Commuting - Gunk In Cable Housing

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Steev
12-23-05, 01:42 PM
How do you keep the water and road gunk out of the piece of cable housing that goes from the chain stay to the rear derailler? I changed the cable and the housing over the summer and with the arrival of the wet weather its already jamming up and causing poor shifting.
Thanks

same time
12-23-05, 02:04 PM
It's a pretty common problem if you ride in the rain a lot. Some cables and housing get it worse than others.

One solution is to run a continuous cable housing from your shifter all the way to the derailleur. It takes some fussing around with zip ties or whatever to get it attached out of the way of the cranks and rear wheel, but the cable is completely protected in there. A few turns of electrical tape where the cable enters the derailleur will seal that part off.

You're not lubing the cables, right? Modern cables have inner sleeves that take the place of lube, and if you squirt in oil it will just attract more grit.
mechBgon
12-23-05, 02:25 PM
How do you keep the water and road gunk out of the piece of cable housing that goes from the chain stay to the rear derailler? I changed the cable and the housing over the summer and with the arrival of the wet weather its already jamming up and causing poor shifting.
ThanksYou might consider an SRAM Nightcrawler. http://harriscyclery.net/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=986 These require a housing stop with a split, so ensure that yours isn't a solid type.

http://www.mechbgon.com/misc/nightcrawler.jpg

A Lizard Skins "Grunge Guard" would protect the derailleur body itself, and the other end of that section of housing, too. It "buttons" around the derailleur like a shirt, no need to take stuff apart :)

http://www.mechbgon.com/misc/grunge_guard.jpg

Walkafire
12-23-05, 08:52 PM
How do you keep the water and road gunk out of the piece of cable housing that goes from the chain stay to the rear derailler? I changed the cable and the housing over the summer and with the arrival of the wet weather its already jamming up and causing poor shifting.
Thanks


I just replaced my RD Cable and Housings.... I just order the dayum Lizzard Skins Grunge Guard... hoping that works. I did buy a New RD also. Gotta luv Winter Commuting!
Steev
12-24-05, 12:24 PM
I was thinking I would have to go with the full housing option but didn't like the idea much. I'll be checking out the Nightcrawler, looks like a good solution. I'm glad you added the Grunge Guard as my derailler is also pretty gunked up too.
The other part of the solution is that I'm exploring routes that have less muck, seems to be helping limit the grunge.
I noticed that my old 27" road bike has a clamp on guide on the down tube that guides the cable over the bottom bracket and along the top of the chain stay, and it stays a lot cleaner than my hybrid that routes the cable under the bottom bracket and the bottom of the chain stay.
Thanks.