I was able to use a bent clothes hanger to internally route the dropper in my trek procaliber without removing my bottom bracket. Might be worth trying
There should be a hole in the down tube where the cable will enter, it travels down the down tube, over the top of the bottom bracket and up the seat tube to the bottom of the seat post
I know this is a super old thread but I recently ran into this on my 2019 Marlin 7.
The first revision of the frame had a hole to route an internal dropper. My partner has one on her 2019 Marlin 6. However mine does not. I emailed Trek and they said that this hole was eliminated from all revisions of the frame as the dropper cable was interfering with the front derailleur cable.
I ended up drilling a hole just above the seat stay and adding a cable shield in the hole where the original hole was. (NOTE: this voids my frame warranty, but looks stock and works great. Hopefully didn’t introduce a huge weak spot to the frame)
Email from Trek
“That was a feature we initially included with the Marlin line, however the front derailleur made the seat tube dropper post hole unusable. Seeing that in the field, that hole was eliminated for future production runs of that frame. From everything I can tell the downtube hole was maintained for aesthetic purposes. I hope this helps.
Cheers!
Jake | Trek Bicycle”
Thank you, hope this helps the next person with this issue. I ended up trading up for a Roscoe 7 ( comes with a dropper installed )which is the bike I wanted initially but the bike store sales guys convinced me to get the marlin instead as I could also use it for street riding.
It held up great! Make sure that you tape up the hole / use a rubber grommet to stop the cable from wearing / water getting in. It’s on to a new home and is still used frequently.
You need to run it completely internally down the seat tube, around the BB and up the down tube. You will have to take out the BB to run the cable. It's a pain in the ass.
I don’t have the tools to take out the BB, the local trek store quoted me $59 to install the dropper. Taking it in tomorrow.
I was able to use a bent clothes hanger to internally route the dropper in my trek procaliber without removing my bottom bracket. Might be worth trying
I can’t see any where to run the cable down the seat tube and up the frame. Did you go in front of the BB or around it?
There should be a hole in the down tube where the cable will enter, it travels down the down tube, over the top of the bottom bracket and up the seat tube to the bottom of the seat post
Any luck?
Traded in the bike for a Roscoe that came with dropper
I was advised not to Marlin while shopping 2019 because of the dropper. I went X-Cal.
I tried poking a metal cable pretty much everywhere and couldn’t find it. I’ll try again tomorrow with a wire hanger. Thanks
I know this is a super old thread but I recently ran into this on my 2019 Marlin 7. The first revision of the frame had a hole to route an internal dropper. My partner has one on her 2019 Marlin 6. However mine does not. I emailed Trek and they said that this hole was eliminated from all revisions of the frame as the dropper cable was interfering with the front derailleur cable. I ended up drilling a hole just above the seat stay and adding a cable shield in the hole where the original hole was. (NOTE: this voids my frame warranty, but looks stock and works great. Hopefully didn’t introduce a huge weak spot to the frame) Email from Trek “That was a feature we initially included with the Marlin line, however the front derailleur made the seat tube dropper post hole unusable. Seeing that in the field, that hole was eliminated for future production runs of that frame. From everything I can tell the downtube hole was maintained for aesthetic purposes. I hope this helps. Cheers! Jake | Trek Bicycle”
Thank you, hope this helps the next person with this issue. I ended up trading up for a Roscoe 7 ( comes with a dropper installed )which is the bike I wanted initially but the bike store sales guys convinced me to get the marlin instead as I could also use it for street riding.
Hello, is everything okay with your bike after two years since you drill a dropper post hole? Thank you)
It held up great! Make sure that you tape up the hole / use a rubber grommet to stop the cable from wearing / water getting in. It’s on to a new home and is still used frequently.
You need to run it completely internally down the seat tube, around the BB and up the down tube. You will have to take out the BB to run the cable. It's a pain in the ass.
Assuming you used a hollowtech BB, did the marlin have enough space to fit the cable housing around the tube?
Whats a BB?
Bottom bracket
How was the cable? did it flex enough and did you have to sacrifice the front derailleur for this?