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Grease, oil, Teflon or wax on cables?

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Grease, oil, Teflon or wax on cables?

Old 10-19-19, 08:06 PM
  #1  
zacster
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Grease, oil, Teflon or wax on cables?

I'm resurrecting an old Trek 8000, and one thing I noticed is that the shifting is very stiff and I know it wasn't always that way. When I disconnected the cables both derailleurs were easy enough to move by hand, and both shifters were free to move too. So that leaves the cables in between. Short of buying a new pair of cables, what should I use on the existing ones? Grease, some kind of oil, teflon chain lube or wax or something else? This bike won't get used much. For comparison, the brakes and cables seem to work just fine. Only the shifting got stiff. If I find that applying some lube doesn't work I'll buy new ones. They aren't that expensive but my wife is already giving me grief about fixing up what would be my 4th bike although the only MTB with fat tires.

I suppose the cables could also have a kink in them at this point too, in which case I'll buy new.

Last edited by zacster; 10-19-19 at 08:18 PM.
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Old 10-19-19, 08:23 PM
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I use die-drawn stainless inner wires with lined housings, no lube. The cost is minimal and the improvement over old cable will likely surprise (and please) you. If you really don't want to replace what you have then a light oil would be my suggestion. I think that grease or wax will bee too stiff during use and too difficult to get where they need to go.
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Old 10-19-19, 10:36 PM
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Maybe have a word with your wife about what sort of habits and recreational activities you are NOT paying for.

Mine understands that a man my age will be attracted to fast, sleek Italian things and is happy I'm not going after the cars or women.

Try greasing that cable. Short term solution, at best but couldn't hurt.
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Old 10-19-19, 10:37 PM
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Old 10-19-19, 11:49 PM
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Light grease, or oil. I generally much prefer to replace with new cable and housing (and I usually buy pre-lubed, lined housing), but sometimes at work for someone paying the bare minimum I'll quickly lube any sticky cables. My normal go to is slick honey, which is a suspension grease, but Shimano's official SP-41 stuff is great--Dumonde Tech Chain lube also works pretty well. I think heavier bearing greases can be a little too thick.
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Old 10-20-19, 01:29 AM
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Before you grease or oil, remove the cable from the DERs out of the housings (do not remove from the controls yet), then blow out the housings first to demove fine debris and examine the cable itself out of the housing for any rust, corrosion or fraying that warrants replacement. If fairly clean, then lightly rub them down with fine steel wool, oil and reinstall.
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Old 10-20-19, 07:09 AM
  #7  
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I wouldn't spend too much time on the existing cables, as anything you do will be temporary. Cables are a wear item, I would pull the trigger and install new cables and housing.
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Old 10-20-19, 08:33 AM
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OK, I'm convinced, I'll buy new cables/housing. I have housing somewhere but not sure if it is brake or shifter housing. Shifter housing has the parallel wire, correct?
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Old 10-21-19, 08:52 AM
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Out of order, replace cables and housings (as you've decided to do). Shifter housing has the parallel wires, check.

What kind of weather do you plan to ride in? Where will you store the bike? Grease is good, it keeps water out of the cables so they don't freeze up if it's cold. Oil is good, because it doesn't thicken up when it gets cold (even though it'll let water into the cable).
Teflon? Hard to get good coverage. Wax?? Uh-uh.
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Old 10-21-19, 10:07 AM
  #10  
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Originally Posted by zacster
OK, I'm convinced, I'll buy new cables/housing. I have housing somewhere but not sure if it is brake or shifter housing. Shifter housing has the parallel wire, correct?
Yes. SIS shift housing has parallel cables. If you're using friction shifting, helical cable is acceptable.
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Old 10-21-19, 10:14 AM
  #11  
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I picked up a complete kit (brake and shifter cables) at the local hardware store (Bell) for under 6 bucks. Since they're regular replacement items anyway, why go hog wild?
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Old 10-21-19, 12:04 PM
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I used to remediate old cables. Now I've realized that my success rate was not worth the time.
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Old 10-21-19, 01:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Bigbus
I picked up a complete kit (brake and shifter cables) at the local hardware store (Bell) for under 6 bucks. Since they're regular replacement items anyway, why go hog wild?
I think it boils down to how well it works before you replace it. Die drawn cables are smoother and therefore have less friction. The cockpit interface requires less effort or guesswork to use with less friction. Brake levers spring back quickly and shifting is effortless, with upshifts happening instantly.

Another item to consider would be the 'false economy' potential. If a $30 kit lasts 5 years, it is in effect the same price as an annual $6 expense, without the additional labor to remove and replace the cables. I'm curious about it, I wonder if we've already had a thread on cable and housing replacement.

