tjc4golf

I picked up an old Trek 930 a couple of days ago. It had some plastic housing with no inner, just a plastic shell, that ran along the top tube between the braze on cable stops. Presumably for noise reduction / rust protection.

I think I might like this idea. Would like to learn more but I don't know what they're called. Can anyone tell me what term I should be Googling?

And, if you want to save me a Google, tell me how I should feel about these things?

Pic below (it's grey and cable colored but I promise you those are not the cables you're seeing but some light, thin plastic housing).

Thanks in advance!

veganbikes

If you want something that isn't cable housing you might look at Jagwire's liner for their Elite Link housing: https://jagwire.com/products/small-p...-service-parts

It is quite handy and works fine for the Klein liners from their old frames. It would probably work quite well in your situation.

dsbrantjr

I would imagine any type of tubing would work. Perhaps plastic aquarium air line tubing or electronics "spaghetti" or heat shrink tubing would suffice. There are also small rubber donuts which can be threaded onto the wire to keep it from tapping the tube.

tjc4golf

Cool. I may pick some up. Seems it goes for $12.99 per two meters.

Good idea. Might stop by my local Home Depot to see what they've got and possibly save a few bucks before trying the Jagwire stuff.

I'm aware of the donut things and have a few but they never seem to stay where I want them.

Andrew R Stewart 

The cable tubing has various names. Cable liner, housing liner and cable sleeve being common ones. If you have a LBS that you work with ask if they have QBP #CA2206 or can get it.

BTW this liner will also cause marring of the paint and some will find it traps water inside promoting cable rust. The only time I use it on my personal bikes is hen a cable inner would otherwise contact the paint. Andy

veganbikes

Yeah the cable donuts will also work I use them and have had zero issues with paint contact. They move but they always seem to do the job. However if you want it covered the Jagwire stuff is great. Plus their Elite Link Kits are awesome, not only do they look good, weigh less and can be fun to assemble, they also improve shifting and braking.

tjc4golf

Cool. Even cheaper. Seems to go for $10 per 30 meters.

I can see how it could cause rust. Pretty dry here. On the fence...

HillRider

As Andy notes it's usually called cable liner or housing liner and both Jagwire and Shimano sell it in small coils. I use it on the rear brake's run of bare inner wire along the top tube of my bikes as it does quiet them down. I tries the donuts but they always migrated to one end of the cable or the other, the rattling began again and they had to be repositioned a couple of times each ride. The housing liner doesn't move.

As to rust, I always but die drawn stainless steel cables and they never rust.

canklecat

In a pinch I've used hollow plastic stems from cotton swabs in place of cable liners on the bottom bracket guides. Smooths out shifting too.

Those brazed on guides around the seat cluster are more convoluted. I haven't tried the cotton swab stem trick on my one older MTB bike that needs cable liner.

Russ Roth

Personally, toss them and move on, there's a reason they aren't still regularly seen on new bikes, they didn't really accomplish all that much. If you're trying to keep things looking factory then go for it but otherwise regular maintenance, good housing and stainless cables will accomplish more and look cleaner.

dabac

You’re probably looking at ”sealed cables” https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/co...cables-review/
Gore might have quit, but I’ve seen them for sale recently from other brands.
To make any sense, you need a kit containing both the thin tube but also a special ferrule that forms an overlapping sleeve between ferrule and tube.
This way, water or dirt can’t get to the inner cable at the otherwise open ends at the cable stops.
Me, I like them.
I don’t consider them necessary, but they do extend the service interval of cabling.
Sealed cables vs regular cables both work equally well when recently installed. Sealed doesn’t add any functionality there.
And for a bike mostly used in dry conditions, they may never do anything noticeably beneficial.
But for a bike that frequently gets dirty, they do keep the shifting smooth and slick longer.

Amt0571

Donuts have worked for me on a road bike. But on mountain bikes, with all the vibrations they end up loose after a while in my experience. That makes them slide to the lowest spot where they don't accomplish their mission anymore.

Drew Eckhardt 

I have a piece of unshrunk heat shrink tubing on my rear brake cable.

In theory that could prevent scratches if I rubbed the cable against the top tube shouldering my bike. The brake return springs keep enough tension on the cable it's not going to rattle, and it's stainless steel which doesn't corrode enough to matter.

In practice, my full size frame pump probably accomplishes the same thing.

55tele

I’d leave them bare

mack_turtle

as others have said, you don't see people using those any more because they don't really do anything. in some cases, they old moisture next to the cable and promote corrosion. I'd skip it.

vane171

If I was worried, I'd use the smallest diameter 'Clear PVC Pipe' such as you can buy at Homedepot or most hardware shops. I think the smallest available tube might fit those cables just about right. If you might not want to take the cable off, you could cut the tube by inserting scissors and just pull to cut fast along the whole length, it can then be pressed onto the installed cables. Of course, this latter method suffers a bit esthetically. I do this on solid bare wires of all sorts that run across a metal surface to prevent either noise or corrosion (like temperature probe sensor wire leads that run across sheet metal ducting. When two different metal touch, they can develop some chemical reaction).

But if you don't worry about the paint finish or it doesn't hit it, I'd leave the cables bare. Manufacturer likely put some tubing on them in case you have white shorts and sit on that top tube, especially after the bike had seen several seasons, the cables could leave rust marks on your shorts. or maybe the idea is when you rest your bum on the top tube, you don't mar the paint finish...

canklecat

Some inexpensive Shimano cable/housing sets for entry level and mid-tier bikes include some sealed cable housing, usually the short loop for the rear derailleur. It'll have O-rings on both ends and is greased inside the housing. I'll have to dig out a box of those pre-cut cables and housings to see if all the housings are similarly sealed and greased. Presumably they're anticipating these will be used on bikes that will never see any routine maintenance, so they want the cables and housings to function for as long as possible. They're not bad quality, they just look kinda blah.

But those cable housings aren't narrow enough to fit inside those brazed on guides around the seat cluster or bottom brackets.