email hidden said:Hi All,
I went for a spin today and it went well enough, but I had some issues
with sticking cables. I took my road bike which as been hanging in my
shed in the salty air for a while.For my springtime new bike project, I'd like to perhaps try some other
cables to avoid this corrosion problem. The cables are Shimano and the
housing is Shimano and some Jagwire. It seems like I replace cables
all the time, and when I pull them out they are always rusty and
corroded.What to do?
You've had many suggestions about greasing cables and using stainless
steel ones. Those are good.
If you prefer the belt-plus-suspenders-plus-duct-tape approach, you
could try what I used on my first mountain bike. Its front derailleur
cable looped through a 4" long section of housing just above the
bottom bracket. That was an irresistible target for water and mud,
which overwhelmed the grease in the housing.
I eventually put dabs of silicon seal (RTV "rubber"😉 on the ends of
the housing, enclosing the freshly greased cable, and let the rubber
harden before riding the bike. The intent was to seal the housing.
It wasn't perfect, but it helped greatly in keeping water out. If I'd
used stainless cables, it might have been closer to perfect.
You could get the same effect, but perhaps better, using bellows-type
devices like the Nightcrawler http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/cable-hardware-shift.html
- Frank Krygowski