Cable Grease
 

I'm looking for a recommendation to grease my rim brake and derailleur cables. My LBS is recommending Shimano Cable Grease, but it may be overkill (in terms of quantity) for my one bike. Are there good, lower-cost alternatives?

Thank you,
Robert

Depends on what you're using. For example, all Jagwire housings above their bottom-end come with pre-lubricated liners and there's not necessarily any reason to add anything.

I have whatever housings came standard with my 2019 Cannondale CAAD12/Ultegra.

i also use prelubed cable housing but if there are just a bit draggy I've also just used a small amount of grease or triflo

For a 2019 bike you shouldn't need lube on a Shimano cable unless you leave the thing out in the rain 24/7 and I doubt you do with a CAAD12/Ultegra.

I should mention too that when I started a thread about a month ago asking what lube to use for cables the answer I got was to not bother and just get new cables. In my case though the bike WAS left out in the rain and snow 24/7 for 4 years. As it turned out I only replaced the rear derailleur cable as that was the one giving me problems and it worked. The bike is also a 1990 model, not 2019.

No, you don't need to lube your cables. If one is sticky it probably has a broken wire and needs replacing.

So, we perform 20-30 Tune-ups a month. There are definitely situations in which even newer bikes have benefitted from cable lube. Slow return of brake levers, and slow drop of the Rear Mech are commonly improved. As far as what they use, it has varied by Mechanic. The guys I have had the highest faith in (20 + year experience) have preferred Tri-Flow wet. Whatever you do, never use a dry chain lube. We had one guy using this on occasion, and we had some comebacks. I can see how paraffins might sound like a great idea, but it gums up the works. On the other hand, if it's my bike, cable and housing are cheap and provide ultimate results.

Dialectric (silicone) grease is what you want. It won't degrade the various synthetic components in the cable housing like petroleum-based grease will. I've also heard this works well but I'm guessing it is a silcone grease:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8a5251f429.jpg

Any thoughts on this product from Park Tool:

Just spoke to Calvin, and he recommended it over grease for its ability to work it's way into the cable housing.

I've used the shimano SP-41 grease, which is also a silicone product. Haven't had any issues over the lifespan of my cables, shifting is always nice and crisp.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...04dc1f5ba0.jpg

Yep, also came in to say this.

How do you get the grease far enough inside the cable housing without pulling out the cable?

Grease is too heavy and sticky IMO. I prefer some light oil, currently using ATF.

I've never had a problem using WD40 or Triflow with one of these:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9a8a56bedc.jpg

Good question.

If you have a bike with only a short gear loop at the end, it easy to clean and lube that.

Park the bike with the chain on the big rear cog. without pedalling shift all the way down, to release some cable and the cable goes slack. - Now you can unseat the housingends and clean the cable, ect.

You do it as a cable prep during the installation--not after. Put some grease on your fingers and working it along the exposed cable working it into the filaments. Then, run the cable inside the housing moving it back and forth a few times. Take the cable out of the housing and gently wipe it down with a soft cloth. Then, install cable and housing.:thumb: