Shift Cabling Revisited

Well, check out the pics. I bought a couple of bits from Harris Cyclery to make the shift-work more accurate and easier. The long cable housing and jury-rigged clamp were really binding up the shift cable.

I re-did the whole thing, eliminating most of the cable sheath. I added a cable stop at the extreme front end of the toptube, and added a pulley to transition down the seat stays. This was how they did it with the old English 3-speeds, I think. What I will change later is turn the clamps bolt-side down by flipping them over.

It's a bit obtrusive. I would prefer less stuff. Us fixie folks don't like mess. We don't like stuff. We want everything clean and simple. We want..... well....less, I guess.

I hear you. I asked for it. I got involved with... well....  more.

OK. So I have to live with it. But what about mounting the shifter on the seatpost? Or to a rack braze-on on the seatstay? (I don't have one.)  Or some kind of adapter that clamps to the seatstay? Or, borrowing the brake lever idea from the mountain unicycle crowd, a special clamp under the seat? I downshift/upshift maybe 3x on a ride. Reaching down to the seatpost 6 times in 2 hours is not a problem.

Or just go as-is.

Which is what I'll do, for now.