Found a stupid simple way to route internal cable housing without a special tool

Was building up a 2024 Trek Domane for a customer last week and kept fighting with the internal routing through the down tube. I tried the usual magnet trick but kept losing the housing inside the frame. Finally grabbed a piece of old housing, cut it at a 45 degree angle, and used it as a guide to pull the new housing through from the other side. Worked on the first try. Anyone else got a hack for getting housing through tight frame ports?

3 comments

3 Comments

wren2302d ago

Might be missing something here, but cutting housing at an angle basically makes a sharp point that can poke into the foam sleeves inside a frame. I've seen it snag on the inner lining of some frames and cause a headache later. Usually a straight cut with a bit of tape over the end works better so it slides past everything smooth. Your trick probably worked fine on that Domane since Trek uses those big open ports, but some other frames have these tight narrow channels where a sharp angle just gets stuck. Good idea in a pinch though for sure.

emma_garcia1d ago

@wren230 honestly feels like overthinking a tiny angle cut to me.

charles8361d ago

Huh, I never really thought about that. I always cut at an angle thinking it helped slide through easier, but you're right about the snagging. My old Fuji had those tight internal channels and I spent an hour trying to fish a cable through, getting caught on every little spot. Straight cut with tape makes way more sense now that you mention it.