Thoughts and opinions please, XT / XTR / Gore / standard with middleburn oilers
New build happening later this week and just about to do a mad shopping frenzy!

Gore Ride On’s without a doubt. Expensive but, to paraphrase L’Oreal… worth it

Fit ’em and forget ’em. The Transfil Mud Lovers are pretty damn good too and a bit cheaper. I wouldn’t bother with Shimano

Mud lovers. fantastic year round reliability.

Well, I fitted some Gore Ride-Ons on Friday, so I’m hoping they are the best now!

I’ve been impressed by Gore Ride-Ons. I fitted some at the end of last summer and have ridden with them right through a grim Peak winter without any shifting bother at all, they’re still going strong. Can’t say the same for the brakes on that bike.

Worth having a look at Nokon and Alligator cables too. They’ve got full length inners like the Gore ones. It doesn’t seem to matter much what cables you use in them – they run really smoothly.

Standard cables and cable oilers

I’ve recently changed my mind about gore cables. I loved the first generation. I actually transplanted them to another frame. Got some of the new ones last year and just had to strip them off. Not as good as they used to be.

I’m now wondering whether to put the xtr cables on or try something different.

XTR outer (SP41) with teflon lined cable + middleburn cable oilers.

+1 for XTR cables. The narrow ferrule with rubber boots stops nearly all mud getting in. They shift like a very smooth thing on national smooth day in smooth-shire.

Can’t see any reason for using cable oilers with them. Loads of faff for little gain. when they eventually get knackered just replace with a nice new set.

Just get your drill out and use full length standard shimano outer with shimano inner, perfect shifting indefinitely.

Surely oiling cable attarcts shit and sticks to the cables?

Im with Spock. for the price of a set of gore you can buy about 6 metres of standard shimano outer and a handful of inners. run full length so no crap can get in. Outer is only about £3 a metre if you buy a lot, cheap enough to replace regularly without having to oil and clean etc

But why run full length outers when Gore or Transfil cables are fully sealed from Shifter to mech, without all the faffing about drilling your frame? Doesn’t make much sense to me

I don’t get why people moan about the price of Gore cables either. They’re £40 FFS?!! Hardly much in comparison to the price of other bike parts (how much did you pay for your frame). And once fitted you don’t have to even think about your cables/shifting from one year to the next

Surely oiling cable attarcts shit and sticks to the cables?

Not if used regularly, as all the s**t get washed out.
Full length cable runs using SP41 (XTR), no idea if there the best but they work well and last for ages.
Loved my cable oilers but don’t see the need for them on cable that runs direct from changer to mech.

Anyone got a linky to a cable oiler please?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=3318

So, XTR gets a good vote and at £25 seems OK value. Might be the ones.

Do Gore cable fit through slotted cable guides that are designed to fit just the inners through?

transapp – The Gore and Mud Lover cables run a full length sleeve over the cable and use standard length outers. So they still fit through slotted/standard cable guides but you have all the advantages of a full length outer as the whole system is sealed from shifter to mech.

Bets of both worlds really. Just had a look and they’re cheaper than XTR on wiggle

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/transfil-mudlovers-gear-cable-set/

Having used them I’d say its a no-brainer

Don’t put oil in cables. It dries out, thickens, and needs replacing. It’s a solution to a problem that does not exist, except for the problem that it creates itself. Entirely stupid.

Any decent outer, cut cleanly and squarely, which is well routed with no sharp turns, will work fine; especially if the outer is a single length.

So why are the cable outers grease filled when new?

So why are the cable outers grease filled when new?

Is grease oil? By all means, inject SP41 into your cables – it’ll probably last longer than oil – but eventually it’ll dry out and gum up, or, in a split system, collect dust too. Then it’ll have to be replenished or rinsed out, or the cable replaced.

Properly installed cables do not need lubrication to work properly and perform well. There is certainly a minor short-term advantage to having lubrication inside a cable system; but that will be offset by a steady decline in performance and, in some instances, a shorter lifespan of cable outers. My philosophy is ‘why bother?’. Do a good install with decent cables and performance will be constant – never any need to ‘refresh’.

drilling out your cable stops is not a faff, a 2 minute job! Saves much more than 2 minutes in the long run.

three_fish Im not sure we will agree on this point. I find that regular lushing with chain lube via the cable oilers has several benefits.
1) Fresh clean lube added to cables reducing internal friction. Reducing effort to move cables.
2) Old lube and muck is purged out the cable ends extending life of cables and outers.

1) Fresh clean lube added to cables reducing internal friction. Reducing effort to move cables.
2) Old lube and muck is purged out the cable ends extending life of cables and outers.

But this is exactly my point. All that stuff you’re doing, the lubing/flushing/cleaning, you’re only doing it because you put stuff in there in the first place The almost insignificant advantage of internal lubrication will be gone after a few months, maybe less. Dry cables will work the same on day one as they will one day 365. On a split system, unlubed cables will pick up less crap and need cleaning less than a lubed system. On a single length system, the system can usually be left for years without needing any maintenance at all to maintain the same function/performance.

Threefish – I disagree with you as well. Some cables have teflon liners which you must add only the correct lube to or none, but cheaper cables without perform much better if regularly lubed. Of course it will be gone in a few weeks – you then redo it.

Myself I like the silky smooth feel of lubed cables and I like the fact lubed cables last for years.

Why put up with sticky cables with lots of friction?

Does the same logic apply to chains?

Does the same logic apply to chains?

No; not comparable.

Another vote for Gore RideOns here (the fully-sealed inner/ liner/ outer version). I fitted mine 3 years ago and haven’t touched the cables since – they just work. The only scary moment was when I had to change a shifter, and thought I’d have to buy and fit an entire new cable run, but I was able to work it out.

hi all,

best to use wax ( ski / snowboard wax )as a lube – as its less likely to hold on to crap or as above use full outers – you dont have to drill out stops – just zip tie the outer OR a better solution – use transfill sealed ferrules n straw that makes a superb weatherproof system at minimal cost ( 4 quid plus normal outer )- only the rear loop at the rear mech gets fouled eventually – I do a lot of long all dayers and my cables are spot on.

I rode across canada / iceland ( twice ) with the above set up – not a prob. In fact the only time I rarely have cable issues is if a cable gets kinked by a crash or poor car transportation…

I think people stress way too much re cables – just fit them properly with no bad bends etc and jobs a good one. Or give up and ride fixed. Or not….

it’s always been XTR for me with gentle clean & just a drop of 3 in 1 every now & again… 🙂

SP41 outers

XTR Inners

Middleburn cable oilers

I get a yr out of a set, with weekly manky riding and weekly hosing and washing

+1 for the transfil sealed ferrules and straw. Use them with an XTR cable set (£19 if you look around).

XTR FTW HTH

I have Gore Rideon system on one of my bikes and middleburn cable oilers and cheap cables on the other.
The bike with the cable oilers has far smoother shifting. Granted it also has XTR shifters, whilst the other is LX. Only issue I have is its so smooth that I often change up too many gears at once.

Well, I banged some std outers and put in an XTR inner and my shifting is now back to smooth and easy.
As an experiment I didnt lube the outers as there was some grease already in there. I did lightly lube the inner where it enters the outer. So we shall see.

Full outers cable-tied on for the winter months here, but geared bike gets little use over Winter.

Oh and I forgot to mention the cable oilers too.

I did lightly lube the inner where it enters the outer.

Why?

Lube where I want it, not where i don’t. i.e. inside the cable, not on the exposed runs.
Anyway I’ve already said we’re not going to see eye to eye on the lube / not lube debate.