Fresh Good Sunday - Park Tool IR-1, Internal Cable Routing Kit

After building a few bikes / framesets with internal cabling it is a right old clart on trying to feed cables / pipes / hoses etc through small access holes. I have been looking at this kit for a while to try and ease the pain of building bikes with internal cable routed frames & forks. Well I bit the bullet and ordered one and arrived with in a couple of days. When I opened the outer packet I could see a piece of plastic in the bottom of the bag. Once I got the box out of the bag I worked out it was one of the catches had snapped of the case. When I went to open the case the other one pinged straight of as well. Not a good start considering the rrp and Park Tool quality. You get three cables in and a magnetic puller tool. the instructions are a little vague as well. I could not work out which end to use for Di2 cables so went on to the Park Tool website to try and find some more info. Well here is the reason why I could not find the right end -
"The IR-1 is discontinued. Its replacement, the IR-1.2, includes an additional cable with a fitting specifically for E-tube Di2 cable. This new cable is also available separately for owners of the IR-1."
Well that was enough and will be returning it for the replacement IR-2 kit if Madison have any stock in the UK yet.
Here is the manufacturers blurb for IR-1
Take the guesswork out of installing cables, wires, and housing inside the frame. The IR-1 speeds the internal frame routing of electric wires, shift cable/housing, brake cable/housing, and hydraulic tubing on carbon fiber, Ti, and aluminum frames. Kit includes three plastic coated 250cm cables with attached magnets and unique fittings, plus an external guide magnet to speed operation. Opposite polarity magnets on cables seek and attach inside frame tubes, making it easy to route through frame entrances and exits. Works with any size frame including tandems.
RRP is £50 I paid £38.79 inc next day delivery, which is more than enough!

UPDATE - That's to Calvin @ Westbrook Cycles, Madison and hopefully getting stock of the new IR-1.2 kit in Jan 17 and there is one on order for my good self.

and here is the blurb for IR-1.2
Take the guesswork out of installing cables, wires and housing inside the frame. The IR-1.2 speeds the internal frame routing of electric wires, shift cable / housing, brake cable / housing and hydraulic tubing on carbon fiber, titanium, and aluminum frames. Kit includes four plastic coated 250cm cables with attached magnets and unique fittings plus an external guide magnet to speed operation. Newly updated to include a dedicated E-tube Di2 cable connector that easily pulls through a 6mm frame hole. Opposite polarity magnets on cables seek and attach inside frame tubes, making it easy to route through frame entrances and exits. Works with any size frame including tandems. A true time and frustration saver!

 

The new IR-1.2 Kit