On a lot of older bikes, the plastic cable guide under the BB shell is the source for a lot of drag (particularly if they're older, there will be a groove worn into it). When installing a new cable, I found using a short 6-inch piece of housing liner on that section of cable significantly reduces the drag (even if you install a new cable guide). Just the tension of the cable will hold the liner in position against the cable guide when you slide it into place. It will also stop future wear of new cable guides.
Over my 30+ years as a pro mechanic, I’ve serviced thousands of bikes exactly as shown. I love having the customer watch. Blows their mind how easy this is. Also works great on brake cables.
This bike looks like "Bridgestone MB-0". Ritchey Logic Super Tubing by TANGE, and Suntour dropout and derailer. I feel that Park Tool’s UA-cam videos are sprinkled with unspoken messages. Wonderful. I suspect that this might be Calvin’s own bike.
I work at a non-profit co-op, and sometimes it is necessary to get some people's bikes running as cheaply as possible. On a particularly corroded cable I like to use a bit of steel wool to smooth it out before lubricating it.
Hi Calvin its Doug, Diva, and my grandson Jayce from Brownsville, Texas . Great video and thanks for meeting with us last week . Jayce learned how to ride his bike last weekend
Another tip I've found useful when you use Calvin's method to expose the inner wire is to clean it first with a wad of wire wool/steel wool, which is usually used for cleaning down wood before painting - it gets rid of a lot of crud, even if the inner wire is a bit rusty. However, if it is very rusty, especially if it's black, it's too far gone, as the strands of wire may be weakened, and the housing is probably too full of crud to work well even with lubrication, but a lot of cruddy cables, especially the less precise ones (5/6/7/8 speed setups) can be kept going for another season when time or budgets don't permit a replacement.
Thanks Calvin, great content as always. For customer bikes, I like to use a little medium-fine steel wool on rusty cables (in addition to fresh lube), and occasionally use brake parts cleaner sprayed into the housings to revive old systems on a budget. Re: How often do I change cable housings? It depends on the bike, as well as the environment that bike lives and works in. I have a 25 year old road bike with Shimano Dura Ace 7700 cables and components, and about 12K miles. It never gets wet, lives in the house with me, is always stored with the shift cables relaxed(shifted to the smallest cogs, front and rear), and still shifts beautifully with the original housings and cables. I have a 21 year old MTB with mixed SRAM X0/Shimano XTR components, hydraulic disc brakes, stored as previous bike, and nearly 20K hard, dirty miles: I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve changed housings, but it’s at least 4 times. For OPB’s (other people’s bikes😁), it comes down to condition and the customer’s budget and preferences. Sometimes, I only need to replace the rear segment of the rear shift housing, and add a new shift cable to restore smooth shifting to the cruddiest examples that I encounter. Refurbishing bikes is a case by case process: nice bikes with nice (sometimes new) components usually get new housings and cables, budget bikes usually don’t. Vintage restorations to original specs can go either way, but cost the most to accomplish: either rehabilitation of the existing original housings, or tracking down vintage original housings, it’s going to be expensive (and, Yes Virginia, I have customers who insist on matching every piece to the factory original equipment 🥰) Whatever you ride, build, or repair, have fun with it, and enjoy the satisfaction of making machines better for the people who will use them. Happy Trails!😁
I have a 2003/4 Titus Racer X that still has the original rear derailleur cable. It’s a “Gore” cable and housing and I’ve trimmed the dirty ends a couple times to keep it going. Too bad those Gore cable sets are gone now. In my days as a mechanic in the late 80’s early 90’s we sold Bridgestone. They had some nice bikes. I liked the MB-1 and MB-2’s for their lugged frames VS the MB-0’s with tig welded frames. The mix of parts was interesting too.
Cool! Hereafter , i will use the trick to bring up the chain on the biggest cog to loosen the cable for lubrification. Very useful for maintaining the cables in winter season. Thanks Calvin!
Middleburn cable oilers from the UK. The hole in the oiler is sized for a wd40 straw, or similar aerosol lube. It's great to see the black wd40 ooze from the ends of the outer, knowing that clean stuff is in there now instead. I used to use these on all my bikes until full length outers became the norm.
Hi, Great video. Keep them coming! :-) A suggestion: a video about the special considerations of cargo bike maintenance. For example, how to lift these big bicycle up when it's time to change the chain or brake pads. Thanks!
