Recently had the front cable guide detach itself from the downtube on my alu winter road frame and after a couple of experimental attempts to reattach it, I’ve realised it ain’t going to happen.

I don’t want to get into drilling anything, so I’m wondering if using a full length outer is the best way to go. Looks aren’t important.

A couple of things I’m not sure of though:

– is this a feasible approach?

– if so, will a couple of cable ties round the downtube be enough to hold it in place? Its an aero-type tube, so a clamp-on type cable guide won’t fit.

– how close to the front mech do I want the outer to go? Its a braze-on bottom pull mech, and there’s a bottom bracket cable guide in place. Do I want to have the outer come close up to the BB cable guide?

– is there anything else I need to be aware of?

All help gratefully received, cheers!

Zip ties can work (I’ve done it before) though may not be durable in the long term. The main problem with full outer to the front mech on a BB routed cable is that you’ve got a loop which is perfect for collecting water. I’d route it along the top tube by preference.

End the cable just enough to get the cable inner running fairly straight to the clamp on the mech – I don’t reckon it makes much difference how close it actually goes.

Cheers clubber. What if I ended the outer an inch or so before the BB guide and just ran the inner through it as normal? This would leave the end of the outer pointing downwards. I can’t think why that wouldn’t work, but I often miss the obvious!

Ah, I’ve misread your initial post – I thought you meant that the under BB guide had come off.

In that case a tight ziptie on the down tube might well work well enough on its own, effectively replacing the cable stop that’s broken.