Had a customer drop off a bike with "perfect" cable routing last Tuesday

Honestly I keep seeing people online say that housing needs to be perfectly smooth with no bends at all. But this guy came in with a brand new build where the housing was run in these huge sweeping loops around the frame. It looked clean but the shifting was sluggish on the 3 smallest cogs. I shortened the runs and added a couple of tight bends following the frame curves and it shifted perfectly. Has anyone else dealt with people over-engineering cable routing? What do you tell them?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaretk891mo ago

Three loops per shift sounds like my first attempt at wrapping Christmas lights.

-1

alice_harris351mo ago

Oh man, that first time is brutal. I remember my first try too, spent probably an hour untangling everything after I wrapped it all wrong. Three loops per shift though honestly that's better than most people start with. It takes a real while to get the muscle memory down and figure out how to not end up with a mess. I still mess up sometimes if I'm rushing or distracted. Keep at it, you'll get there faster than you think, and it'll feel way more natural before you know it.