[Closed] What grease?

I use this stuff on everything;

[img] [/img]

[url= http://www.rutlandcycling.com/3201/Finish-Line-Teflon-Grease.html ]http://www.rutlandcycling.com/3201/Finish-Line-Teflon-Grease.html[/url]

Good to see the 'pail' size is available 🙂

I think you need to be careful on Lithium Greases and carbon frames.

By 'everything' what do you mean?

sorry, everything that needs grease - cables, hubs, headsets, seatposts etc.

Only thing I oil is chain and derailleur pivots.

Greasing cables???

In any case I use silkolene pro RG2....good enough for my MX and race bike, good enough for my MTB!

wwaswas - Member
sorry, everything that needs grease - cables, hubs, headsets, seatposts etc.

Only thing I oil is chain and derailleur pivots.

Ahh. See, Im a n00b. Cheers.

[i]Greasing cables???[/i]

just a light wipe before they go in the outers, not a dunking.

Gt85 wd40, on cables. Grease will cause rear cable to return too slow chain will not index down very well, imo. 😀

[i]wd40[/i]

that's not a lube at all, though?

castrol LM for me

Gt85 wd40, on cables. Grease will cause rear cable to return too slow chain will not index down very well, imo.

Not IME

Grease will cause rear cable to return too slow chain will not index down very well, imo

that's complete bull i'm afraid. been greasing my cables since forever and never had an issue at all.

a light grease of the inner before inserting into a full length outer at initial setup.

Rear mech cable is sticking slightly, assumed grease would be the best thing to use?

it's worth popping the outers out of their stops, giving the inner a good clean and a light grease and then putting the outers back int he stops.

If you 'relax' the cable you can do this without detachign the inner fromt he rear mech.

you'll probably want a new cable...

wwaswas - Member
it's worth popping the outers out of their stops, giving the inner a good clean and a light grease and then putting the outers back int he stops.

If you 'relax' the cable you can do this without detachign the inner fromt he rear mech.

That's the plan...

dale,

Consider going full length Shimano SP41 Outers with new stainless inners.
Build with sealed ferrules and rubber boots.
Factory grease in the new outer is adequate.
Ride for years without further attention.

Parkers do a 10m roll (good for 4-5 bikes) of SP41 for approx £22.
CRC do a 4-pack of sealed Shimano ferrules with rubber boots...you clip the nose off for the rear mech and shifter ends.

PaulD

Standard bike grease should not be used on cables as already said. A light oil is suitable here.

If a cable is sticking I would just replace the cable and outer as you have to disassemble anyway to lube. My view on cable is run full length outers if you can bu if you can't use stainless steel wires like Transfils that are cheap and chearful and replace as often as needed. They should last a decent length of time. If riden in sloppy wet conditions all the time then they will not last as long but transfil gear cable set would cost any customer here about £6 or £7 depending on how much outer is needed and how many ferrules are needed. So it it will never break the bank.

Lithium grease should not be used everywhere.
Bearings/moving parts use a grease with my favourite being Rock N roll Super web.
Anti size should be used in static metal to metal parts e.g. press fit headset cup, BB threads. Manufacturers recomend (mostly) that non grease or anti zize should be used of BB axle splines (there may be some expections).

WD40 has no place on a bike anywhere, it is hopeless. If I wan to free a siezed part plus gas is the pentrating fluid of choice.

I would not even let GT85 anywhere near a bike either.

Don't grease, trust me I'm a docker, gt85 dries to leave a ptfe coating. Nice and light won't clag up or thicken in cold weather.

I use GT85 via Middleburn cable oilers on my gear cables now. Never had such slick shifting. Quick squirt after every wet ride. Until I fitted these I 'd use a light oil, which was fine, but not even close to how things are now.

Agree with bop 700f! I don't use grease on rear mech cables as it can attract dirt. I use full length outers and Tft2 spray oil that has Teflon in. If u use full length outers you can slacken the cable by tying the rear mech and flush the whole cable through with the tft2 spray oil. This means you hardly ever need to replace cable inners or outers!

WD40 is great for dispersing water from your chain after a wash/wetting. Then proper lube.

Grease on cables = no no IMO.

Bel Ray waterproof grease. Tick. Tock. Thicker than Silkolene RG2 but much more tenacious. Aluminium based so won't make your seals expand either. About £6 for a big tub and its blue.