It's a 1991 Bridgestone MB-0 / MB-Zip, one of only 2,000 made, and they're all numbered. I worked in International Bicycle Center near Boston, MA, in summer 1992 and I bought no.1944 and built it out of the box myself - I still have it today. Beautiful bike, still a joy to ride. The example above looks very original, in fact the only parts that I can see that have been changed are the grips, bars, stem pedals, chainrings & seat-post, but even the tires are the original make/model, and it still has its aluminum quick-release skewers.
@@KBoneZone There were no 1992 models ('90 & '91 only), but I've seen a lot of 2,000+ hand built numbers, and they might be warranty-replacement frames, as I understand that there were quite a few breakages back in the day.
full housing combined with tight turns inside the frame made multiple thousand dollar bikes shift worse now that the average mid range mountain bike shifted 35 yeas ago
At the end, Calvin moves his finger over the derailleur in a ‘parallelogram’ manner (knuckle squeeze). Is this some kind of message? To me, it seems to hint at the ‘Slant parallelogram’ derailleur patented by SunTour (U.S. Patent 3364762). Furthermore, it appears that this MB-0 is also equipped with a ‘parallelogram’ type ‘Softride Quill Suspension Stem’. What a wonderful 1980s and 1990s!
Thank you for these tips. I just wonder how do you lube if the shifter cable is installed internally in the frame? Will this method work? Or should I remove the cable itself. Place lube inside the housing and place the cable inside again?
2 of my 3 bikes have been stored in temperature controlled locations their entire lives. Touring/gravel bike is 6 years old with about 12k miles. Never replaced cable or housing, but it could probably use it. My primary road bike is 19 years old, second hand, about 2 years for me. The original owner had a home shop that was bigger than some commercial shops. He babied his bikes. My secondary road bike is 34 years old. Stored in an airport hangar until I got it about 7 years ago. I replaced the cables on it when I got it. I don't ride it much, so it is fine.
One of the most efficient and simplest trick that every bike mechanic should have up their sleeve. And add a quick shot of WD40 inside the shifter and you’re good to go ! I think that Cables and housing replacement about every 2 years for an all season bike !
You're psychic. I just did this yesterday 😂 I get the first part where you were working on a bicycle, but what was that hideous monstrosity in part II?
At 4:19 "Full housing". The women bicycles that have full housing at the rear brake, this leads to no brake at all at the rear because the housing for brakes ( that is different from the housing for shiters ) is like a very long spring with eventually a circular wire on old bikes. In that cases I replace on the longer distance possible the housing with a small stainless tube and make by hand a connection between that tubes and the housing that has to be bend when turning the handle bars and at the rear side touching the brake caliper. I can find in shops dealing with hydraulics ( industrial hydraulic cylinders, hydraulic pumps, etc ) what is called hydraulic tubes, Ø 6 or 5 mm external, 1 mm thickness and then you have got brakes. Those little tubes are easy to bend by hand to cope with the geomatry desired. For the connection between tube and housing I machine in a vice a Ø 10 mm length approx. 27 mm aluminium rod with a Ø 6 mm 12 m depth drill on one side and Ø 5 mm 10 mm depth drill on the other side leaving a space of 3 mm in the middle with a 2.5 mm passing drill. Your videos are great and with a "good spirit", bravo.
I'm happy to see that a professional apreciate the need to lubricate a cable that is not supposed to be because : Non need to oil it, it has a nylon tube inside. In fact the corrosion make the cable of a bigger diameter and the transmission becomes hard or in very rare occasion of oldness : sized.
@@dadejazzba402 Yes fill the void with grease when you place a new cable and then "lubricate" when the transmission is in place. In fact it's really not a bad thing to lubricate the void even if the nylon inside tube is not to be "lubricated". In steel assemblies even if the cable is galvanized the lack of air prevents the rust from coming.
"Maybe I've got a race in 5 minutes and can't do that". Thank you for calling out the triathletes. Every mechanic has at some point experienced the 4.55pm on a Friday afternoon with the "I've got a race in the morning and need it done". Just remember, a lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine. Forget lubricating the cable, put that oil on their brake pads instead.
So by making this video you've taught the punters how to Stay away from their local store, and instead of a new cable set......being sold and installed by the local bike shop. WOW those punters have just saved $25 / $35. COMPLIMENTI Sir!
They make it so you pretty much can't just only change the housing because it almost costs as much as the cable+housing together. AND they only sell housing in shop-size rolls. You CAN buy cables for alright prices made for individual consumers though... just not housing for some reason. 🤷♂️
@@Nain1993 We sell cable at 5.00 and housing at $2.00 a foot at the non profit I work at. Cable ends and ferrules are included free with housing and cable purchase.
