How do you route your cables?

Bikes with rear brake routing on the left side really make it tricky to get neat cable routing. My frame has external routing for the rear brake but it is still very much left side only. How would you do it?

This is my current setup, not too bad, quite neat but I wish the dropper and rear brake hose could be tied together neatly and route to the right of the head tube (I know the front hose looks short but it isn’t, it’s just the angle of the photo).

Another option is to route the rear brake to the right of the head tube and then have it cross over back to the left side cable tie mounts. As it happens I found a photo of the same bike with this arrangement.

Neither option is perfect and I’m having trouble working out if swapping from what I have now would be more or less annoying. What would you do?

I run my left/rear brake down the left of the frame, dropper cable crosses over and goes into the frame on the right.

One thing I do differently from most is that I run my front/right hose behind the fork leg. I don’t like the way the stock-set-up has the hose running inside the leg.

I’ve a Vanquish hard tail and I’ve routed them as you have in the top picture. The rear brake come from the left side of the bat and directly to the left side of the frame.

It would be nicer to have the rear brake and dropper run together but it’s just not going to happen.

That’s weird, internal cables with external brake hose.

Anyway, I prefer the ‘other option’ for cosmetic reasons. I saw a bike recently that had the cables gathered up in heat shrink tubing that looked a lot neater than zip-ties. Weather you’d think it was worth dismantling all the cables and hoses to retro fit, I don’t know. I’d not be bothered unless other maintenance made it convenient.

Had this issue on an old bike a few years ago and fitted a 90degree banjo at the lever so that the cable drops down nicely to the left side of the frame (spotted it on one of Steve Peat’s bikes), that was Hope brakes though, not sure if you can do that on Guides…

Always been an issue, but less so as bars get winders and stems shorter.

On both my bikes I’ve got my internally routed R/H shifter running around the L/H side of the headtube, and my internally routed L/H mounted dropper running around the R/H side of the head tube.

For the sake of neat-ness, it’d be nice if my L/H brake lever followed the same path as the dropper, but alas both are American frames so I have to have them routed through interal cable routing on the L/H side of the frame (and suffer the inevitable horrid kink). My logic is that brakes are hydraulic so it doesn’t matter what crazy route they take down the frame, but the cable driven shifters / droppers need sympathetic routing.

I actually prefer the routing of front brake hoses on a UK setup (R/H hose crossing over to the L/H leg).

I’m really glad I don’t have a Scott Genius

Banshee frames have 2 cable/hose ports on both sides of the downtube up by the headtube which then route down to the bottom bracket area, where they can go their separate ways.

I route the stuff on the left side of the bars down the right side and vice versa.

If I had that Transition I would probably route it straight down the left rather than crossing over in front of the headtube, then back over the DT back to the left.

There is a lot to be said for internal routing for cables and external for hoses (or external for the lot to be honest)

That’s weird, internal cables with external brake hose.

Most sensible, IMO.

Assuming the cable holes are the same size, I’d route the rear brake on the right side and cross over to the left side exit hole and then route the rear mech cable on the left side hole and cross over to the right side exit hole…if the cable routing is such an issue – the pictures suggest your routing is rather tidy as it is.

sounds like you are justifying a wireless dropper….

sounds like you are justifying a wireless dropper….

Give me one with 210mm drop and I’m sold. That or wireless brakes.

rear brake enters just past the headtube on the right hand side of the frame on my Norco Optic.

Front brake is the usual straight down.

And thats it. AXS mech and dropper for the win! 😀

I’m really glad I don’t have a Scott Genius

I do and wondered what the **** was going on up front. That pic looks cleaner than mine 😆 Massively too long for the most part and the company puts emphasis on the internal routing of the cables and hoses for as they put it ‘A cleaner bike’ but the lengths and huge curves are ridiculous.

I should really redo them, but I cant be 4r5ed

I have the same issue on my Jeffsy, rear brake enters the frame on the left side, no choice but to have a small run to keep it tidy.

It was easier to manage my 5 cables on my Pinion hardtail!!

I had a Jeffsy too (stealth ad, the frame is in the classifieds). The most annoying part about that was that there is a second internal port on the right of the head tube… for a remote lockout cable that pops out 20cm further along the downtube 😩

Everything inside.

Perfect.

Point is moot in your case with your current hose as it’s not long enough to be run any other way now.

Point is moot in your case with your current hose as it’s not long enough to be run any other way now.

Should’ve mentioned that I have a new hose which I brought to do this with but I’m having second thoughts hence the post.

Mines a bloody mess as I’ve got the obvious ones (rear mech and rear brake) internally routed, along with the shock lock-out and the dropper also internally routed, then add the fork lockout and it doesn’t look too different to that Scott Genius up there.

They all go round the opposite side of the head tube to the lever side mind and I tape the cables together to try and neaten it up, but it’s still a bit of a bomb site. Suppose I could clean it up with AXS gears and Reverb, but then I’d only loose 2 cables and a shit load of cash.

Everything inside.

Perfect.

Maybe one day. Full hydraulic tubing channeled through one piece bar and stem set ups. Shifter with internal pulleys to direct the cable backwards and into the bars. Internally routed lighting cables, just universal sockets to plug the lamp units into.

……flights of fancy….

Everything inside.

Perfect.

Maybe one day. Full hydraulic tubing channeled through one piece bar and stem set ups. Shifter with internal pulleys to direct the cable backwards and into the bars. Internally routed lighting cables, just universal sockets to plug the lamp units into.

……flights of fancy….

We’re not too far off!

Cables ? 😁