I have heard that excessive cables around your headset can add to the drag of your bike and thus reduce your bike split, especially with aero bars (I think this may be on J Cobbs web site). Is there a method to reduce the amount of cables showing at the front of your bike? I was considering reversing the brake cable direction/order so that my right brake lever would now control my front brake and left would go to the rear, thus cutting down on the amount of cable. Does anyone know any tricks to hide them or reduce their profile at the front of the bike?
Which lever controls the front brake seems to vary a lot around the globe. Italians almost all route them right lever to front brake. Assuming you are right handed it makes a lot more sense to have your preferred hand on the more important front brake. Don’t know how much difference it would make on aerodynamics though.
I think switching your brake cables right/left would take more effort than it’s worth, since you’d save maybe two inches of cable and you’d have to re-learn which brake is which, possibly re-enacting the scenario posted earlier of rolling down a hill at high speed.
The easiest way of reducing the length of cable you have flopping about in the wind is to simply tie them down at appropriate points and for appropriate lengths using tie-wraps/zip-ties or, my personal favorite, electrical tape. You might cover up a few manufacturers’ labels, but that’s never bothered me since most tri-people know which brand most equipment is and I’ve never been paid to advertise for any company anyway.