Nah, once per year is enough, less frequently so if the bike is not ridden daily. Maybe someone who is a millionaire with their own bike mechanic on payroll can afford time/money to change it more frequently. Or just buy wireless shifting that needs no cable to replace.
This dude is a gentleman and a scholar.
Dude is named Calvin.
@@ivanb___2217 A most gentlemanly name.
On a lot of older bikes, the plastic cable guide under the BB shell is the source for a lot of drag (particularly if they're older, there will be a groove worn into it). When installing a new cable, I found using a short 6-inch piece of housing liner on that section of cable significantly reduces the drag (even if you install a new cable guide). Just the tension of the cable will hold the liner in position against the cable guide when you slide it into place. It will also stop future wear of new cable guides.
Over my 30+ years as a pro mechanic, I’ve serviced thousands of bikes exactly as shown. I love having the customer watch. Blows their mind how easy this is. Also works great on brake cables.
This bike looks like "Bridgestone MB-0". Ritchey Logic Super Tubing by TANGE, and Suntour dropout and derailer. I feel that Park Tool’s UA-cam videos are sprinkled with unspoken messages. Wonderful. I suspect that this might be Calvin’s own bike.
It's nice that all bikes are used in Park videos, but this Bridgestone is a piece of ....
Easter eggs?😂
I work at a non-profit co-op, and sometimes it is necessary to get some people's bikes running as cheaply as possible. On a particularly corroded cable I like to use a bit of steel wool to smooth it out before lubricating it.
Hi Calvin its Doug, Diva, and my grandson Jayce from Brownsville, Texas . Great video and thanks for meeting with us last week . Jayce learned how to ride his bike last weekend
BikeFarmer likes that segmented housing technique too.
Another tip I've found useful when you use Calvin's method to expose the inner wire is to clean it first with a wad of wire wool/steel wool, which is usually used for cleaning down wood before painting - it gets rid of a lot of crud, even if the inner wire is a bit rusty. However, if it is very rusty, especially if it's black, it's too far gone, as the strands of wire may be weakened, and the housing is probably too full of crud to work well even with lubrication, but a lot of cruddy cables, especially the less precise ones (5/6/7/8 speed setups) can be kept going for another season when time or budgets don't permit a replacement.
Thanks Calvin, great content as always. For customer bikes, I like to use a little medium-fine steel wool on rusty cables (in addition to fresh lube), and occasionally use brake parts cleaner sprayed into the housings to revive old systems on a budget.
Re: How often do I change cable housings? It depends on the bike, as well as the environment that bike lives and works in. I have a 25 year old road bike with Shimano Dura Ace 7700 cables and components, and about 12K miles. It never gets wet, lives in the house with me, is always stored with the shift cables relaxed(shifted to the smallest cogs, front and rear), and still shifts beautifully with the original housings and cables. I have a 21 year old MTB with mixed SRAM X0/Shimano XTR components, hydraulic disc brakes, stored as previous bike, and nearly 20K hard, dirty miles: I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve changed housings, but it’s at least 4 times.
For OPB’s (other people’s bikes😁), it comes down to condition and the customer’s budget and preferences. Sometimes, I only need to replace the rear segment of the rear shift housing, and add a new shift cable to restore smooth shifting to the cruddiest examples that I encounter.
Refurbishing bikes is a case by case process: nice bikes with nice (sometimes new) components usually get new housings and cables, budget bikes usually don’t. Vintage restorations to original specs can go either way, but cost the most to accomplish: either rehabilitation of the existing original housings, or tracking down vintage original housings, it’s going to be expensive (and, Yes Virginia, I have customers who insist on matching every piece to the factory original equipment 🥰)
Whatever you ride, build, or repair, have fun with it, and enjoy the satisfaction of making machines better for the people who will use them. Happy Trails!😁
I have a 2003/4 Titus Racer X that still has the original rear derailleur cable. It’s a “Gore” cable and housing and I’ve trimmed the dirty ends a couple times to keep it going. Too bad those Gore cable sets are gone now.
In my days as a mechanic in the late 80’s early 90’s we sold Bridgestone. They had some nice bikes. I liked the MB-1 and MB-2’s for their lugged frames VS the MB-0’s with tig welded frames.
The mix of parts was interesting too.
Thank you Calvin, for sharing this knowledge so freely. You are the best!
Including a heavy dose of product placement.
Cool! Hereafter , i will use the trick to bring up the chain on the biggest cog to loosen the cable for lubrification. Very useful for maintaining the cables in winter season. Thanks Calvin!
You had my attention as soon as I saw that Bridgestone MB-zip. What a classic steel bike.
