Brake cables and housing

[John Bokman]

Obviously there are infinite variables (weather, amount of miles ridden, etc.), but the question is: 

How often do you all change your cables and housing? 

I ride daily, often in wet conditions. My braking is sufficient, but I'm always wondering if it couldn't be a bit better with new cable and housing? Of course that requires removing my years old, many layered shellac over cloth tape....

Just curious.

John

Portland, OR

[Piaw Na]

I've had brake cables and housing good for 15 years on my 3 Ti frames with a total of around 40000 miles, rain or shine (you don't break bike frames if you don't ride). The brakes worked fine throughout the 15 years and I only swapped out for newer cables when I got my Roadini and noted how good the brakes felt despite the longer calipers. I attributed that to the fancy Shimano Optislick cable set I'd gotten on sale (https://amzn.to/3HHOdl4), but after the replacement realized it was just that 15 years is probably asking a bit much. But in any case it wasn't a safety issue!

[Dorothy C]

You could also try dripping a little lubricant through the housings a la Bike Farmer on Youtube. I’ll admit that I have sprung for Analog Cycles’ Jagwire housings including the 5mm shifter housing, with brass ferrules and the Jagwire Pro or Jagwire Ultra Slick cables. Spendy but very responsive, and according to Analog, very long lasting, though I am in SoCal so don’t see a lot of wet weather. My bikes are much younger - a 2016 Appa, 2019 Cheviot, 2020 Roadini (47cm), 2022 Roadini (50cm) and 2023 Platy. The nice thing about brass ferrules is that they are reusable if you are changing bars or bike frames. I moved three of my Jagwire cables and housings from a 45cm Clem to the Platy complete, only reason I couldn’t swap the rear brake one was because the Clem is continous and the Platy has open stops on the down tube, and I was selling the Clem as a complete after swapping parts, so I needed to keep the housing intact. Once I got the Platy built, I got a new set of ferrules, Jagwire housing and the Jagwire Ultra Slick rear brake cable and felt a definite improvement in brake feel.

[Bill Lindsay]

Jon Bokman asked: "How often do you all change your cables and housing?"

I change my cables and housing as often as I need to, or as often as I feel like it.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

On Friday, February 2, 2024 at 9:21:19 AM UTC-8 John Bokman wrote:

[John Dewey]

Gosh, I’m sure my cables and housing are slick as can be for so many years I can’t remember how many. Dozens and dozens…probably more. As my bikes all have cables under tape, I never mess with it. Years and years for sure. 

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[aeroperf]

Every 5000 miles the cables on my Sam get cleaned and lubed with Phils Tenacious Oil.

John Dewey - that is an outstanding photograph.

[John Bokman]

Wow, I guess I'll just maintain with occasional lubricant and not bother. I thought many riders changed cables and housing every year or so? Guess not. For the record, my braking is fine (Shimano cx70 cantilevers mated to Shimano tiagra levers and koolstop salmon pads). Just wondering how much better they'd be with newly installed housing and cable. And now I see there are all sorts of new (to me) specialty housing and cables on which to spend money...Thanks for the replies.

John

[Max S]

Modern housing lined with slick polymer on the interior and polished cables truly minimize maintenance needs. My cables and housing die mainly because I reconfigure my handlebar set-ups too frequently and wind up chopping housing too short or crimping the cable too much. 

That said, it's still not a bad idea to check every few years how the cable is doing – in some tight bends you can get rubbing and abrasion, and if that propagates to the cable, it could lead to failure. Since I futz so much with my set-up, I end up seeing how the housing and cables look for their entire length often enough to spot any kinks or abraded spots. 

- Max "striving to futz less, work efficiently, and ride more in 2024" in A2

[Piaw Na(藍俊彪)]

If you're running STI shifters, you need to replace shifter cables every year. If you don't, the shifter cable can break inside the brifter and that can be fatal to the shifter.

Once in awhile you can get unlucky and the cable housing itself can rupture..

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[John Dewey]

Thanks for kind words, doremus1. 

Jock

On Sat, Feb 3, 2024 at 5:04 PM aeroperf <dore...@comcast.net> wrote:

Every 5000 miles the cables on my Sam get cleaned and lubed with Phils Tenacious Oil.

John Dewey - that is an outstanding photograph.

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[Armand Kizirian]

I find applying Rock n Roll cable magic during major maintenance extends life of cables/housing dramatically. I change cables/housing every 4-8 years, some of my bikes with heavy usage and stored on the back of my van next to the ocean for a majority of the year. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=rock+n+roll+cable+magic

On Sunday, February 4, 2024 at 1:12:24 PM UTC-8 Sean, PNW wrote:

In an effort to reduce waste and increase reusability, I've been transitioning the bikes in my stable to aluminum fish bone link housing which can be used again again by simply replacing the cable and liner.

It was suggested in this iBob thread, and while not a panacea, is handy for those of us who often reconfigure bikes/cockpits/etc.