How do I lube my cables?



lectraplayer

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May 11, 2014
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I know it's a silly question, and normally when I restring my bike, I fill my cables with grease and never have a problem. However, since I am working on a buddy's bike and his cables are fine (but one is sticky) I have had zero luck lubing an already installed cable with my cable lube. What's the best way to force the aerosol lube through the cable sheath's length?
 
Originally Posted by lectraplayer

I know it's a silly question, and normally when I restring my bike, I fill my cables with grease and never have a problem. However, since I am working on a buddy's bike and his cables are fine (but one is sticky) I have had zero luck lubing an already installed cable with my cable lube. What's the best way to force the aerosol lube through the cable sheath's length?
You unclamp the cable, pull the inner cable back, lube it and push it back in.

I haven't used lube in cables for years. No need really due to the inner liners used in the cable housing. I would think that the added lube would just attract dirt.
 
If a cable is sticky, suggest you replace it along with the housing. You might try removing it, cleaning the cable, and then using the cable with some thin oil, holding it vertically as you rinse the grit through. When that doesn't work, time to replace it.

Like swampy, I don't lube cables either. Agree it's not needed on modern housings, and that lube tends to attract dirt which can get into the housing and jam up the works.
 
While we're changing cables, why do most bicycles have that exposed cable on the bottom of the frame, which is one of the muddiest parts of the bike? Why not run the housing all the way?
 
Quote:Originally Posted by lectraplayer .While we're changing cables, why do most bicycles have that exposed cable on the bottom of the frame, which is one of the muddiest parts of the bike? Why not run the housing all the way?

FYI. Running the cable under the BB shell was probably a matter of cost, initially ...
  • ... while someone clever may have come up with the design prior to the early 80s, based on the frames commonly available in the late 70s still routing the cable over the BB shell & my mid-80s vintage Peugeot & Olmo having under BB cabling, I'll say that the design was 'first' introduced in the early-80s & took hold by the mid-80s ...
MTBs & CX bikes do not route the derailleur cables under the BB shell for the very conditions which you describe. BTW. I always lube my cables with a dab of petroleum jelly ... Maybe if the professional reviewers lubed their cables then they would be able to achieve the same efficient shifting with their mechanical shifters that I can AND then they would not have been (or, be) quite as impressed with Di2 & EPS shifting[color=ff0000]!!![/color] :big-smile:
 
Quote by Lectraplayer:
"Why not run the housing all the way?"

Added weight of the extra housing length, added friction from the longer housing run and more compression of the lengthier housing resulting in brakes with a mushier feel/reduced stopping power and derailleurs with less accurate responses to shifter input.

Pull the inner wire out of the housing and hose the housing out with any aerosol can of lube you have. WD-40...penetrating oil...whatever. Use the cans that come with the small (usually red) 'straw' and feed the straw into the housing.

It's simply the pressurized action of the liquid that flushes the grit and grime out that matters. If a light film of lubricant is left...great. Most inner liners of the housing need little or no lubricant, but a light film will not hurt anything.

If you're really concerned about sealing off the end of the housing from future contamination you can use those rubber boots in some locations.



 
alfeng said:
Quote:Originally Posted by lectraplayer .While we're changing cables, why do most bicycles have that exposed cable on the bottom of the frame, which is one of the muddiest parts of the bike? Why not run the housing all the way?

FYI. Running the cable under the BB shell was probably a matter of cost, initially ... MTBs & CX bikes do not route the derailleur cables under the BB shell for the very conditions which you describe.
Strange... every multispeed bike, most of which were mountain bikes, had this section exposed. I would often come back and run my new cable, housing and all, the whole way.
 
As a temporary stop-gap or a workaround for people too cheap to replace their cables, a few drops of a thin oil-solvent, like Triflow or T-9, dribbled onto the cable where it goes into the housing, delays the inevitable for a few more weeks.
 
I dissasembled, cleaned, and greased the cable, and it was slam full of mud. It's now loosened up a bit, so my next project will be to do some ridin'. :D
 
Should left the cables dry. The grease will only attract dirt... Most outer cables these days have a ptfe/Teflon liner.