Bike reassembled

[johnridley]

I spent about 3 hours Saturday morning putting my bike back together and moving components over from J's bike back to mine. I think things are OK. I did replace the rear brake cable. Haven't done the derailler yet. If I do a full-length RD cable housing, it'll involve some rerouting. I may also decide to try squirting the final loop housing full of grease and booting the leading end to try to keep moisture out. I just need to do something with it before winter.

Comments

[c0nsumer.livejournal.com]

Have you tried Triflow on the cables? I've got a bottle here and it's seemed to work really well thus far, despite its awful smell.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I've never used anything on the cables. They run in a very dusty environment, and everything I've read indicates that lubricating cables just makes them attract dirt and gum up really bad.
It worked pretty well for a couple of years, but last year things got pretty gummed up. I then did pull the casing back from the cable and used a few squirts of WD40 to dissolve the gunk and clean the cable, and that has it shifting pretty well again, but the cable's 4 years old now. Just replacing it may be all I need to do. I may just do that and save lubrication for a backup in case it starts to cause trouble again this year.