Do you lube your cables?
 

I was under the impression that practically no one lubes cables (I'm unaware of any tandem or 'bent riders that do this and their housings are much longer than you'll find on road bikes) but a recent thread made me start wondering.

If you lube, why do you do it? Are people not using teflon lined housings, do you use cables that can rust, etc?

I always put on a bit of phil wood green grease on all my cables before I run them through the housing, teflon or no. An old habit.

Not unless they stick.

I've sprayed either T9 or GT 85 into the cable housing when the rear brake cable wasn't gliding smoothly and solved the problem. After wet rides I'll wipe the exposed cables with a bit of GT 85 on the rag.

I've seen this discussed over on Weight Weenies. They say it helps in the short term but that it's counter productive in the long term.

...paste wax or car wax on installation, but with die drawn,
stainless steel cables and plastic lined housings it's just old habit.

Does dribbling in chain oil count? If so, then yes.

EEzox or Breakfree CLP, for corrosion protection just on my mountain bike for winter and trails. Fantastic as rust prevention- nothing I have used EEZox on has continued to rust. Probably will move over to BF CLP because EEzox apparenlty has some reaction with rubber parts.

http://www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html

No, high end modern cable sets do fine without lube. Between plastic sleeve in the housing and coating on the wire, what more can a liquid lubricant accomplish?

Wires are coated? Didn't know that.

Both Shimano and Campagnolo say to grease the cables when installed. I use silicone grease.

I just lube everything that moves on the bike. Why not?

All my bikes are relatively old. I have used just about every known spray lube at the initial rebuild, restore. No favorite. I can't recall ever having to do it again. I also don't replace a lot of cables!

We always start there when we work on older /donated bikes at the bike rescue.

Old bikes are a different case because you really just need to get what you have in hand going with minimal expense. I've been known to lube cables on the neighborhood kids' dept store bikes but I wouldn't do it with a good bike that gets ridden much.

I don't even know how one would lube.

Occasionally I squirt WD40 in the ends and contact points.

Who knew that this was an issue, ;). I used to always lube my cables but then that was before they were lined. With lined cables, I usually don't lube them but it can't hurt, right?

I have a tool from MotionPro that I use to lube my cables on my motorcycle once a year. Started using it on my bicycle cables as well. Hoping it'll keep me from having to replace them every year. It clamps on the end of the cable and then you use a cable spray that hooks up to the tool. Works well.

Even if friction isn't an issue, it's a good idea to replace them anyway. It's really no fun when one of the heads pulls off in steep terrain when you're in the middle of nowhere.

I replace my cables after 2 seasons (whether they need it or not).
I run any new cable lengths through a rag with a bit of 3 in 1 general purpose household oil on it.
Most of the oil gets wiped off before going back into the housing but I figure a very light "surface coating" helps keep things slidin' . I haven't had to deal with any cable seize/stick/drag issues yet!

Not all. SRAM Gore and Jagwire Road Pro are. Maybe Yokozuna, I don't know, but someone else can comment about it.

Are internally routed cables better at resisting corrosion? The cables on my old frame with external cable routing pretty much needed to be replaced after a year, due to corrosion, riding along the So Cal coast.

after washing, i will wipe a bit of lube on the exposed cable.

I (now) use cables that are machined smooth - the outer layer is machined smooth. I think they're 1.1 mm thick.

In the old days there weren't any liners in the cables and cables weren't thin or machined smooth so you had to lube. I'm amazed at how thick my older shift cables are compared to the newer ones - the old cables were basically as thick as brake cables.

I use White Lightning for cable lube. Incredible. A friend (cyclist, ex-racer, ex-bike mechanic, current high end car mechanic/restorer) uses White Lightning in his classic motorsport restoration shop after he saw its effectiveness in the bike shop.

The last new-everything gear cable install (shifters, Nokon housing, cables, all at once) was on a friend/teammate's bike. When I first clicked the shifter I thought for a moment that he hadn't put the cable in because I didn't feel anything. The rear derailleur literally felt like an electric shifter (when I finally shifted one). The front, fine, it's not because of the force required to shift a front derailleur, but the rear was just incredible.

On my bikes I've reused the liner etc and I rarely change shifters so I haven't done a true new install in a while, many years.

Any wet lube is just a place for grime to pack up. odern cables and housings are lined and run fine with no additional lube other than the factory lube.

Old cables can benefit from lube but it is a temporary fix that will prolong the inevitable. I change cables and housings once a season.