Short headtube with slammed stem routing advice needed

[siauragama]

I have a hard time properly routing frontend cables on my 2015 CAAD10.
It is a 50cm frame with -17 deg 110mm stem with no spacers. Cables are Jagwire Road Pro.
Cable bends are just too tight and interferes with steering.

I'm going to rebuild the bike this winter and already bought Jagwire Elite Link kit in hope to get bends that are not that tight.
I've looked at how pro mechanics setup these small bikes like for Richie Porte, Estaban Chaves etc. One thing I spotted - they sometimes route front brake cable (from left side) behind the bar instead of in front with shift cable. This helps a little, but does not solve all the problems and does not look clean. Another thing that kinda works for me is to terminate bartape just after the hoods and have cables exit just after the bar transition to flats. This comes with a cost of having almost no bartape on the flats - again, a compromise I'd like to avoid.

Any of you ride similar sized setup? I understand that this will probably differ because of frame specific cable entry points, but still could give me ideas how to get a decent setup. Thanks.

[shimmeD]

I concur & sympathize with you!
You just have to experiment with different lengths. I also have my RHS gear cable to the NDS and vice versa with the cables crossing inside the frame (not sure if you can on yours). I just accept that it's not going to be perfect eg can't get away from the stem bolts snagging the cables (there are a couple of solutions but not going out looking for a stem with no bolting under the bars or an integrated bar/stem).
Having said all that your cables look way too short (I actually wonder if you can turn much at all) without decent loops.
Personally I would also ditch those in-line adjusters (are you a weight weenie or not? )

[shimmeD]

I concur & sympathize with you!
You just have to experiment with different lengths. I also have my RHS gear cable to the NDS and vice versa with the cables crossing inside the frame (not sure if you can on yours). I just accept that it's not going to be perfect eg can't get away from the stem bolts snagging the cables (there are a couple of solutions but not going out looking for a stem with no bolting under the bars or an integrated bar/stem).
Having said all that your cables look way too short (I actually wonder if you can turn much at all) without decent loops.
Personally I would also ditch those in-line adjusters (are you a weight weenie or not? )

[FilmAt11]

+1 on crossed cables if possible.

[kman]

I use segmented housing, especially for the front brake cable. That helps a little. Previously, I've had the front brake cable exit before the last couple of loops of bar tape. Bar tape is full length, as normal but the cable has a longer section "free" which allows it to move a little easier and have a smoother run to the brake caliper. As for the other cables, just keep them as long as possible. Mine still snag on the stem bolts etc but I've never found it an issue whilst actually riding the bike.

[siauragama]

My bars are 40cm so maybe that is also why it is hard to get the cable exit downward from the front of the bar vs bottom of bar.
I've also tried routing shifter cables via front of the bar (as oppose to current via back). Also the shifter cable entry points on the frame are really high as compared to most other frames I've seen/ridden. But the worst is rear brake cable entry point. No matter what I've tried it always is a problem. It is probably THE problem as shifter cables are tight but still ridable. I had to replace rear brake cable/housing a couple of times this year due to it breaking near entry point.

Having said all that your cables look way too short (I actually wonder if you can turn much at all) without decent loops.

You are right, they are too short probably. I've tried longer ones before, but that created a whole new mess. I've ridden this cable length with -10deg 120mm stem and it was way better in terms of cable interference with steering. It just gave a little bit of extra space and it seemed to solve this problem. Anyway I hope the segmented housing will give me more freedom to experiment. Yeah, will probably ditch the adjuster.

Previously, I've had the front brake cable exit before the last couple of loops of bar tape.

Nice, I'll give it a try. Do you have a photo maybe of how it looks? Clean or a bit messy?

+1 on crossed cables if possible.

Considered that, not really possible on this frame, the cable entry points are almost on the side of the downtube. Your setup looks beautiful.

Thanks.

[Fiery]

You can use just a section of segmented housing near the rear brake cable entry point; see how they did it on Rohan Dennis' bike:

[mattr]

I did this a three or four years ago, when going from 9 to 10 speed. Ended up with about 20 <1cm pieces of shifter and brake outer on the floor under the bike.......... Fit, test, unfit, cut, fit, test............ many times

Then i replaced the groupset for one with different shifter/brake exit points, so had to do the whole thing again.

Then i went to a shorter stem.

I must have turned at least a metre of outer into tiny pieces in the last ~4 years.
And the front of my head tube still looks like spaghetti. But it works.

Next time i'm going to get some segmented outers!

[shimmeD]

Here's a thought on how to fix your rear brake routing: lengthen your brake cables and have the rear under the front so that the front cable can keep the rear off the stem bolts. The rear will probably rub the head-tube for which you might want to have a stick-on clear protector.

Segmented housings may let you have tighter bends but don't tighter bends mean more friction? I like my runs as short as possible but I compromise for smooth curves/loops and straight entries.

[martinko]

I also prefer to cross the cables, even without internal routing. It looks to me cleaner to have one nice bend of the cable from the handlebars to the downtube, rather than "S" bend. Disadvantage is that it rattles bit more