Gear cables....

[Peejay]

Hi Everyone,
                   I have read Rohloff don't recommend lubing the gear cables from the shifter to the hub cable connectors - Does anyone know why please?

All bike cable systems I have worked on certainly work better with some PTFE/light oil lube.

Do the Rohloff outer or inner cables have some special coating that will be damaged by oil.


Thanks in anticipation,

Pete.

[JimK]

Here Sheldon Brown / John Allen recommend against lubrication:

http://sheldonbrown.com/cables.html

It's not a special Rohloff thing but just modern cables generally, because of the plastic liner. Seems not to be a big deal either way.

[NZPeterG]

I can second that Do Not lube cables!
Why?
Because lube slow's up shithing and dust will end up inside of cables, stick to the lube and slow up shifting more.
Just no need


Pete....

[geocycle]

Because lube slow's up shithing ....

Ooops!

[Danneaux]

Back in the days of unlined cables, I would lube mine, typically with Teflon-fortified Tri-Flow spray. Boeshield worked okay as well. Seconding Pete's observation, the lubed cable did manage to draw-in fine grit -- seemingly from nowhere -- that made the cables run more roughly at their end, though much smoother in their midsections. Overall, I found it really paid to lube unlined housings.

With the advent of lined housings, lubrication became unnecessary and tended to interfere with the free running of the cables. Left alone, the cable's wear produced a fine dust in the (typically) Delrin lining that further reduced friction. I found adding lubrication made for the worst of both worlds -- a lined housing that didn't lubricate well and grit drawn inside. Changing to V-brakes made everything last longer 'cos the difference in leverage meant the cables were under about half the tension of my other brakes.

Some coated cables don't take kindly to lubrication either.

Now, I have a small dilemma. Here next to me on my desk is a bottle of this stuff: http://www.rocklube.com/cable.htm From the gelid mass at the bottom of the unshaken bottle covered with thin oil, I surmise it is largely Teflon in a light carrier.

Reviews are good, despite a small n (not many reviews overall):
http://www.bikeradar.com/us/gear/category/tools/cycling-tools/chain-lubricant/product/review-rock-n-roll-cable-magic-31090/
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Roll-Cable-Lubricant-2-Ounce/dp/B000IQEC0U
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/best-super-slippy-gear-cables
And available from SJS Cycles, of course: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/rock-n-roll-cable-magic-lube-1-oz-bottle-prod25207/

A friend who manages a local shop said "Dan, it's so good if you don't buy it, I'll give it to you!", so like a dummy, I paid.

Now I've got it here and am leery of using it. Getting unwanted lubricant *out* of cable housings is an arduous business and replacement on drop 'bars is an expensive and time-consuming task when it means a handlebar repad-and-retape.

Anyone here use the stuff or have experience with it?

Best,

Dan.

[Dave Whittle Thorn Workshop]

I posed this question to Rohloff so you could get the offical line:

"Hi Dave,

this is simply because lubricant is typically a short-term solution in our experience. Oils attract dirt which can then be drawn into the system and make it work worse than before. Grease can freeze or harden over time which also increases friction rather than offering the lubricating qualities we expect.

In addition we have no idea what the chemical properties of all available lubricants are. For the same reasons we eventually had to insist customers use original Rohloff oils in the hub, we are unable to tell if an oil will react with the plastic lining of the cable housing, whether it will react with different oils used for subsequent lubes, or whether the oil will work sufficiently throughout the temperature range the hub is used in. More importantly, we are also unable to keep up to date with the various different attributes oil manufacturers use as these are subject to change without notice. This makes it impossible for us to state that an oil is compatible as the recipe may change a few months later rendering it non compatible and leaving us liable for any issues caused as a direct result of this oils use."

Hope this helps, :-)

[mickeg]

On my foldup bike, the full-length outer housing shifter cables are rather long due to the tortuous cable routing.  My derailleur cable needs to be a tandem cable, the Sram Dual Drive cable is a bit shorter and can use a regular cable.  I found that Tri-Flow lubricant was a significant advantage, especially in the Dual Drive where the spring in the hub is not as strong as most derailleur springs and would not pull the cable as smoothly as desired. 

The full length outer housing reduces the amount of dirt that can get in the cable.  I almost never ride that bike in the rain.  I do not know if riding in the rain could cause a water/lubricant emulsion to develop.  If so, I suspect that could increase viscosity which could impact performance.

[Danneaux]

Hope this helps, :-)

Helps greatly, Dave; thanks so much for the posted forward from Rohloff.

I'm sticking with dry, unlubed housings/cables on all my bikes. Lube worked far better than nothing in the "Old Days", but lined housings made that a thing of the past.

This also puts paid to the issue of "substitute" Rohloff oils sometimes seen on other Fora. Stay With The Original is a good mantra...for good reasons.

Best,

Dan.

[il padrone]

In the old days that I recall we had unlined cables, friction shifters, spiral-wound gear cable housing and we rarely lubed any of it. The tolerance with friction shifting was such that cable friction was not an issue. The great fuss over cable lube, compression of housings and the need for PTFE-lined housings only came about with the arrival of indexed gear shifting from Shimano.

Rohloff's indexing has nothing to do with the cables, it is inside the hub. There is no spring to go soft or get stuck, you have a push-pull cable. With all of this, cable friction is unlikely to develop to become a problem.... only if the cable gets gunged up with dirt and crud. Fully enclosed housings (what I have with the EX-box) will dramatically reduce this likelihood, and use of a lube will just attract more crud.

[Peejay]

Thanks everyone for all your contributions.

Pete.

[greywolf]

I agree about not lubricating cables, but still always puff powdered graphite through my cable outers before I fit inners. Probably just an old man hanging on to tradition, but the cables seem to run more freely and I never see the clogging reported. Modern combined gearchanger/brake systems (non-Rohloff here) seem to abuse wire cables terribly and I have found frayed cables in the gearchanger head on several of my bikes - fortunately usually before the ultimate failure because it is very difficult removing the broken end once it fails completely.