Cable Lube / Flushing Tool / Adaptor

Steve Sr. 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!

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." <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message 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!

Steve

Necessity 'is' the mother of invention...

biketoolsetc.comindex.cgiOpen ↗
ble%20and%20Housing&tc=Lubricators&item_id=PC-LU

Mike - cheap too.

A Muzi said:

Steve Sr. 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!

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

Hadn't thought of looking here...

Quoted message said:

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.

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.

Steve

"Steve Sr." <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message 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!

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. said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message 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?

-snip-

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 17:43:44 -0600, A Muzi <[email hidden]> wrote:-snip-

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

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" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Necessity 'is' the mother of invention...

biketoolsetc.comindex.cgiOpen ↗
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

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.

Mike and others,

Thanks for the link to the Bike Tools adapter. I will call around to see if I can find one locally.

Steve

Michael Dart said:

"Steve Sr." <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message 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!

Steve

Necessity 'is' the mother of invention...

biketoolsetc.comindex.cgiOpen ↗
ble%20and%20Housing&tc=Lubricators&item_id=PC-LU

Mike - cheap too.

Al,

I think we were talking about the same thing. I know about taking cables loose from the stays
without disconnecting them. This does allow lubing a section of the cable but it does nothing to
remove the dirt and crud that has accumulated inside the casing. I guess what I was really asking
was mostly how to flush the casing without taking the cable out.

Steve

A Muzi said:

Steve Sr. said:

Quoted message 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?

-snip-

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 17:43:44 -0600, A Muzi <[email hidden]> wrote:-snip-

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

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.

"> > Does anyone know if there is a tool or adapter to allow lubing or

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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