On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 1:51 PM, Brad Gantt <[email protected]> wrote:

> Just updated Flikr with a couple of shots Mark took of the bike post-
> build. Just need to add pedals, bags, cages and I'm in business!
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/17053...@n02/sets/72157623066924065/
>
> I'm surprised Rivendell does not build bikes with crossed shifter cables.
It reduces friction, lets you run shorter cables, and cuts down on head tube
rub.
Sheldon Brown's description is below.

Jay Hartman

"Criss-Cross" Cables Most bicycles with handlebar-mounted shifters run the
rear cable on the right, the front on the left. This causes some awkwardness
in routing the length of housing from the shift lever to the frame stops.
Due to the need to allow these housings to be long enough to permit the bars
to be turned all the way back and forth, the housings often wind up making a
reverse bend--for instance, the rear will go from the shifter, which is on
the right, swing forward and cross over past the centerline of the bicycle,
then back over to the right side of the top tube, before heading down the
down tube. These extra bends increase friction, and the fairly forcible
contact between the housing and the side of the top tube can damage the
finish.

A neat solution to this is to run the cables "criss-cross" style: The rear
runs from the lever, (on the right) around the top tube, and to the cable
stop on the *left* side of the down tube! The front cable crosses over
similarly from the left side of the handlebar to the right side of the down
tube.

The bare cables then cross one another under the middle of the down tube,
making an "X". The cables may touch where they cross, but they will do so
very lightly, since they are both straight...the tiny bit of friction at
this crossing is more than offset by the reduction in friction in the
smoother-flowing cable housings.
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