Drilling frame to run cables through

I had this thought of doing a DIY internal cable routing. I no I will be a right ball ache feeding a drag wire through but why not. Any reasons not to like weakening. Or has any 1 done it

let us know how you get on

Ha ha I imagine a lot of time will be spent poking things thru the frame. Is there any parts inside the frame tubes that will be blocked off

I no I will be a right ball ache

There’s one reason!

Another reason is that I’m pretty sure the holes for internal cables are lozenge shaped and not round. If they were round (similar diameter to the cables), the angle in and out would be very sharp.

Try it on an old knackered frame first. Not your Sunday best bike!

Yeah I’ve got a frame I can test on. I thought of drilling small hole first then bigger 1 but angling the drill to make an elongated hole

Top tip: use the hooked end of a spare spoke to reach into the tube and pull the cable through.

Do people normally route rear brake pipe through frame to or is it only cables

Usually just gear cables and dropper posts. I’ve done home made Reverb stealth routing on my Rumblefish with a little help from my old man who’s an aircraft engineer. No issues so far

Don’t be silly.

Out of curiosity what material is the frame you are trying to alter?

Personally sounds madness, wouldn’t be keen myself, plus I hate cables routed internally.

Any reasons not to like weakening

Yes – weakening, especially an ali frame.

Full length cable outers help if it’s a purely aesthetic problem.

It is Ali. But was only really a thought to be honest as to if its possible or anybody had tried it

I have heard of people modifying the cable stops to accept a full outer instead of an inner (no links, just talking to bike nuts).

Problems with drilling you ally frame: Smaller holes induce larger stress concentrations (read: more likely to crack the frame) but a larger hole is giving you a lot less material (read: shit gona snap slowly).
The places that you would be likely to drill i.e. near the welds, would be where the stresses are greatest anyway so would be a super bad idea and would likely cause catastrophic failure.
Not to mention possible heating (tempering different bits at different rates) and your drill slipping as you would be drilling at an angle.
Also it would completely void any warranty you have with the manufacturer.

Unless you have done some FEA and calculations on the best position to drill, I wouldn’t touch it and I’ve re-welded ally frames (with varying successes).

Can someone explain to me what the benefit of internally routed cables is?

I know it looks cool, but apart from that, doesn’t it just make for a weaker, yet more expensive frame? Why would I want that?

Top tip – there really is no good reason to do this. You warranty will dissolve completely, you will never be able to resell the frame, you will probably weaken it, it will be a pain to get the cables through – every time.

Honestly – stupid idea

Doesn’t seem like a good idea then really