It would be cool if Park made a lube injector tool like used on motorcycle cables, only scaled down for bicycle cables.
Middleburn cable oilers from the UK. The hole in the oiler is sized for a wd40 straw, or similar aerosol lube. It's great to see the black wd40 ooze from the ends of the outer, knowing that clean stuff is in there now instead. I used to use these on all my bikes until full length outers became the norm.
Hi,
Great video. Keep them coming! :-)
A suggestion: a video about the special considerations of cargo bike maintenance. For example, how to lift these big bicycle up when it's time to change the chain or brake pads.
Thanks!
I just changed the cable and housing after 13 years on my madone. The bike was shifting ok but the new cables made it like new.
Bridgestone MB-1? About ‘88 or so. Damn fine classic of a bike. Wish B-Stone never left the US market. I had an MB-3, loved it!
Yes, never had one but Bridgestone, good bikes.
I think it's an MB-0! I have an MB-5 and I love it so much.
It's a 1991 Bridgestone MB-0 / MB-Zip, one of only 2,000 made, and they're all numbered. I worked in International Bicycle Center near Boston, MA, in summer 1992 and I bought no.1944 and built it out of the box myself - I still have it today. Beautiful bike, still a joy to ride. The example above looks very original, in fact the only parts that I can see that have been changed are the grips, bars, stem pedals, chainrings & seat-post, but even the tires are the original make/model, and it still has its aluminum quick-release skewers.
@@type17 I have one that looks identical to the one in the video but says "hand built No. 2212". Would that make it a 1992 model?
@@KBoneZone There were no 1992 models ('90 & '91 only), but I've seen a lot of 2,000+ hand built numbers, and they might be warranty-replacement frames, as I understand that there were quite a few breakages back in the day.
Great work to show an a fast alternative to cable cleaning, beautiful! Thank you
Thanks for refreshing my memory, someone showed me the derailleur/cable slack trick before but never used it so I kind of forgot 😂
What an excellent series of tips&tricks! Good Job!
replacing the cable and housing on an old bike is like going to sleep in a newly made bed right after a shower. there's no better feeling
I love how he very subtly brakes by pulling the cable on the top tube
all hail Calvin
full housing combined with tight turns inside the frame made multiple thousand dollar bikes shift worse now that the average mid range mountain bike shifted 35 yeas ago
Calvin to the rescue . . . as always.
At the end, Calvin moves his finger over the derailleur in a ‘parallelogram’ manner (knuckle squeeze). Is this some kind of message? To me, it seems to hint at the ‘Slant parallelogram’ derailleur patented by SunTour (U.S. Patent 3364762). Furthermore, it appears that this MB-0 is also equipped with a ‘parallelogram’ type ‘Softride Quill Suspension Stem’. What a wonderful 1980s and 1990s!
Thanks you 👍
Just another reason why external cabling is great
Thank you for these tips. I just wonder how do you lube if the shifter cable is installed internally in the frame? Will this method work? Or should I remove the cable itself. Place lube inside the housing and place the cable inside again?
Bridgestone MB-0 with Mavic hubs and Ritchey Logic tubing? Cool bike. Is it also running a Suntour XC Pro drivetrain?
Does it matter if the oil is synthetic or based on mineral oil? Is silicone oil the best choice?
Thanks for sharing your tricks….never seen or heard about it before! Till next time😎
What sould use to luberciate my Bike Chain on the not Rain season
Thx for this video !
Should you use lube with brand new cable and housing? I've had different answers.
Bonjour Calvin , is just "Savoir-faire" and oil , Thank you 😊
love your videos 👍
2 of my 3 bikes have been stored in temperature controlled locations their entire lives. Touring/gravel bike is 6 years old with about 12k miles. Never replaced cable or housing, but it could probably use it. My primary road bike is 19 years old, second hand, about 2 years for me. The original owner had a home shop that was bigger than some commercial shops. He babied his bikes. My secondary road bike is 34 years old. Stored in an airport hangar until I got it about 7 years ago. I replaced the cables on it when I got it. I don't ride it much, so it is fine.
Can I buy the Bridgestone?
Great vid!
I change my housings as soon I can see a kink in it. Mostly on the side of the RD.
Can i use Super Lube my Chain the rain Season
I change anything on the bikes whenever I really have to , when it wears out or gets damaged
Great idea! 👍
One of the most efficient and simplest trick that every bike mechanic should have up their sleeve. And add a quick shot of WD40 inside the shifter and you’re good to go !
I think that Cables and housing replacement about every 2 years for an all season bike !
