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Hi. I have a vintage frame that has metal cable guide welded on the bottom bracket shell. I would like to ask if cable housing is needed, inside this kind of cable guide to give protection? Because I am worried the friction of cable will gradually weaken the cable guide.

Thanks in advance for your suggestion.

Nope, no cable housing is required, however; if you intend to ride the bike a lot, I would recommend some lubrication, now and then.

Loosen the cable, smear some grease into the guide, where the cable contacts the guide, work it a bit, then wipe the excess grease off of the visible parts of the guide, leaving the cable and guide coated with the lubricant. Why..?

On more than one occasion, I have seen the cable actually cut into the metal, a situation that will, sooner or later, render the guide useless.

Just an old fellow's opinion.

As Randy says above, nothing needed but I do like to use a small piece of cable housing liner inside of my metal cable guides. I bought a roll on Amazon cheap and enough to do a lifetime of frames.

Zoom into the picture below and you'll see what this looks like.

DSCN2418 (800x600).jpg

Not to diss Randy at all, but I am offering up a +1 for [MENTION=403744]plonz[/MENTION] suggestion, he recommended this to me for my Tommasini Prestige, I can tell a slight difference in the smoothness since installing the liner pieces. If you don't want to use the liner from Amazon, just extract what you need from an old discarded piece of cable housing. I got two sections that were still in good enough condition from a piece of housing that was being discarded. But, the Amazon stuff is a steal, I am ordering a some for a rainy day stash.

Bill

This is the best way to go and I don't feel dissed. My purpose is to help others avoid mistakes that I have made in the past.

That is why I happily made sure I was letting you know, out of respect for your contributions here and at the My Ten Speeds website.

We could be blinded by the light if we zoomed in! That bike is in fantastic condition. I could not possibly keep one of mine that clean. Yikes.

BTW: I also use housing liner in such places and, despite rumors to the contrary, it does not seem to move along the cable when shifting, even after a several hundred miles. It appears to be an excellent 'upgrade'.

As others have said, a bit of liner is a good idea, as it will reduce friction, and prevent any wear on the underside of the guide. This isn't to say it's necessary -- millions of bikes have been run for years and years without any protection on the guides, generally without any problems at all. The cables move so little, and not that often. I would guess it would take tens or hundreds of millions of shifts for wear to start to be an issue.

Aw shucks, it's just an old beat up Ironman

If that Ironman is beat up and worn I'd hate to be judged against your bikes I thought it looked like a concours condition survivor.

If you would please show it in its entireity in the Ironman thread, if it isn't already posted there.

Bill

Those plastic cable housing liners can be found stock on a great many under the BB cable guides. I have never seen one stock for an over the BB cable guide. But it makes to use them regardless of where the cable guide is located for the reasons others suggested.