Kirke keyboarded:
"In regards to the Masi/Gazelle bike, I found it interesting that the bar end shifter cables are run all the way up through the handlebar tape and exit at the stem. I personally find this method more aesthetically appealling, but I didnt know this would have been a practice back in the 1960s-70s. I was always under the impression it was really only possible with modern lined and lubricated cable housing. It was suggested to me that with old housing, that shifting would have suffered greatly. Any thoughts?"
Been there, did that, have paint rubbed off of both sides of the headtube to prove it, back in 1972. Good old stainless "wound" style housing, too, so some of the chafing on the paint shows up as individual lines from the metal housing. Wrapping with some handlebar tape sort of helped. And, yes, it looked a whole lot nicer to me than to have the housings flopping around between the drops. Made it so you could put your hands anywhere on the bars without catching a thumb on the cable housing.
No real loss in shifting, with friction only (Suntour ratcheting barcons) operating a Campagnolo NR derailleur over 5 rear cogs. Well, none that I noticed, or even thought about -- that's just the way it was, and I could shift to the highest gear on any descent without having to take my hand off the bar to run a downtube shifter.
Joel Niemi / Snohomish, Washington