

I'm in the process of getting a new bike built up, and was thinking about the stem and bars, when I saw this picture and immediately fell in love....

Image

I have a confession. Whilst I am a weight weenie, and have been since the CNC machines hit the mountain bike scene in the early 90's, I hate cables even more than I hate excess weight in a bike.

I understand the need for internal cable integration in the bars. What stems will allow me to route the cables through and into the frame direct? Shimano Pro are one, but would rather not go with the big S if possible. Are there any others??

Thanks for helping!

hlvd
Posts: 438
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2016 4:54 pm

by hlvd

murphyk wrote:I'm in the process of getting a new bike built up, and was thinking about the stem and bars, when I saw this picture and immediately fell in love....

Image

I have a confession. Whilst I am a weight weenie, and have been since the CNC machines hit the mountain bike scene in the early 90's, I hate cables even more than I hate excess weight in a bike.

I understand the need for internal cable integration in the bars. What stems will allow me to route the cables through and into the frame direct? Shimano Pro are one, but would rather not go with the big S if possible. Are there any others??

Thanks for helping!


I'm pretty sure that's the xxx one piece bar and stem by Bontrager.

by Weenie


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wheelbuilder
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by wheelbuilder

You understand that the bike pictured has a slotted steerer tube, compression ring, and special spacers to allow the the housing to enter the frame through the stem right there. You can run bars with internal housing but they exit under the bar pretty much where regular wrapped bars housing exits so it will still show.
If you find a stem with internal routing, how are you going to get the housing by the headset? Also, that is not the triple x bar and stem. That is the Madone 9 specific bar/stem.
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kode54
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by kode54

also, if you have regular brakes up front...there's no way to avoid a brake housing. the Madone has vector wings or something named like that open up as you steer left to right.
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murphyk
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Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 11:17 am

by murphyk

I knew the front brake would be an issue, but sentences like this confused me:

From Bikeradar:

"While the aerofoil shape of the bars is familiar, the main new features here are the cable ports, which allow internal routing via the stem, then either to the gears or to a Di2 battery position inside the fork steerer"

Now I've thought about it, I understand. But the 'to the gears' was not clear they were talking about shifters rather than mechs.

Maybe on the next bike!

kode54
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by kode54

front brake is integrated under the head tube with a bulge that contains the front brake cable housing. my friends Madone 9.9 brakes seem to be proprietary...like the rear brake as well. there's a flap on each side that opens up when turning.
as far as the shift cables...easier to tuck away than the front brake housing and cable...either mech or electronic.
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FIJIGabe
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by FIJIGabe

Gonna revive an old thread here, with a question: has anyone built (or rebuilt) a mechanical Madone or other internally cabled bike, and used liners, rather than full housing, through the bars?

I did a mild refresh of my Madone at the start of the year, but it's about time I put new shift and brake cables on the bike, and I'm looking at the WW solution to the problem. When looking at ONLY the shifter cables, the bike has full housing from the shifters all the way to the Control Center (which is, itself, a boat anchor). From there, Trek routed liners all the way to the derailleurs. My idea is to replace most of the housing and just use liners (use only a bit of housing from the shifter to just inside the bars, and liner throughout, all the way to the deraillers, and a bit of housing at the rear derailleur. I'm not a big proponent of the inline FD adjuster, but I think I could find a way to use a small inline adjuster, rather than the heavy Control Center adjuster, and put a Shapeways cover in place.

Am I missing something here? Can any of you guys provide insight as to why this wouldn't work? I figure that removing all that housing from inside the bar and stem (44cm/110mm) and halfway down the downtube might be worth 50g. Couple that with replacing the heavy Control Center adjuster, would net me a loss of 100g.

NiFTY
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by NiFTY

No. You need something compressionless to stop the cable just bending around inside the bar as you shift. The frame internals get away with this by having frame stops and cable guides. Without this in the bar it is impossible
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FIJIGabe
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by FIJIGabe

Thanks for the explanation. I'll have to look for weight savings elsewhere.

JScycle
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by JScycle

murphyk wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2017 10:12 pm
Shimano Pro are one, but would rather not go with the big S if possible.
I always thought the big S was Specialized!

Mep
Posts: 516
Joined: Fri May 28, 2004 4:11 pm

by Mep

FIJIGabe wrote:Thanks for the explanation. I'll have to look for weight savings elsewhere.
You might still be able to save up to half of the shift housing weight with something lighter like Jagwire XEX SL. They also include a smaller lightweight inline adjuster.

The control center separates the 2 derailleur cables though, so if you go with a simple cover, I'm not sure if there'll be an issue without the separation?

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