[Closed] fed-up with rusting outer cables?

SP41's never rusted on me... my Nokon's did externally, quite badly.

SP41's quite brittle outer plastic, it cracks and then the inner wires rust, which makes the crack widen as the steel dia swells... have to replace those every year on my road bike....

Get some 5mm-ish heat-shrink tubing from Maplins and fit 3-4cm over the ferrule and end of the cable. You can even put a little grease around the end of the cable before fitting the ferrule.

Hm - never had any rust for years and years.

So why bother posting?

Cos I find the OP strange. I meant to ask waht cables.

Mind you I do maintain my stuff properly unlike you threefish who thinks lubing cables is wrong.

I am puzzled how decent quality cables rust. I thught they were stainless.. I have ones that are many years old

Aww, TandomJaz. You still a little bitter about the fork travel thread that you ran away from? Go and get a hug; you'll be OK...

I have ones that are many years old

Me too!! And I haven't lubed them once!

I think TJ's posting sums up why you don't get non ferrous cables, it is not an issue for most people.

If you are having cables rust???? grease the ends? clean them, accept the cables have a finite life and rather than trying to make the outers last and change the inners accept that the best performance will come from changing the whole set every year.

I personnally find the ferrules bend after a while, the outer plastic sheath peels back a little, inner cables fray and you get a build up of crap, So see no point trying to make the cables last longer than about a year

I have used Nokon nice but pricey and the inners do wear out in time. Gore, ditto; Shimano, ditto.

Threeefish - nope - I got fed up of debating with you. You talk such utter bobbins about bike maintenance / setup.

mrmo - actually my cables last many years because although I use my bikes all year round I maintain them properly. Inners and outers

TandemJeremy, do you comment on threads to argue intentionally? Not only do you know next to nothing about anything you comment on, you say it in ways that piss everyone off.

I understand you are old but give it a rest, go out on your tandem and get some air 😆

Not the most helpful of posts from me I admit. apologies.

I got fed up of debating with you. You talk such utter bobbins about bike maintenance / setup.

Debating? Oh, is that what you were doing? Looked more like you were chasing your own tail.

I recabled the brakes on my lads bike some time ago, with some braided looking cables by Clarkes, from CRC. Christ are they smooth. They were a sod to fit though, ended up dressing the ends on a grinder, but they do seem very high quality.

thanks for the constructive ideas TF - like the idea, will try out.

as for TJ - you think outer cables were stainless then me thinks you're a daft ape with little attention to detail.. nope, the inners are stainless, the outers are ferrous steel.

replacing cables on mtb's is dead easy and yes a regular expected job... but on road bikes, the cables don't get clogged up and work well for years if only the outers didn't fail as they do. plus it's a pain to have to replace bar tape every time you have to replace outers.... (especially as I use leather bar tape, which I bought to age and last years n years, rather than continue with the throwaway consumer mindset)

guess I just have to dream on, or shell out for the stupid expensive [url= http://www.vertebr.ae/about/ ]vertebre[/url] stuff

Alligator cables (like Nokon but cheaper and lighter) of of the Bay is a good option. No metal, no rust - although rust has never been an issue for me either.

I'm also a bit confused by this concept of outers rusting. Don't think I've ever changed outer cables on a road bike in many, many years of owning them. Don't do huge amounts of maintenance either - what on earth are you doing to make them crack? (I suppose one obvious possibility is storing bikes outside in the sun where the UV damages the plastic). Then again my MTB has outer cables with no steel in - old fashioned Gore UL which use glass fibres instead!

The rust occurs at the end of the cable, where water gets trapped under the ferrule, not at random points along the length. From supermarket bikes to high-end blingers, it's not uncommon for the exposed (as in cut) strand ends to corrode inside the ferrule and, at its worst, deform the cable to the extent that it creates friction with the inner (as it is compressed in reaction to the ferrule).

How often does this happen to be a problem?

Any road up, I'll recommend a Jagwire full kit.
All very good quality, long lasting and almost zero compression.
Kits are 'proper' complete and in loads of colours.
£20 + on Ebay.

How often does this happen to be a problem?

It's not a particularly common problem in my experience (of other people's bikes, I should add!), but I can think of a handful of occasions when it's been the cause of a shifting issue. Bikes that get left outdoors or are put away wet are most at risk. Rinsing the cassette/derailleur with a jet or hose is also pouring water into the ferrules/cables.

I give mine a shot of WD up the ferrules (and anywhere else water might collect) every now and then and don't recall any problems on my roadbikes. I change my cables on the MTB's reasonably regularly so don't seem to get any issues there either.

I don't store my bikes outside or put them away wet and forget about them so that might go someway to explain the differing experiences.

[i]I give mine a shot of WD up the ferrules[/i]

That - & keep a can in my drawer at work for after wet commutes.

LPS 3 is awesome stuff - shoot that down the cable inners when fitting them. It gets used in the marine industry and aircraft industry - suppossed to protect aircraft mainframes for up to 10 years against corrosion.

http://www.lpslabs.com/product_pg/corrosion_pg/LPS3.html

Goes nice and waxy - I squirt it into steel frames before fitting BBs, etc.

to clarify - this is a problem for commuting/training/winter bike... I ride mine 30miles a day 3 to 4 days a week plus 4 to 6hrs training on Sat., over the peak district from derbyshire into cheshire. and it gets left out in the elements during work hours and stored dry indoors at all other times. frequent (monthly) cleans.... but suffers mostly during wet cold winters with all that salt everywhere.

maybe I'm asking to much... but all other components are rust resistant (I use stainless frame, stainless chain, carbon and annodized alloy components... so they are happy enough with a monthly washdown and regrease)

- it's just the cables that can't keep up.

try fitting middleburn oilers and giving them a weekly squirt of oil.