We live and learn. About three months ago I upgraded the Shimano derailleur on my cruiser, and changed the twist shifter for the lever type. The lever shifter came with a new cable which was too short because a cruiser needs a longer cable. I had to cut the housing down by seven inches. This left the routing of the cable a bit tight but still worked well.

Many years ago when I was a teenager, it was recognized practice to lube brake and gear cables with oil or light grease. So without updating myself on modern cables I applied a light smear of grease to the new cable, and everything worked well. A short while later I reviewed an article on brake and gear cables. It said that cables don't need lubrication because the housing has some kind of lining. Oh, well, I figured the grease wouldn't hurt anything.

Lately, the gear changes are not what they ought to be. It's like the chain takes its own sweet time to go to the next cog, whether changing up or down. I guessed the problem was in the cable. So after disconnecting it from the derailleur, I tried to pull it through the housing, and it was tight. The cable wasn't greasy, either. I rather suspect that the grease interacted with whatever material lined the housing, causing it to swell enough to grip the cable.

Fortunately, I have new housing and cable on the way because I had decided I didn't like the too-short cable and housing. One thing that irritated me, though, was that a standard gear cable isn't long enough, and I can't buy the housing and cable as a kit long enough to fit the bike. So now I have fifty feet of housing coming, and a cable long enough for a tandem bike. So, no more lubing cables!

I'd like to see cable and housing kits made about a foot longer and we can cut them to suit. It's better than having to buy a large quantity of housing which will get stored and probably never used.