I'm planning on sending away my Classic Steel Hardtail™ frame for a respray and a bit of brazing work.

As it's generally the bike I use in winter, my plan is to run a full length outer cable to the rear mech. However, the existing cable stops are the slotted type, and I'm told by the guys I'm intending to use that they can't drill these out, so they'll need to lop them off (at £8 per piece) and braze new loop guides on (again, at £8 per shot).

At present, there's a stop on the downtube near the headtube, and one towards the axle end of the chainstay, so there's £32's worth of brazing work already.

My question is, would it be worth getting an additional guide welded on the downtube near the BB? I'm concerned I'd need the outer pulled pretty tight to stop it getting baggy over that length of run. I don't want to ziptie it to the frame near the BB, as that'll look gash.

Any thoughts, anyone?

Just totting up what I could potentially spend on cable stop brazing work in order to run full outers everywhere (mechs and rear brake), and it's looking a bit salty.

Standard is 3 guides on top tube and 2 on stays. I wouldn't bother if I was you, but I've never felt the need to even try full length outers even on my winter bike.

I guess the main question is why bother? Your gears & brakes (if they're cable type) will work better with cable stops in the system to add tension to the cables. The only advantage is it minimizes a simple piece of maintenance.

What i did on my mates dmr was cut the narrow/closed end of the cable stop off to leave me with a slotted hoope of metal to thread the full outer cable through.

I also filed away the weld that was left so it was nice and smooth. Worked a treat

If it's for commuting why not go single speed, unless you live in a [very] hilly area. keep fitter, more fun and no gear to wear out.

Thanks all.

frank4short – That's a very good point indeed; I hadn't considered cable tension being affected by lack of stops. Thank you for that – it's saved my wife a few quid 😉

Just for the record i'm not saying it won't work. Plenty of people have full sus's that need fully sealed cables due to cable growth. Plenty more people run fully sealed cables on hardtails for convenience sake. Though your cables will work best if they have stops in to add tension into the system. Though it does add a slightly higher amount of maintenance & increased cable replacement, however in my opinion this is nominal. My €0.02