Under tape cables, new bars needed?

[Doc_D]

I bought a new frameset and am building it up this winter. I was thinking about reusing a 4 year old set of Easton EC90 bars. I'm going to be using a new Dura Ace 9000 group that routes the cables under the tape. I noticed several bar manufacturers advertise they have grooves in their bars for the cables.

How beneficial are the grooves. I'd like to reuse the bars I already have but if they are going to be super uncomfortable due to the cables then I'll break down and buy a new set.

[tihsepa]

Groved bars are no big deal. Just run the cables in such a way that they just make the bar better or more comfortable for you. It takes some experimenting before you tape but cn be done and will work just fine.

[metoou2]

Dura Ace 9000 cables run on the FRONT of the bar. You should never know they are there, shouldn't need any groovy grooves.

[Camilo]

If your EC90 bars are like mine, they are ovalized (on mine there's a little diagram on the bar's decal). The cables can run in the front, sort of below midline and you'll never know they're there, probably not even visually noticable either. Frankly, the same could be said for round bars without grooves. But the grooves and the ovalizing tuck the cables in a little, which is a little better.

By the way, old Shimano levers ran at least one cable under the bar tape, and there's never been a problem.