Full internal hydraulic routing in metal bikes

[cyan]

Any positive or negative experience with routing hydraulic cable from HT or DT all the way to CS for metal bikes? How much a pain is it?

It's now a norm on carbon bikes, but most steel/Ti bikes seem to be semi internally routed where the cable exits from DT or BB. Is there a functional reason for that?

[lookout2015]

I think it just depends on the builder. You can find Ti builders who do internal through CS. If you look at Litespeed, for example, their T1SL fully internally routes both brake and rear derailleur from head tube through to the chain stays (or at least that’s how it looks to me - I have a T1SL but mine is rim. No personal experience building a T1SL Disc)

Then compare with Lynskey where in some of their disc models they route internally to the BB, exit, then go back into the CSs and route each through the respective CS

[Hilltopperny]

My Drifter is full internal hydraulic. I have had it since early 2018 with zero issues. Of course I bought it complete and did not have to route it through.



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[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by cyan

Any positive or negative experience with routing hydraulic cable from HT or DT all the way to CS for metal bikes? How much a pain is it?

It's now a norm on carbon bikes, but most steel/Ti bikes seem to be semi internally routed where the cable exits from DT or BB. Is there a functional reason for that?

Some builders don't like to put reinforced holes in their frames..Serotta was a good example. Some others do but I think its a cost/aesthetics issue. External sure is a lot easier to work on, of course but isn't as 'pretty'....

[NoMoreParagon]

I think there are few differences
1) fully internal vs semi internal
So far 99.9% of metal frames have semi-internal routing, prevailingly from downtube with few exception (Nevi, J Guillem, Litespeed to mention few) which opted for head tube passage. The 0.01% which has full internal is very bespoke. One example here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWqg6dTn...=1ohmct9rr5t7g

That 0.01% is going to increase due to the incoming ENVE integrated stem/hb system; if you looked the the last ENVE builder showcase you can see Mosaic showing off a fully internally routed system.

For completeness sake, you can also list cast Ti builders (mostly from the Far East) introducing molds for fully concealed cables with Bossi in Australia being one of the first adopter of these frames in their new road high end frames.

2) internal with or without brass tubes
I had few internal routed frames such as Passoni, Stelbel and Mosaic. All of them had brass made, smaller diameter tubes which helped routing the hose/cable as well as minimizing any risk for rattling noise. I tend to prefer those although there is a ~100-150g weight penalty.

As far as passage thru bottom bracket, I noticed only builders opting for larger shells (PF30 or T47) have fully internal routing thru the bb. Otherwise the likes of Mosaic, Stelbel, Firefly tend to opt for passage around the shell.
My personal experience taught me to stay away from bb internally routed cables especially if you have a pressfit system. It’s just a royal PITA to squeeze the cable in the shell, especially with Campy drivetrains.
Hope that helps!

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by cyan

It's now a norm on carbon bikes, but most steel/Ti bikes seem to be semi internally routed where the cable exits from DT or BB. Is there a functional reason for that?

On a metal bike, there just isn't that much room to spare for anything to go through the bottom bracket, especially of you want to allow for BSA30 cranksets. On a molded carbon frame, manufacturers can make channels for the cables/wires/hoses that go outside the bb she'll but inside the carbon, because the bottom bracket cluster can be its own shape, not just the result of 5 tubes welded together.

On metal bikes that use PF30 or T47 bottom brackets, there is enough room to spare to run stuff through the bb, but it's still tricky to get everything right.

Here's an example of what it looks like: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFN9-O5F...d=166wa6ao3eth

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by prototoast

On a metal bike, there just isn't that much room to spare for anything to go through the bottom bracket,

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M

[Alaska Mike]

I have an aluminum Storck with internal routing around the bottom bracket. Ended up ruining two BBs and doing a lot of grinding with a deemed during the build to make it work. I’m sure some do it better than others, but I prefer external routing for ease of maintenance.

[teleguy57]

My ti Alliance has a T47BB, and Erik does a fully internal routing. I agree the initial setup is a bit tricky, but it works well. I wouldn't even want to try in a standard BB shell.

I'm very much intrigued by Nate's Vukas noodle concept.

Also read about running the hose in a circle around the inside of the bb rather than directly from DT to CS. Supposedly that keeps the hose pushed against the inside of the shell. Anyone have any experience with that?

[ti_or_die]

I have had three ti bikes with the internal routing entering behind the head tube. No problems at all with installation or maintenance.