clean and lube cables and housing

i remember reading a long time ago that you shouldn’t lube at all, but that’s more relevant for new cables and housing right.

so what do you use if you do this?
I’m thinking i’ll use white spirit or alchohol as a clenaer for both, blow out housing thouroughly with airline, and then lube with what?
dry chain lube? light suspension grease? any recommendations?

and no i won’t replace them! unless they’re knackered : )

The cable outer needs replacing regularly where it’s really stressed such as the curve around to the rear derailleur. In wet conditions the exposed ends of the steel reinforcements get rusty and manky and performance begins to suffer. Buy a couple of metres of cable outer and a Park Tools cable cutter.

Usually I change the outer and give the inner a good clean and even polish it with metal polish, then I run it through fingers wetted with Finish Line and reassemble. I also smear the outer cable ends with Vaseline or lanoline before slipping them into the plastic ferrules. I guess that’s the price I pay for carrying on riding through the winter.

If the cables are stainless steel then pop cables out of the cable holders and run normal chain oil on to them.
If the cables are corroding or galvanised cables then you can wire wool them and then re-oil.
But if you’re going to that amount of work I’d just replace 🙂

Remove the inner, blast with WD40, blow with air, insert inner with a smear of Rock n Roll Cable Magic.

If inners need replacing, go stainless. CRC doing XTR gear cable sets for a good price if not full length, SP41 if full length.

1) accept that housing is a consumable. The exception is nokon, but then you still have to replace the liner.
2) buy stainless inners as a minimum, the teflon/polymer coated ones are an improvement on just stainless. There’s also the cord cables rather than wire, but they’re silly money.

Shimano SP41 outers come pre-greased (another good reason to just buy it and bin once shifting deteriorates).

The only other thing’s I’ve found to improve shifting are R&R cable magic which seems to work well with middleburn cable oilers, or dipping cables in putoline wax (I’ve taken over TJ’s role of being the resident putoline evangelist)

I do accept that cable housing is consumable, thought i’d made tha obvious!
i do buy stainless cables. and i do know when housing needs replacing and have some good cable cutters!

thanks TINAS and querty, i’ll google those products.

i haven’t found eg jagwire coated cable to be better than stainless thb.

Ime outer lasts pretty well. Inners can be wire wooled in seconds. A light lube can free up contamination.

I see loads of people replacing cables and outers needlessly, albeit 10 speed etc is stupidly sensitive (why I don’t use it!)

i haven’t found eg jagwire coated cable to be better than stainless thb.

Some seem to be better than others. I really rate the KCNC coated cables, they’re covered in a fine teflon powder which breaks down and lubricates the cable. That combined with either SP41 or jagwire outers seems pretty good.

what happened to TJ anyway? presumably he’s still here under some other guise?
not stirring, just wandering…