Rejuvenating Shift Cables

[Peter P.]

Occasionally the rear shifting on my Shimano Deore derailleur/Grip Shift twist shifter setup will go south. I'll have to shift 2 gears to move the chain one cog in either direction. I never seem to have problems with the front shifting, but it's at least once a year on the rear.

Interestingly enough, I never have problems with my STI'd road bike, or my Shimano bar end equipped commuter, which saw all sorts of nasty weather.

Sometimes I can cure it by changing just the inner wire. Sometimes it helps to replace the chainstay housing, too. But after the latest episode, I had to replace everything: the inner wire, and all three sections of housing.

I'm using Jagwire compressionless shifter housing, with a liner.

The latest episode involved dirt roads and about 25 miles of horrendous rain.

Now, I would think that even IF dirt could get into the housing, you should be able to flush it out and restore shifting to like new.

I've got one of those cable housing injectors that clamp around the housing with the inner wire installed. There's a port to insert a WD-40 nozzle. You insert the nozzle and just spray until it squirts out the opposit end of the housing.

This time, even that didn't work. I even tried greasing the cables, with no luck.

So have you had luck rejuvenating your rear shifting without replacing the cable and housing?

[Tandem Rider]

Geeesh, and I thought it was just me with this problem. I think I have tried almost everything I can think of, including the normal lubes, various o-ring lubes, silicones, light and heavy greases, copper based anti-seize, blowing out the housing with various solvents and compressed air, and lots of things I'm forgetting. No luck either.

I have just resigned myself to buying cables and housing in bulk, no kidding. When I buy a bundle of cables they get under 2 bucks each, then I don't feel bad about throwing in a fresh one when it starts to go south. I have the same problem with Shimano stuff as I do with the bulk so I don't think it's the brand.

If anyone has a way to keep this from happening (other than not riding) I'd love to hear it. It seems like I'm changing the rear cable (and sometimes housing) every week or two in the winter and I'd rather be riding than wrenching.

I'm riding on STI 9 speed in the winter when this happens the most, lots of wet, slop, gravel etc. so I think it's conditions, they last for several months in the summer.

[AngryScientist]

this may be against the grain, but i think the both of you are the cause of a lot of the problems. it's my experience that good housings and stainless steel cables should not be lubed at all. lubrication, especially heavier stuff like oil and grease just attract dirt, grime and crap. it all sticks to the heavier oils, and turns into a nice, gummy, paste. that paste is the problem. Stainless steel inner cables will not rust. after crappy weather rides, or when cleaning the bike, i just clean everything with a citrus based degreaser. that just REMOVES any oil or lubricant that gets on the cables and housings and keeps them free and moving.

IMO, greasing cables is a thing of the past, no need with good cable routing and stainless cables.

[Tandem Rider]

this may be against the grain, but i think the both of you are the cause of a lot of the problems. it's my experience that good housings and stainless steel cables should not be lubed at all. lubrication, especially heavier stuff like oil and grease just attract dirt, grime and crap. it all sticks to the heavier oils, and turns into a nice, gummy, paste. that paste is the problem. Stainless steel inner cables will not rust. after crappy weather rides, or when cleaning the bike, i just clean everything with a citrus based degreaser. that just REMOVES any oil or lubricant that gets on the cables and housings and keeps them free and moving.

IMO, greasing cables is a thing of the past, no need with good cable routing and stainless cables.

I can't speak for Peter but I put them in dry. The lubes came in an attempt rejuvenate them, sort of "fix" sticking and dragging of the cable. I don't even try to lube them now, just pitch the bad one and move on. I haven't tried de-greasing before initial assembly though.

[regularguy412]

Disclaimer: i've never used or owned GripShift.

Is it possible that the internals of the shifter are so old and worn that there is now just that much slop in them? I finally had to replace a worn out STI lever for just that reason. I could move the lever almost to the next click before the cable moved.

Mike in AR:beer:

[esldude]

Actually what you describe is often in the gripshift mechanism itself. Though maligned for many purposes, drenching the inside of the shifter with WD40 will often make them work fine again. Mostly like you have gunk built up in the mechanism and not so much in the cables (which I also use dry). The WD40 or similar will dissolve enough of the hard gunk so a few shifts move it out of the way at least for a good while.

[Richard]

That's why it is more commonly known as "gripe shift."

[Peter P.]

Thanks for the suggestions. Next time I'll try running them dry. The question will be; how do I purge the housings of any grit if any spray leaves residue?

This past event, I disassembled my Grip Shift, which is only 2 years old, and it was clean inside. Nevertheless, I lubed the internals with Jonny Snot, which I'm told is the correct goop for the job.

[nate2351]

+1 on Jonny Snot