Edit: WE HAVE MANY THREADS
!
!
Most of the original posts start "I'm sure it's been asked before..."

Last edited by Unca_Sam; 10-21-19 at 01:32 PM.
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Old 10-21-19, 08:10 PM
  #14  
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What I really need to do first is to get the bike rideable again, which I should be able to do this week by cleaning it, putting on a new chain, and filling the existing tires. Saddle is disintegrating as are the foam grips, but I'll make do with those. Then I can see how stiff the shifting is under real conditions, but new cables will be put on eventually anyway.
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Old 10-22-19, 07:51 AM
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As long the cable is not frayed or badly rusted, going over it with WD-40 and a rag can work well, but the main problem is the housings which are not as easily cleaned.
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Old 10-23-19, 02:22 PM
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The easiest thing to do is keep the housings and replace the cables. You can shoot some WD40 down the housings to clean them out first and make the new cables work better.
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Old 10-23-19, 06:08 PM
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I checked and I have new housing, Campy at that. As I recall, I used the same Campy housing on my other Trek MTB when I bought new shifters or levers, can't remember which, and they came with cable but not housing. I'll see if I can get the shifting working without doing anything else first, then try lube, then just throw in the towel and get new,
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Old 10-24-19, 02:56 AM
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If housings are new, check under the ferrules to see if the ends are square. If not, make them square. Often they're too long and you can get nicer bends by shortening them. Then just squirt them clean with some spray and maybe follow with a bit of light oil. Ensure cables are undamaged.

If the housing isn't new and the cables look okay, worn liners in the housing are the likely culprit. Along with excess length being common...
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Old 10-24-19, 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Ronsonic

Mine understands that a man my age will be attracted to fast, sleek Italian things and is happy I'm not going after the cars or women.
Mine understands that I have a sleek Italian friend (a colleague that somehow became my protege, never went beyond that). And the colleague that introduced us in the first place is named Ferrari. (he says no relation). I'm not making this up. And I'm that age too.
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Old 10-24-19, 01:08 PM
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I checked again and not only do I have new housing, there is a gear cable in there too. It is Campy, but my understanding is the Campy barrel is only .5mm smaller than a Shimano and will work. Why I have a spare Campy shifter cable is beyond me, those things are generally expensive.

I did all of the work I wanted to do on this bike today. I washed it, put my new/used Kenda Nevegals in 26x2.1 on it with new tubes, put a shiny new KMC X8.99 chain on it, and then worked on the shifting. It was the shifting that that didn't work well in the end. The front is OK but a little stiff, the rear barely works. As I recall though, the rear never worked very well. In looking at the rear housing, it seems a little long so that'll be one thing to change.

If the cable doesn't help, what next? Douse the shifter with oil or WD40? Lube up the RD too? It didn't seem stiff though.
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Old 10-24-19, 01:24 PM
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You won't lose anything by unbolting the r der and giving it a good scrub with your favorite light degreaser. The pivots might be gritty and could use some lube. If you do the F der, mark the position on the seat tube with some tape so you know where it was set. F der position is easy to get wrong, but a few checks and some fiddling will get it where it needs to be. I'm not sure you mentioned what the drivetrain consists of in your posts.
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Old 10-24-19, 03:34 PM
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I put the campy cable and housing on it and shifting is much better. But the big PITA was that the return spring popped from the shifter and three parts went flying while I had the cover off. It took a while to figure out how it went back together and then I couldn’t get the retaining but to screw back on. Damn. It was a reverse thread! I have CSS syndrome (can’t see ****).
I took it for a spin and the shifting is much easier now. Still not the light touch of my other Trek MTB but that has XT dynasys 10sp.

The drivetrain on this bike is Deore DX 7sp, a groupset that I haven’t seen elsewhere from the early 90s. This frame is bonded aluminum, and this was rumored to not last very long except that this bike is already 30 years old. I guess that's long enough.

And yes, I need to cut the excess and put an end nipple on it. I had already put the tools away when I realized it and I just wanted to take it for a ride.

Last edited by zacster; 10-24-19 at 03:55 PM.
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Old 10-25-19, 06:32 PM
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Originally Posted by zacster
OK, I'm convinced, I'll buy new cables/housing. I have housing somewhere but not sure if it is brake or shifter housing. Shifter housing has the parallel wire, correct?
I smear a pinch or 2 of grease on new cables before putting them in the housing.
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Old 10-25-19, 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Homebrew01
I smear a pinch or 2 of grease on new cables before putting them in the housing.
From what I've read that's the wrong thing to do on new cables. It'll harden and gum up the works. New cables and housing are made to be as frictionless as possible.
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