Originally Posted by
hokiefyd
I have a nasty habit of trying to reuse stuff where I can, and I use this technique often. Re-twist the frayed end, and it usually stays good enough to feed through the housing. If it tends to hang up, you can spin/rotate the housing as you feed the cable -- this helps it find its way through. Once you get the frayed end through, you're fine, as the rest of the cable slides very nicely. I never used to lubricate cable or housing, but tried it after watching several BikeFarmer videos on YouTube and Triflow does indeed seem to do a great job keeping that cable and housing slicker-than-snot-on-a-door-knob.
I like Triflow whenever I need a very thin oil, thinner than 20-weight 3-in-1. I've used to lubricate brake calipers/fiber washers and inner cables. It works well and the bottles come with a thin tube when you need to reach tough spots.
I've had luck with brake cables lasting if they are cared for and lubricated. I've got one bike still running its original double-ended cables, which are just shy of 80 years old. They work fine. (Triflow helped those as well).