Tips for Routing Internal Cables? (First timer!)
 

Hi Everyone!

I'm about to attempt a cable & housing replacement for my road bike and have done a few hours of research on the best way to do it. Most suggestions recommend using a tube that you can slide over your current cable and use as a guide to slip the replacement cable through, but none of them state where I can buy one of these tubes or even which type of tube will work.

Is there a type of tube you'd recommend, hopefully something I can pick up online?
Should I stick with SRAM cabling and outers or test something fancier like Jagwire?
Am I better off buying a bunch of single cables and outers and cutting them all to size, or picking up a pre-packaged "cable set"?
Do I lube the cable before inserting? Some say yes, but most say no - I ride in the SF Bay Area so very dry most of the year.

Thanks for your help - any additional tips or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Matt

Tubing
Contact your local bike shop. The mechanics should have a roll of the tubing, and should be able to give you or sell you a piece. Get some crimp ends at the same time.
I've never heard of an official name for the stuff. Tell them it's the temporary thin tubing for fishing new cables through the frame...
See my post in a previous thread here. There's a Park Tool photo (with blue gloves) that you could show them.

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Even the cable sets will need to have the housing cut, and the cable shortened after attaching to the derailleur.

I like to get the housing the right length. New bikes usually have excess housing at the bars, since they need room to do adjustments for the buyer. I insert one end of the cable in the shifter, without an internal cable, and temporarily tape it to the bars (if it's an under the bar tape cable.) Then I can hold the other end at the frame stop and estimate the correct housing length. I cut it and decide if I need to shorten it a little more. Then smooth the cut end--I use a dremel with a grinding wheel.

It's called cable liner. It's the same stuff that comes inside the better cable housings. If you buy Jagwire, you can probably use the stuff that comes with it and then put it back.

https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server2...20.320.jpg?c=2

Jagwire only because it comes in cool colors - otherwise anything's fine.

Try this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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...I've had pretty good results using a piece of baling wire ( which bends easily, but is still stiff enough to snake through the tubing and hit the hole at the other end) and then attaching the uncut end of the new cable to the end of the baling wire using an appropriately sized piece of heatshrink. Then you just pull the cable on through. If youi already have a cable in place, use the heatshrink to attach your new cable end to the end of it.

Just recabled a Pinarello that way last month.

Smart! When you say "appropriately-sized", how large do you mean? I would imagine an inch or two of overlap on each cable would be fine?

Thanks for the advice! Super helpful.

...I was referencing the diameter of the heatshrink, as it comes in a variety of them. You want some of the smaller stuff. Yeah, an inch or two on each cable end does fine. It's way more grippy than trying to do the same thing with tape.

I've always used the dental floss and vacuum cleaner method lol. Has actually worked really well for me