The under-the-TT cable routing actually makes a lot of sense. Rusty top tubes are a big problem on road bikes, mostly due to sweat accumulating at brazeons and clamps. Moving the the cable underneath the tube should help it avoid accumulating sweat on all but the really hot and humid days. It would also lead to a much "cleaner" look, like a track frame or an internally routed cable. The key issue here is how far away from the head tube and seat tubes the brazeons are. I have seen bikes where the brazeons are applied to the tube before the bike was built and where their position is anywhere from awkward to unuseable. Cable brazeons applied to the top of the tube are not immune from this problem, either.
Steve Barner, fighting the battle of rust on way too many classic frames, Bolton, Vermont
> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2004 00:11:47 -0400
> From: Sheldon Brown <CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com>
> To: Toni.Theilmeier@t-online.de (Toni Theilmeier),
> classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]Cable Stops - Am I doing something wrong?
> Message-ID: <p06110429bd55b58d9ec4@[10.0.1.9]
>
>---SNIP---
> >
> >Let=B4s start with Ron Cooper who made my Gillott=20
> >TT Fleur de Lys in 1954. Why oh why did he put=20
> >the brake cable stops right underneath the top=20
> >tube, dead in the six o=B4clock position? A slight=20
> >offset would have vastly helped cable routing,=20
> >and also braking power, of course.
>
> Ahh, but which side would you offset it to?=20
> There's the rub! Some folks like the front brake=20
> on the right (usual in England, also my own=20
> preference) while others like the front brake on=20
> the left. Symmetrical placement allows either=20
> cable routing to work equally well.
>
---SNIP---
>
> Sheldon "http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn" Brown
> Newtonville, Massachusetts