[Closed] Full-length outer for shifter cable

Only ever used full length outers on every single bike I've owned since about 98...even if it meant using zip ties to hold the cables to the frame. The benefits far outweigh the downsides. Lube the inners up with some decent grease when installing and they last for ages.

My Camber's got them. I've changed the outers once since 2013 when I went Eagle (probably didn't need to) and the inner twice, once when I went Eagle, once when I replaced the Eagle mech. Zero maintenance and zero problems.

Always full outers on every bike I've pretty much ever owned. BUT only if you fit a Middleburn cable oiler half way along.

I've had both and to be honest I can't say I've noticed any difference whatsoever.

Glad to hear my thoughts are not alone.  I'll drill out the rest of the guides tonight!

Full length has proved better for me.

I've had both and over the years come to the conclusion that short runs of outer at the mech and bars are "better" for two main reasons:

1- Less friction, less outer to rub on means less friction... Simple

2- less compression, less outer to compress and hence lose cable tension means the gears seem to stay in trim a little bit longer, maybe requires cable replacement a bit less frequently?

There's not all that much in it, and if you're really riding in constantly wet, filthy conditions then maybe a full run to keep the moisture out edges it, but both are as easy as each other to replace/work on really... Is your kid going to be slogging around in the mud lots?

Full lengths on everything. The two issues that cookeaa lists (friction and compression) aren't real in my experience, and a full length outer has clear benefits in terms of staying clean.

Split cables have been a bad design for years, that somehow has survived. Drill away.

Makes no difference either way. Dirt still gets in a full outer.

Full length using compressionless cables

Or single speed, the ultimate way to ensure 0 shifting issues

I wouldn't bother drilling out cable guides, I've never noticed any difference whatsoever.

If you're drilling out the brake stops then you might as well drill the cable stops too. It "should" mean less maintenance, but this all depends how much the bike gets used.     Probably not much in it, but it's always fun drilling stuff!!

I use a cable sealing kit I got from Wiggle (no way I'm drilling my Ti Cooker!) That covers the exposed cable with teflon tubing and seals on ferrules with eztensions. Has lasted thousands of KM with no issues.

You'll probably spend longer with the drill with the potential of spoiling the frame than you would just threading a fresh cable through should it need one.

There is one other thing that many people don't actually bother to do with sectional outers, which is dump the mech to the bottom of the block, and then push it back to give some slack, you can then unhook the outers from the frame stops and slide them up the inner exposing the section that's normally inside the loop of outer, to which you can apply your preferred flavour of lube.

You can do the same at the shifter end and sliding it along a bit helps get gunk/water out sometimes, you can do this without needing to unbolt the cable and thus keep tension/adjustment the same... Can't do that with a full run... Cable oilers excepted.

Used to have split run bikes. Never again. Not off road bikes that is. Totally sold on full run.

Nothing special needed other than a full run of SP41* and any old stainless steel cable, plus good quality ferrules that are rigid and don't split. I don't oil it or do any special maintenance. Fit and forget and they shift for years without issue and aside from early bedding in there's no re-tensioning going on (I used to have to re-tension split runs, but then that might have been Shimano mech and shifter which I had endless indexing issues with also. Switched to SRAM and that problem went away).

*I buy a big reel of SP41 outer and just cut what I need to length.