Had a closer look at the integrated cable routing of the Ridley today.

It's pretty clever. The fork's steerer is D-shaped. There's a super long excentric bung and top-cap.

The flat part of the D is at the front and forms a channel through the headset bearings. Cables just go through the center of any regular stem.

Just needs special handlebars that have hole in the centre. Seems to be a Deda patent.

Fun thing is, I was taking it apart to see if I can fit Deda Zero bars. The Forza/4Za bars that came with the bike look exactly like Deda Zero bars. The stem looks like Deda. The routing is quite similar to Deda patents.

@gschenk I've seen that hole on some Ritchey's as well (always mixing up Ritchey and Ridley) that have holes for internal routing (for example the Ergomax Carbon have that hole, but the aluminum versions have a groove, so no hole - true for other models as well).

Ritchey stems also seems interesting from that point of view: ritcheylogic.com/bike/stems/…

Must be a pain to get those brake hoses and shift cables into such tight spaces and around tight bends. But the cables at the front are such a nuisance it'll be with the effort.

I have a pair of carbon bars with internal routing where the holes are placed at the wrong spot to go into the levers. Shimano levers have to be mounted way too low in the bends. (Couldn't get shift cables and brake hose into it either. So I appreciate that cables go in a groove outside the bars where they are covered by tape and only go inside near the clamp.

PS if there's a giant here with electronic shifting who'd like 44 cm Chinese brand carbon bars. Got a give away.

granfondo-cycling.com/continental-terra-trail-review-2023

What could they mean with pinch protection on a tyre in this review of terra trail tyres?

@gschenk I would think a more sturdy side wall.

@Rеnаud If it gets popular enough, then the Chinese will reverse-engineer it.

@Criggie To become popular in the first place, Schwalbe would probably need to have a permissive enough license in the first place. And if they reverse-engineer it anyway because it's a good concept, it won't be available anyway from reputable shops in Europe.

@gschenk Why a nuisance? For me the issue is more the looks, especially if they are cut at different lengths - I don't bikepack. But anyway, internal routing and suspended stems are mutually exclusive choices, so there was not so much of a choice in my case.