[Kornphlake]

I have a 2003 yeti asx running cable housings as the frame allows rather than full housing. I have experienced a small amount of ghost shifting but it doesn't bother me, what does bother me is that over the last couple weeks it has gotten more and more difficult to get the rear derailur to shift when it's supposed to, usually I click up twice and then down once to get the gear I want. If I adjust the barrel then it messes up the shifting all together and it will completely skip one gear. I disconnected the rear derailur from the frame so that the final loop of housing would be straight and noticed very little friction when I pulled the cable away from the frame by hand, as I curved the housing to where it is supposed to be the friction got worse and worse. Is it time to get a new lenght of housing I've only had the cables for about 5 months now, on other bikes cables have easily lasted a year. Right now I have what seems to be about the same radius as I have had on every other bike I've ever owned, is there a way to calculate the optimum radius? Would changing to full housing add friction or reduce it?

 

[Serial Midget]

I would like to know this as well and if ghost shifting can be caused by the cable housing being too short from the shifter to the cable stay.

 

[sub6]

1- lube your cables/housing, WD-40 is actually good for this even tho it's sh*t as a lube normally.

2 - this is obvious, but make sure the housing you're using is good stuff - once I made the mistake of buying "derailleur cable and housing" from Nashbar. Well, it was a derailleur cable inside a BRAKE housing (the spiral-wound sh*t). I tried it out just for the hell of it, and the rear derailleur would NOT move, period (it was a full-housing system). There was so much drag in there it was totally worthless. Gotta use the good compressionless stuff (straight wires).

3 - if all else fails use a Rollamajig. I use them on virtually all my bikes (4 out of 5), they're cheap and they not only eliminate the friction caused by the 180deg loop at the rear derailleur, but they also make the cable loop faaaar more compact and less likely to catch on a branch/get ripped off as you fly by.

 

[Kornphlake]

I got the cables at go-ride, they know their stuff so I am confidant that between the two of us we got the correct 4mm housing you're supposed to use with shifters. Like I said the setup worked great for about 5 months and then it kinda crapped out on me. I thought maybe it was my shifter getting worn out because it seemed like the shifter wasn't taking up enough cable on the largest three or four cogs. I got a new shifter and it seems that the problem wasn't the shifter at all but the cable housing. I tried squirting a little silicon lube in the housing but I don't think it penetrated enough of the housing to make much differance.

I am thinking new housing to the derailur will solve the problem and I think if I lengthen out the housing near the BB that may fix the ghost shifting problem. Am I going to have to buy new cables and housing every 5 months, is that normal? I usually upgrade something before cables and housings wear out. Do the Gore Ride-On cables last noticeably longer? Enough to justify the cost?

 

[Repack]

5 months for cables? Wow. My gf races almost every weekend and I would say that in the last 6 to 8 weeks I have changed the derr cables at least 4 times, and done cable and housing 2 or 3 times. Cables and housing are easy and cheap enough to do that the momment the shifting doesn't feel perfect, I replace it. As a mechanic I have tried just about every lube out there on cables and think Ice Wax is by far the best.

 

[D_D]

If you change cables a lot it might be worth trying the goretex ride-on cables or any cable that is sealed from shilter to mech. They are expensive but are worth it for me and require no maitence untill they break.

Decent shifter cables do not require lube. The only reason to put lube anywhere near them is to clean out the dirt. Just spraying the cable well moving it in the housing isn't going to do much you need to completly remove the cables and flush something like wd40 through the housings until the wd40 starts to run out clear. Blasting compressed air through won't hurt either.
It's best to wait as long as possible before exposing the housings to wd40 because they will require cleaning much more often as the lube on the cable will attract dirt which will get drawn into the housings when you shift.

 

[Joe33]

You might try just chopping the ends off the cable housing to get rid of any strands that may have worked their way out.

 

[oldfart]

5 months for cable and housing is ancient. Cableandhousing should be one word because you should replace both at the same time. Your symptoms are classic dirty cableandhousing.

I tried gore stuff when it first came out but it wasn't sealed well enough back then and it fouled pretty quick for me. And at the time in Canada it was $80 a set. I can buy a lot of coated Clark's cables and satndard housing for that price. But I've been using IRD Metawire on my roadbike. It cost a lot but the "housing" beads will last indefinitely and only the linner needs changing with the cable. And the "housing" is truly compressionless. For mechanical brakes the difference is very noticable. My Dura Ace brakes have a really solid feel compared with the standard housing from before. Shifts better too.

 

[fonseca]

I easily get a year or more out of housing since I do full runs: it greatly increases the life since it's sealed from the elements, and not cutting it at so many points for cable stops means it doesn't wear out (strands stay put) as fast under normal usage.

I wouldn't recommend lubing cut sections of housing except as an emergency procedure to squeeze a few more rides out of it, or if it is binding somewhere. Not if you ride on dirt anyway. If you are going to do it, try a dry silicone lube.

I think running teflon cables dry with lined compressionless housing is the way to go. I prefer 5mm or 5.5mm brake/derailleur housing myself.