Do I spot a suspension stem?
Love it
New Tool Idea: A PRESSURE luber for cable housings. You're welcome.
once a few years
👍
👍👍👍
0:23 ParkTool eyeglasses ?
And the lube will attract more dirt and make it even worse over time. This is a temporary measure only.
Never lube new cables in new housing
Classic and how simple and uncomplicated the design is that she can easily service it not the case these days
You're psychic. I just did this yesterday 😂
I get the first part where you were working on a bicycle, but what was that hideous monstrosity in part II?
It snows a lot in Minnesota. You would prefer they just stay inside and sip cocoa by the fireplace?
@@mattgies if they're incapable of riding a bicycle in it, it's probably in their best interests.
@@ΑΣΔΦΓΗΞΚΛ Fat tires make it possible. Got any more trolling for us?
At 4:19 "Full housing".
The women bicycles that have full housing at the rear brake, this leads to no brake at all at the rear because the housing for brakes ( that is different from the housing for shiters ) is like a very long spring with eventually a circular wire on old bikes.
In that cases I replace on the longer distance possible the housing with a small stainless tube and make by hand a connection between that tubes and the housing that has to be bend when turning the handle bars and at the rear side touching the brake caliper.
I can find in shops dealing with hydraulics ( industrial hydraulic cylinders, hydraulic pumps, etc ) what is called hydraulic tubes, Ø 6 or 5 mm external, 1 mm thickness and then you have got brakes.
Those little tubes are easy to bend by hand to cope with the geomatry desired.
For the connection between tube and housing I machine in a vice a Ø 10 mm length approx. 27 mm aluminium rod with a Ø 6 mm 12 m depth drill on one side and Ø 5 mm 10 mm depth drill on the other side leaving a space of 3 mm in the middle with a 2.5 mm passing drill.
Your videos are great and with a "good spirit", bravo.
I'm happy to see that a professional apreciate the need to lubricate a cable that is not supposed to be because : Non need to oil it, it has a nylon tube inside.
In fact the corrosion make the cable of a bigger diameter and the transmission becomes hard or in very rare occasion of oldness : sized.
Lubricate? or fill the void?
@@dadejazzba402 Yes fill the void with grease when you place a new cable and then "lubricate" when the transmission is in place.
In fact it's really not a bad thing to lubricate the void even if the nylon inside tube is not to be "lubricated".
In steel assemblies even if the cable is galvanized the lack of air prevents the rust from coming.
There’s another bike restorer on UA-cam that does this all the time.
Edit: BikeFarmer
Ope! Be sure to lube your noodle!
I didn't see any furniture polish or Dawn Power wash used in the video. lol Needs more Triflow!
The chain is too loose!
I think it's the derailleur that it's worn and can't hold the weight of the chain up like it should.
"Maybe I've got a race in 5 minutes and can't do that".
Thank you for calling out the triathletes. Every mechanic has at some point experienced the 4.55pm on a Friday afternoon with the "I've got a race in the morning and need it done".
Just remember, a lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine. Forget lubricating the cable, put that oil on their brake pads instead.
So by making this video you've taught the punters how to Stay away from their local store, and instead of a new cable set......being sold and installed by the local bike shop. WOW those punters have just saved $25 / $35. COMPLIMENTI Sir!
🤡
They make it so you pretty much can't just only change the housing because it almost costs as much as the cable+housing together. AND they only sell housing in shop-size rolls. You CAN buy cables for alright prices made for individual consumers though... just not housing for some reason. 🤷♂️
your not lookin in the right places... ive been buying housing for years off amazon 3 meters at a time and they have bulk options too
At my shop we sell cables for $5 and we give them the housing, ferrules and cable ends for free.
@@peterjv8748We sell cable for 5.00 as well but housing is 2.00 a foot. The ferrules and cable ends are free.
We sell by the meter. Most other bike shops I know also sell by the meter.
@@Nain1993 We sell cable at 5.00 and housing at $2.00 a foot at the non profit I work at. Cable ends and ferrules are included free with housing and cable purchase.
The speed cable should be changed every two months.
What's a speed cable?
Nah, once per year is enough, less frequently so if the bike is not ridden daily.
Maybe someone who is a millionaire with their own bike mechanic on payroll can afford time/money to change it more frequently. Or just buy wireless shifting that needs no cable to replace.
*coughs* horsedung
What?! Gtfoh.
I learned this trick from @bikefarmer😊
Follow him if you like bike restorations and builds
Yes! Straight from Trek's Red Barn, too weeks ago or do.
🚴🏼🚴🏼🚴🏼🫡