Remember when shifter cable housings (and brake cables housing too back then) were not run uninterrupted? Like along any straight section of frame tubing the housing would end in a holder and the bare cable would run without housing between the holders. I don't know when that trend started but it was ubiquitous when I got into mtb (late 90s) until the early 2000s. I didn't question it at the time, but in hindsight it didn't make sense. Sure it saved a few dollars of housing, and a tiny amount of weight, but at the cost of more labor and cables/housings got lots of mud/grit in them and thus had to be replaced far more often. Common sense and simplicity don't always prevail.
Sept. 29, 2022, 5:25 a.m. - kcy4130
Remember when shifter cable housings (and brake cables housing too back then) were not run uninterrupted? Like along any straight section of frame tubing the housing would end in a holder and the bare cable would run without housing between the holders. I don't know when that trend started but it was ubiquitous when I got into mtb (late 90s) until the early 2000s. I didn't question it at the time, but in hindsight it didn't make sense. Sure it saved a few dollars of housing, and a tiny amount of weight, but at the cost of more labor and cables/housings got lots of mud/grit in them and thus had to be replaced far more often. Common sense and simplicity don't always prevail.