GT85 is great for a liberal spray on a wiped off wet chain after a muddy ride - will stop it rusting, nothing else.

I've never had a problem using grease on headset or BB cups.

If you take into consideration Shimano are filling their SP41 cable outers with [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=33666 ]THIS STUFF[/url] I reckon a thin film of grease on the cable wouldn't do any harm...

Rock n Roll cablemagic in full length SP41's here. Not sure I'd be putting grease on my cables.

But as far as grease goes, you can do a lot worse than the R&R Super Web, sticks like shit to a blanket (so therefore no good for cables!)

Shimano also supply new chains with grease on. Most people remove it.

Most people remove it

To their detriment [url= http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/06/28/chainwear-challenge-quick-interview-with-shimano/#more-32751 ]it would seem...[/url]

[i]"The grease does a better job of reducing friction than aftermarket chain lubes and it lasts longer."[/i]

teasel, that article is about chains.

chains and cables are different wrt their lubrication needs.

chains and cables are different wrt their lubrication needs.

Who'd have thought, eh.

Have a re-read of the posts and it'll all make a bit more sense...

Edit : Sorry, bit flippant. Radioman made a post implying the removal of the grease from Shimano chains was the done thing and therefore the correct way of dealing with the proprietary coating. I gathered from that post that he was making a comparison between the removal of said grease with the belief that the grease supplied in SP41 cables was deemed a 'preservative' and was to be removed, too. Both are incorrect procedures.

That clearer...?

CBA but well done for being cryptic.

Wasn't meant to be cryptic, just sarcastic...

🙂

Ah OK well I didn't read that into his post but there you go.

Anyway you quoued a shimano guy bigging up his own product...hardly impartial.

I have always greased cables and find it works well - I do use cheapo outer cables tho Lined ones it could be different.

Sheldonbrowns take?

Lubrication
Cable Lubrication
In the old days, before the development of plastic-lined housing, it was necessary to coat the inner cable with light grease or heavy oil.

Modern plastic-lined cables have made the use of grease inappropriate, because the viscosity of the grease makes for sluggish cable movement. This is a more critical concern with modern brake and gear systems that use weaker return springs, and with indexed shifting in general.

Many manufacturers now recommend against using any lubrication on cables. It certainly should be avoided in the case of sealed systems such as Gore-Tex ®. Bicycles used in wet conditions, however, will often benefit by the application of a bit of oil, more as a rust-preventive than as a lubricant. The area of particular concern is the short loop of housing which carries the rear derailer cable around from the chainstay to the derailer.

hardly impartial.

Agreed. I would never claim such an absurdity.

I didn't read that into his post but there you go.

Bizarre to bring-up chains and the removal of the original grease if it wasn't to add some form of support for his opinion that grease shouldn't be used on cables.

Anyway, I'm not gonna get into an argument over bike parts and servicing...

Wow...your indexing works with unlined cables?

The outer is spiral or longitudinal?

Lubrication
Cable Lubrication
In the old days, before the development of plastic-lined housing, it was necessary to coat the inner cable with light grease or heavy oil.

Modern plastic-lined cables have made the use of grease inappropriate, because the viscosity of the grease makes for sluggish cable movement. This is a more critical concern with modern brake and gear systems that use weaker return springs, and with indexed shifting in general.

Many manufacturers now recommend against using any lubrication on cables. It certainly should be avoided in the case of sealed systems such as Gore-Tex ®. Bicycles used in wet conditions, however, will often benefit by the application of a bit of oil, more as a rust-preventive than as a lubricant. The area of particular concern is the short loop of housing which carries the rear derailer cable around from the chainstay to the derailer.

+1, tried to get this across in my first reply

A good tip I got was to squirt some GT85 onto a rag and squeeze the cable through it a few times before fitting it.. A load of grey gunk will come off the cable and it'll feel nice and slippery when it's installed as it'll soak some of the lube up.
I usually put a dab of grease under the end caps to keep water out.

I guess you've got to go with what works for you. I use full length SP41 outers (with supplied grease) on the MTB and have had no call to service them yet (3 years). Conversely I use the 'normal' set-up on my all-rounder, SP41s (again with supplied grease) but with a small film of grease applied to the exposed area of cable to help stop corrosion. Never had any issues with indexing on either bike even in cold weather.

There are no rules or standards in the cable-lubing stakes, simply what works for you.

Anyway, all a bit OT. I'll shut-up now...