5/14/14 8:23 PM

not sure what to think about it. ;)

5/14/14 10:39 PM

Erik Zabel used to do that back in the day.

5/15/14 12:51 AM

I've serviced bikes that had the shift cables crudely tucked under the tape, and usually it works poorly.

With total cleanliness and premium lubricant inside the housing, it should work ok, but in the real world of service intervals, the extra bends increase friction and increase the cable's elastic movements that result from friction forces, to the detriment of indexing accuracy.

SRAM even brought their "Jonnisnot" Gripshift lube back on the market to deal with the sharper bends in their road shifter's hidden cabling and Shimano likewise developed their SP41 cable grease for their newer road shifter designs.

5/15/14 8:34 AM

Some housing made out of bead-like bits that was supposed to make turns like that more cable-friendly?

5/15/14 8:40 AM

yeah, Nokon cable/housings apparently in Zabel's case.

5/15/14 10:59 AM

I would image it is ok for a tour bike that gets stripped down after a ride or two. That is, if I am not mistaken, the mechanics often replace the bar tape after, or nearly after every stage/race. That and a wash down cleaning to maintain a pristine image for the bike sponsor. The extra step(s) of relubing and replacing cables and housing would be some extra work to be done for sure with such setup.

5/15/14 4:58 PM

Yes, it's easy to do if you use aftermarket cable housing made up of aluminum segments. I used to use the stuff.

It was also lighter than regular housing. I guess that was the real reason why I got the housing.

You can get the housing for shift cables and brake cables.

However, there was a downside. The aluminum against aluminum resulted in creaking.
Eventually, I went back to regular cable housing.

Sandiway

5/16/14 5:52 AM

...and haven't noticed any creaking issues. Aside from the lighter weight, it has the advantages of working better on bends, you can change the length easily if you re-route cables or move them to a different frame (making it shorter OR longer) and unlike wire housing, it lasts indefinitely. I use their brake housing with Gore/SRAM inner liners and cables and it works great.

5/16/14 11:42 AM

Brian, have you noticed any performance difference with the i-Links? I'm wondering if the i-Links might give improved braking (especially on a disc brake).

5/16/14 1:59 PM

To re-use "indefinitely", does that mean you can buy housing liner separately to freshen up the sliding surfaces?

5/17/14 7:55 AM

I haven't used it for brakes yet, as I haven't needed to replace my cables in a while. It does seem to improve shifting performance vs. the typical wire cables and you never have to worry about the cover shrinking and exposing the wires on the ends. Personally, I really hate the standard "compressionless" wire shift housing, as it never lasts as long as the cables and liners (at least not without periodic trimming of the ends), and it's really the weak link in the shifting system.

I use liners and cables from Gore (I bought a few sets before they stopped making them) or SRAM (which is still made by Gore exclusively for them). They fit perfectly in the Ilink brake housing. I just toss the housing that comes with the cables and liners. As far as I've been able to determine, neither the cables nor the liners are available separately.

5/17/14 6:20 PM

I've been lucky enough to find cable housing liners that occasionally ship with new frames, but are discarded by the local shop.
Not that this is the most slippery of plastics, but it allowed me to line the original gray/white brake housings on my 1971 Schwin Supersport using thin, "slik" 1.5mm brake cables that just barely fit in afterwards. Braking improved a LOT.
BTW, the stuff I used was I think intended for shift cables, but turned out to be sized just small enough to force-fit into the housings and just big enough to allow the new slik cable to be pushed in with the housing already fitted to the frame with some significant bend to it.

I'm now thinking of giving this hidden cabling a-la-Zabel a fresh go if I can perhaps source some segmented alloy housing scraps from the next bike swap meet.