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Getting housing into internally routed handlebars?

3K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  roundnround 
#1 ·
I'm switching out my handlebars for ones with internal cable routing (3T Tornova carbon) and am struggling to get the housing routed through the bars. Wondering if anyone has tips.

I used the "string + vacuum cleaner" trick to get a cable and then the brake housing installed on one side. Now my problem is getting the derailleur housing through.

When I route it from drop side towards the center, it overshoots into the other half of the bars; when I route it from the center towards the drop, it hits something on the inside and doesn't exit. I've tried it both in front of the other housing and behind it.

I've also tried fixing the two housings together with tape to see if I could then pull them through together. Didn't work: tape just gets shorn off. Will try a zip tie next, but seems that will just make exiting harder.

I've read advice for other bars that mention "fishing" the housing out with a plastic loop... I can't see how to do that as I can't see into the bars enough to see it coming.

Any suggestions? Much appreciated!

(If I missed existing threads about this, let me know & I'll delete this--I googled a bunch but mostly am hitting threads about internal routing on frames.)
 
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#2 ·
Usually you just need something like a dental pick (known as a pokie-tool in the bike biz) to snag the end of the housing and guide it out. Or you can run a cable through and then run the housing over the cable. I prefer the okie-tool.
 
#8 ·
Reporting back:

I tried a few different approaches. In the end, I found it easier to get the cables through first and then thread the housing onto them. Attaching a bit of string and using the vacuum cleaner to suck it out worked once, but I had trouble getting string and cable reliably attached--tape just doesn't work very well (and sometimes gets lost inside the bars), and I didn't have crimps around to use instead.

Favorite technique: I used a headlamp to see into the exit hole, pushed the cable in from drop side towards stem, and grabbed it with a pair of tweezers. Worked like a charm, did 2 in about 3 minutes.
 
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