Best way to cross cables

[dgasmd]

As I am in cloud 9 listening to Zeppelin concerts LIVE in my garage and staring at my bikes, it became clear that I don’t have 2 bikes with the same gear cable lay out. In some, the shifter cable for the rear deraileur comes from the R shifter, crosses in front of the head tube, and goes into the frame in the non-drive side. Only to cross to the other side at some point before it goes into the deraileur. In others, it goes into the frame in the same side as the shifter and so on......

Which is the best set up for least cable resistance?? Is this an irrelevant builder’s preference or a frame specific design issue??

[dfischer1]

I've found crossing cables to cause *slightly* more problems than supposed to correct. They're also likely to make more noise in the frame when you ride as well as look unsightly when looking down from a riding position.

[AJS914]

In some, the shifter cable for the rear deraileur comes from the R shifter, crosses in front of the head tube, and goes into the frame in the non-drive side. Only to cross to the other side at some point before it goes into the deraileur. In others, it goes into the frame in the same side as the shifter and so on......

Some builders do this so that the derailleur cable doesn't rub against the head tube. I first saw this in the 90s on bikes with externally routed cables. On these frames, it made the cables a little neater as well since they tucked under the downtube.

[nickf]

I crossed cables on my CAAD9 and it worked well and kept the cables off the HT. Shifted just as smooth though. Supersix it's not needed because the cable stops are higher up on the dt so the cables don't rub the ht.

[probertsqbe]

Personally I use cross cables, however only when the cables are routed externally. The main benefit for me is a nicer outer cable run from the Shifters.

I tried cross cables in a recent Canyon build which is internally routed and ended up its a very annoying rattle.

[Catagory6]

not like this:

[F45]

I prefer to cross the cables.