I have decided to replace the brake and shifter housings and cables on the mountain bike as they are in rather sad shape.What I was wondering about were those plastic sleeves that some bikes have on the bare cable between the guides.I actually have them on a less expensive rigid fork bike.It would seem like a good idea to protect the paint.Do they defeat the pupose of having the cable bare or are they just not cool or unnecessary. Would using them be the same as putting reflectors on? Is there a valid reason why some bikes have them and others don,t? The bike does not have them and I didn't plan on using them.I am just curious about this.
The plastic sleeves do protect the paint as does the more common approach of putting 3 or 4 little rubber donuts more or less equally spaced on the bare cable. The plastic sleeve protects the paint a bit better because the little donuts can get slid together and let the bare cable contact the paint. However that ability of the donuts to slide together also means you can slide the cable housing back and fourth thus exposing the bare cable so you can put some lube on it. The plastic sleeve won't let you do that. Any bike shop will have the little rubber donuts. You can get your bike shop to order cable housing liner from Quality Bicycle Products. It comes in a roll 20 meters in length or something like that. You can just cut a piece of the stuff that's long enough to cover most of your run of bare cable. But, as stated above, it makes it harder to lube the cable.
Electronic supply house, heat shrink tube (but don't shrink it on!), various colours, various inside diameters. Pick one. OR from the same source, insulating sleave, tougher material, (not heat shink material) usually clear or black PVC or teflon.
Steve
"Robert Taylor" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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The plastic sleeves do protect the paint as does the more common approach of putting 3 or 4 little rubber donuts more or less equally spaced on the bare cable. The plastic sleeve protects the paint a bit better because the little donuts can get slid together and let the bare cable contact the paint. However that ability of the donuts to slide together also means you can slide the cable housing back and fourth thus exposing the bare cable so you can put some lube on it. The plastic sleeve won't let you do that. Any bike shop will have the little rubber donuts. You can get your bike shop to order cable housing liner from Quality Bicycle Products. It comes in a roll 20 meters in length or something like that. You can just cut a piece of the stuff that's long enough to cover most of your run of bare cable. But, as stated above, it makes it harder to lube the cable.
I wonder if you mean something like the Avid flackjackets I use for the brakes and shifters on my bikes used for long expeditions/tours? The red plastic sleeves you see covering what would otherwise be bare cable, also have inners which fit into the sleeving and special cable stops to seal the system and prevent the steel cables and the inside of the cable outers being contaminated by water mud or grit. They are more expensive than ordinary cables but they do work even in extreme weather and conditions. They avoid cable maintenance plus give longer cable life and continued smooth shifting and braking. There is a picture showing the joint parts at fastload.netindex.htmlOpen ↗ in the section headed "Cables" retep
----- Original Message ----- From: "Fredzep" <[email hidden]> Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 5:06 AM Subject: Plastic sleeves?
cut .......... I was wondering about
Quoted message said:
were those plastic sleeves that some bikes have on the bare cable between the guides.
cut ........ Is there a valid reason why some
Quoted message said:
bikes have them and others don,t? The bike does not have them and I didn't plan on using them.I am just curious about this.
Thanks for the replies. I read that modern housings don't need lube except maybe for something light on the cable.Personally I like to use a dry lube on the cable before running it through the housing. Maybe with split stays and donut things you could keep the cable performing like new for longer through relubing the cable. I'll have to try that.
