[blaklabl]

I’m about to swap out the dropper on my 2018 Fuse Comp Carbon, and have to admit I’m a little intimidated by the internal routing. I know I am going to need longer housing so I’ll have to put some new in there, is the dropper routing curved to go “up” the seat tube when pushed in from the head tube area? Meaning if I push it down the routing channel will it pop right up through the seat tube, or am I in for a fishing expedition? Unfortunately the manual says nothing about it and my google searches have turned up nothing definitive. Thanks for any help or advice, appreciate it.

 

[marcoaml78]

Nevermind...

 

[blaklabl]

Nevermind...

Well that was helpful, thanks.

 

[Forest Rider]

Is the cable routed out of the downtube to atmosphere, then reinstalled into the seat tube?

If not, you'll have to pull a piece of string or something through from one end. Meaning, securely tape string to the housing then pull the old housing through, drawing the string with it. For the new housing, secure new housing to the end of the string you pulled through and pull the string back through to your starting point, pulling the new housing through the frame. Do not pull too quick/hard and risk yanking the string from the housing.

Remove the SWAT cover and check to see if you can follow the channels for the dropper cable. Maybe there is a formed channel, but seems semi-unlikely.


Try to track down the Fuse instructions (or in your packet if you purchased new) for a cable routing diagram.

 

[blaklabl]

Is the cable routed out of the downtube to atmosphere, then reinstalled into the seat tube?

If not, you'll have to pull a piece of string or something through from one end. Meaning, securely tape string to the housing then pull the old housing through, drawing the string with it. For the new housing, secure new housing to the end of the string you pulled through and pull the string back through to your starting point, pulling the new housing through the frame. Do not pull too quick/hard and risk yanking the string from the housing.

Remove the SWAT cover and check to see if you can follow the channels for the dropper cable. Maybe there is a formed channel, but seems semi-unlikely.

Try to track down the Fuse instructions (or in your packet if you purchased new) for a cable routing diagram.

No, it is all internal, including the section running through the SWAT box.

I cannot find any Fuse instructions, and the manual isn't specific. Specialized does a great job of hiding the info on their website.

 

[Forest Rider]

Okay, one or two pictures I saw online had exposed cable housing below the bottom bracket but I couldn't tell what they are between rear brake hose and/or derailleur cable. Other pictures I was unsure if there was exposed cable housing.

I suggested the manual because my Stumpjumper has dropper installation instructions.

If you look inside the SWAT box you will see either the channels or the housings. At least on MY bike I can see the channels formed in to the carbon.

 

[blaklabl]

If you look inside the SWAT box you will see either the channels or the housings. At least on MY bike I can see the channels formed in to the carbon.

Same. My question is if there is a channel that sends the housing "up" the seat tube for the dropper, or am I going to have to fish it through.

My LBS where I bought the bike was less than helpful, they *think* it has a radius corner but aren't quite sure. I emailed Specialized, maybe they can be more helpful.

 

[Forest Rider]

Yeah, it's hard for the shop folks to know everything about every bike. I assume the shop will be the ones to install the dropper but I don't really know who'd have installed it.

I wonder if you will be able to tell by looking down the seat tube.

A thought I have is there is a channel into the BB then it's open air. If so, I'm sure it will be pretty easy to coax the cable up into the seat tube.

The only challenge I can imagine is if the cable goes down instead of up and wrapping under the crank.

I suppose, as I continue brain storming, pull the cranks out so you can simply route the cable up into the seat tube once it comes out of the downtube.

I'd actually suggest removing it anyway just so you can clean and grease.

If it is anything like my 2016 cranks, they are a pain to remove, and the longer they are on the more likely they are to seize. I feel, for my bike, it's preventative maintenance to loosen the bolt, if nothing else, once a year. I think I'm about due.

Anyway, that's all I got....

 

[Lone Rager]

What I'll typically do in a situation like this is take a long cable, run it through the existing housing, then pull the housing leaving the cable in place. Slide the new housing over the cable feeding it in to the frame. You'll need to be able to grab both ends of the cable so that you can put tension on the cable to help work the housing around the BB and up the seat tube.

There is a little threaded coupler that SRAM makes that allows coupling two housings together. This can work, but usually the link is not strong enough to simply pull the new housing through. You need to mainly push the new housing while gently pulling the old housing to help guide it.

If friction is a problem, spraying the housing with dry lube can help. I use SailKote.

If you need to get into the BB to thread the dropper housing, you'll almost certainly need to pull the BB to get access.

I have had success installing an internal dropper cable where there was nothing in place to guide it using the Park kit. Poke a park cable with magnet down the down tube and one with the matching magnet down the seat tube, get them to hook up at the BB, and carefully work it through.

 

[blaklabl]

Thank you all for the tips. I have my fingers crossed that I will just be able to use the current housing as I believe I may have to cut a little off of it, I certainly don’t need longer. And to be honest, the bike is only a month old and the housing is jag wire so best case scenario I can just leave it in place and run a new inner wire. The new post is about 40mm longer so minimal cutting would be involved.

 

[blaklabl]

I did get a response from Specialized Rider Care this morning, and yes you have to pull the BB and catch the cable and manually push it up the seat tube. No worries!

 

[Forest Rider]

Good to know. Thanks for the follow up.