The saying is probably true: beauty must suffer. Internally routed cables, which ideally disappear into the handlebars, then into the stem and then into the frame, are certainly more attractive than a wild tangle of cables. However, the cables and outer sheaths for the gears and brakes, which disappear around tight angles in dark holes without routing, make it extremely time-consuming to replace the stem or handlebars (or even a brake line for the rear brake), for example. And to adjust the riding position, it is and remains important to be able to change the stem or handlebars without a lot of fiddling. If this fine-tuning is not done, it can pinch or pull uncomfortably in the wrist, neck or back and decimate the fun of riding.

Fancy, but shitty

However, the days of replacing a stem (or a rear brake hose or an outer gear cover) in a bike store or as a DIY mechanic without any major fuss are over, at the latest from the 2020 bike vintages onwards. Today, there are adventurous constructions to make the cables disappear inside the bike just after the brake and gearshifts. When the bike is removed, kinked and scratched outer covers of the brakes or gears are evidence that it was a laborious and time-consuming process to get everything under the hood when the bike was assembled. The only advantage: it looks smart.

Bike manufacturers should therefore make an effort to do more than just make their bikes look good. Some of today's solutions for internal routing are simply botched and botched. Changing components can turn into an hour-long workshop orgy (more on this in the next blog). Bike and component manufacturers should join forces to develop internal routing solutions that are user-friendly. Otherwise, sooner or later there will be doubly dissatisfied customers: It annoys the mechanics in the bike store, and even more so the customers who buy these beautiful but incredibly impractical bikes.

Finally, a video clip that is tantamount to real-life satire: the component specialists refer to the routing of brake lines and shifting cable housings through handlebars, stems and steerer tubes as "Easy Cable Routing Solutions, for all bike categories"