Regarding internally routed cables,
I have a French Reyhand touring bike built I guess between 1936 and 1938 that has an internally routed rear deraillieur cable.
Jan Heine should be able to clarify when French tourers started using internal cables, but I suspect the date will go back to the early 30's.
Mike Kone in sunny and warm Boulder CO
> Mike asked:
>
> I have just bought a 1940s Italian frame with internally routed brake
> > cable and derailleur cable. My question is when was this first done and
> > by whom? So far the only other "old" bike I have found on the Internet,
> > with an internally routed brake cable, is a 1950s Olmo on a German web
> > site. Just goes to show nothing is new - just reinvented!
>
> I don't know when they were first used, but by the 40's it was very common to
> route rear cables internally in Italy. Sometimes people would even do it on
> their own by simply drilling the holes in the frames, at other times they
would
> use nice braze-ons. In the early 50's Bozzi catalog that Chuck sells reprints
> of, you can find the braze-ons on page 77 part 1895.
>
> --
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