On Jun 16, 9:06*am, Peter Cole wrote:
Mark Cleary wrote:
I am going to put some new inner wire on the brakes and shifters my
question is if they should be lubed. Also the housing is fine no issues
but maybe I should put new housing on too, I have a huge 25 ft roll? I
normally run a little Vaseline on the wire from time to time or even a
coat of very light oil. I just wonder if new wire should be left alone
or lubed.

I'd go with the "ain't broke, don't fix it", with a couple of caveats.
If you have brifters, fraying or breaking cables can screw them up.
While not dangerous, breaking shifter cables can be a nuisance, so it
makes sense to replace them well before they're likely to break.

The only place I renew the housing is the final loop to the rear
derailer. That is a relatively short section that often gets junked up
from wheel spray, and the increase in friction may cause subtle and
difficult to identify shifting problems. It's worth it to replace it
periodically just to avoid the hassle.

As for lubing cables, it shouldn't be necessary if the housing is
plastic lined (I've not seen unlined shift cable housing). I thought
teflon coated cables were a good idea, but I just had one shed all its
coating inside the housing, creating quite a lot of friction.

I never replace brake cables or housing -- maybe I've just been lucky,
but they seem to last forever.

What he said.

But as to lubing, I'll add that I like to drag a cable through a chunk
of paraffin or beeswax just to add a bit of lube and smooth the
exterior surface of the cable.
It can't hurt.
This is may be especially beneficial for a shift cable running under
the bottom bracket where oils or grease would just be a dirt magnet.

As to cables themselves, (without getting into the high zoot stuff),
get at least the "good" stainless ones such as those made by Shimano.
The outer surface is usually much smoother than bargain basement
cables which means better (smoother, lighter) function AND should also
mean longer life.

DR