Cable Lube / Flushing Tool / Adaptor

Steve Sr. wrote:

Does anyone know if there is a tool or adapter to allow lubing or
flushing brake and shifter cables without taking the cable out of the
housing? Something that would attach to the "straw" on an aerosol can
of solvent or lube to allow pressurizing the housing with the aerosol
can.

This is one of those I don't know if it exists but it sure would be
handy!

Try a motorcycle/moped shop where there are several brands
of those things.

On most modern bikes it's easy to slip a casing out of a
stop, or unscrew the stop that's on your downtube. That lets
you slide the wire and casing apart to oil them painlessly.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

"Steve Sr." wrote in message
...
Does anyone know if there is a tool or adapter to allow lubing or
flushing brake and shifter cables without taking the cable out of the
housing? Something that would attach to the "straw" on an aerosol can
of solvent or lube to allow pressurizing the housing with the aerosol
can.

This is one of those I don't know if it exists but it sure would be
handy!

Steve

Necessity 'is' the mother of invention...

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...&c=Tools&sc=Ca
ble%20and%20Housing&tc=Lubricators&item_id=PC-LU

Mike - cheap too.

"Steve Sr." wrote in message
...
Does anyone know if there is a tool or adapter to allow lubing or
flushing brake and shifter cables without taking the cable out of the
housing? Something that would attach to the "straw" on an aerosol can
of solvent or lube to allow pressurizing the housing with the aerosol
can.

This is one of those I don't know if it exists but it sure would be
handy!

Steve

I own one, but don't use it any more. They seem to be more a PITA than
they're worth.

I'd say check your LBS. If it is old enough, they may still have one laying
around that they'd love to unload. If not, then maybe some of their
wholesalers still have one or two.

Mike

Steve Sr. wrote:
Does anyone know if there is a tool or adapter to allow lubing or
flushing brake and shifter cables without taking the cable out of the
housing?
-snip-

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 17:43:44 -0600, A Muzi
wrote:-snip-
On most modern bikes it's easy to slip a casing out of a
stop, or unscrew the stop that's on your downtube. That lets
you slide the wire and casing apart to oil them painlessly.

(ss) This sounds good in theory. In practice both brake
cables go through a
2:1 "Travel-Agent" and unwinding them is a pain as you have to kink
the cable to make it fit in the travel agent. Also the travel agent
pulley hole is small and looks very fragile. I would rather not risk
damaging them by pulling cables in and out.

The deraileur cables might be a good candidate but they normally get
kinked and crushed at the deraileur clamp. I have yet to find a way to
keep the stainless steel strands from unraveling on a used cable long
enough to put the cable back in.

Maybe we are talking about two different things. I'll try again.

I assumed the point was to _not_ undo an anchor and
certainly not a compound cam! You're exactly correct that
removing a cable from them is destructive.

What I meant was that by pulling the casing stop out of your
linear brake (as one would to change wheels) the wire is
detensioned. From there it's simple to slip it out of a
slotted stop on the frame. That usually gives plenty of
room to slide the casing back for oiling the wire. (Pull the
casing away from each end a few inches at a time). The
majority of bikes built in the last, oh, eight or ten years
have slotted stops suitable to this.

What I meant for road bikes with integrated levers is that
there is often a casing stop bolted to a downtube lever
boss. Undoing that screw will allow the wire to be pulled
through the lever by its head a few inches. If the chainstay
stop is slotted a casing may be easily slid back from there
as well.(Obviously, frames with adjusters on the head tube
cannot do that)

I certainly agree that undoing an anchor (which changes the
gear or brake adjustment) is undesirable here. But bike
designers spend a lot of time building in quick-detach
features like slotted stops and bolt-on downtube stops just
to make this ( and crating bikes) easier for you, the rider.

To that last point, we nearly always crate bicycles with the
anchors locked and everything adjusted. The rider need only
pop the casings back into their stops and ride. That is a
very positive feature of newish bikes.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

"Michael Dart" wrote in message

Necessity 'is' the mother of invention...

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...&c=Tools&sc=Ca
ble%20and%20Housing&tc=Lubricators&item_id=PC-LU



I've got one and like it.

JT

a narrow diameter fuel line hose cut end to end, slipped over the
cable end, tilting the bike against a wall for gravity flow,go with
the flow here over time, and a small hose clamp to hold the slit fuel
line on the cable leaving excess hose above the cable/housing opening
for a reservoir, more gravity-the wait pushes the solvent or lube down
the housing and presto!!!!
but cold weather probably means the lube is dry or non-existent, the
weather amplifying the no lube effect so its probably best to take the
rig apart once a year like now.
read "DIY" off the search box for bike.tech asin do it yourself

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 18:24:07 -0500, Steve Sr. may
have said:

Does anyone know if there is a tool or adapter to allow lubing or
flushing brake and shifter cables without taking the cable out of the
housing? Something that would attach to the "straw" on an aerosol can
of solvent or lube to allow pressurizing the housing with the aerosol
can.

This is one of those I don't know if it exists but it sure would be
handy!

Beware of lubing a cable with an antifriction liner; you may end up
making it work worse than it did dry. Also, be aware that many
solvents that you might use to flush the housing will take long enough
to evaporate away that the solvent may attack the outer sheath. I'd
recommend against using randomly chosen agents like automotive
carburetor or brake cleaner sprays for this purpose. (Having made
that mistake long ago, I can state that some older cables can be
rendered completely useless by such experimentation.)

Motorcycle and go-cart shops often have the item you're looking for,
though. Make sure your cables are designed to need lube before you
apply any.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
it's also possible that I'm busy.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

" Does anyone know if there is a tool or adapter to allow lubing or
flushing brake and shifter cables without taking the cable out of the
housing?

Sure these tools exist. I saw pics of them in the *Loose Screws* catalog
years back. But, why bother? The (relatively newer) lined housings and
stainless cables work fine without lubrication.

Regards,
Larry