Cable routing issues?

[Mxhdroom]

Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a 2015 Rocky Mountain Trailhead (a minor upgrade to my old Fusion) for trail riding and hopefully some shorter-trip bikepacking. The Trailhead has its cables routed along the bottom of the top tube on their way towards the rear of the bike; the derailleur cables are "open" (not enclosed in cable housing) and I'm worried that a frame bag would interfere with rear derailleur operation.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of design or opinions as to if it is indeed a problem?

Gary

[harryonaspot]

I don't thiNk it should be a problem. You could ease the tightness on the top tube straps of your frame bag, or try putting those thin sleeves over the exposed cable. Or even run solid housing. If you like the bike, you will figure something out for the occaisonal trip

[AlasdairMc]

I'd be more worried about the increased friction damaging the frame or the frame bag. If you've got something holding a cable closer to the frame, I reckon it would be more likely to rub against the frame and cause damage. Just fit full outers instead as they shift better and take less maintenance (i.e. none)

[bmike-vt]

I just updated my Fargo and used the Jagwire stuff that has thin housings for the areas between frame hard points. I'm using it under the down tube to keep things shifting smoothly when I run the full frame bag (all of the time!).

[Mxhdroom]

I solved the problem by buying a Marin Nail Trail 9.6 with fully enclosed cables. I think I'll upgrade to Jagwire next winter, but for now everything works fine.

Thanks everyone for the input.

Ride on.

Gary

[squishware]

I had this issue on my Redline D460. I dremeled off the smaller end of the cable stops to allow full length cable housing.