One of my bikes has full housing until the seatstay. I use one of these so I can procrastinate on service.

Another bike has full housing and doesn't have cable stops. Only saddles for housing and zip ties.

There was a school of thought that less housing equals less friction and less weight, back when we were riding 22lb race hardtails. Not so much these days when we're riding 30-40lb trailbikes.

 

Exposed cable at the BB seems like strange concept but that design on bikes in generals has been around for a very long time and it hasn’t really been an issue if the cable is replaced once a year or once every other year.

 

That design is pretty common on a lot of lower priced hybrid/commuter/fitness bikes. I have a 2016 Cannondale Quick 4, the rear shift cable has housing from the shifter to the to a ‘boss’ a couple of inches down the down tube, then expose cable until 4 inches from the end of the chain stay where there’s a short section of housing the mech. When it was 3x the front shift cable was bare wire from the top of the down tube to the mech.

I’m looking at another Marin ‘fitness’ bike hanging on my garage wall with exactly the same design.

 

It’s just holdover technology from Road Bikes of the 1970’s (My guess). All my original Mt Bikes from the mid 1980’s had that. I had a newer frame that I modified by using a drill bit. I just enlarged the housing “stop” until housing slid through. I just spun drill bit with my fingers, as the angle is wrong for a drill. MAYBE you could access it with a 12 inch long bit. Anyway, the aluminum on mine was soft, and spinning the drill bit with fingers took no time at all.

 

Most, if not all, of the earlier mtb's (pre 2010 at least) had those interrupted cable runs. I always thought it was ridiculous. The downsides far outweigh whatever friction losses/weight savings it provides. It can be remedied without tools using the Jagwire cables that have a separate continuous inner sheath for the cables.👍

 

Could you emphasize on this Jagwire cable thing? This sounds like something I would love to have.

 

The 1x Elite Sealed Shift Kit uses a continuous liner that seals the system completely protecting it against dirt, mud and other contamination. Available in three colors, this system offers the ultimate combination of protection and low-friction performance for bikes with a rear derailleur or internally geared hub only

1x Elite Sealed Shift Kit | Jagwire

Elite Sealed shift cable & housing sets completely protect your bicycle's shifting system against dirt, mud, and debris.

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2x Elite Sealed Shift Kit | Jagwire

Elite Sealed shift cable & housing sets completely protect your bicycle's shifting system against dirt, mud, and debris.

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I had a '05 Giant Reign where the proprietary top tube shifter cable stop broke off. Absolutely no replacement to be had. I ran a continuous cable and never looked back.

 

You can easily drill out the stop and run your full length housing through it.


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What Jagwire uses now was an original idea from Gore and has been working fine for decades. You don't need the cable housing all the way as long as you're running a continuous liner.
I'm running those liners on all my bikes and they're virtually maintenance-free.

 

my old Focus Spine C had interrupted cable runs where the housing would stop at the grommet where the cables enter the frame. It was a total pain with the wires constantly freezing in the winter, so I ended up drilling the grommets to run a full length housing. Problem solved! Some of the new Konas still use interrupted cable runs 🫣

 

There is a benefit to the open cable routing. It allows easier access to lube the cable adjacent to the open (un-housed) segments. It also allows you to quickly detention the rear derailleur by uncoupling the housing from the housing stop along frame. This makes rear wheel removal easier on some frames depending on dropouts.
Full length housing is not necessarily more "clean". Once contaminants enter the housing they are trapped. Open cable segments can allow water and dirt to escape the housing or at least to clean it without detaching the derailleur then requiring an indexing adjustment.
Much like internal cable routing, this is purely for aesthetic and ease of build reasons rather then any improvement in performance.

 

Use cable liners. Lube before installation. Never think about cables again.

 

I "upgraded" to using a housing all the way like almost all the bikes are now.

We put a screw driver in the slit and opened up the bracket slightly and the housing went right in.

Thank you for the input