This is a “How To” on how you can quickly and effectively lubricate your derailleur cables. It can also work for brake cables with a little modification of this method. First of all, I will say that not everyone agrees that you should do this and others can not agree on what to do it with. That is an entirely different discussion and the article will not touch on these items. I’m just going to show you how I do it, and you can take it from there,(Or not) okay?

This works best in a bike stand, but you can do this as long as you can figure out a way to get your rear wheel off the ground so that it spins and you can have both hands free. Step #1 Shift the bike into its lowest gear, (unless it is Rapid Rise, then reverse this) while turning the crank by hand. Now stop cranking and stop the rear wheel with your brake.

Step #2: With the rear wheel stopped and your hand off that crank, use the shift lever and select the highest gear. (Again, reverse this for Rapid Rise) Your cable should get very slack, like it is in the photo above. It is very important not to rotate the crank at this point!

Step #3: You should now be able to remove the cable through the slot on the cable stop. This will allow you to slide the housing back and forth on the cable a bit. I always start out with the rear section of housing coming out of the derailleur, as it usually is the most contaminated section. (See picture below) Especially so if your cables are routed on the top tube.

Step #4: Using your preferred elixir of slipperyness, drop a few precious drops onto the exposed cable and then with a back and forth motion, move the housing across that area you lubed. Depending on what you are using, you can also try running some lube right down into the exposed end of the housing. (I like the fine straw drip apllicators for this technique) You might notice that there is some rusty or blackish residue coming out onto the cable as you push the housing back and forth. Wipe this clean, re-apply lube, and repeat the process until you notice that the cable looks pretty free of residue, besides lube. In extreme cases, you will need to replace the cable and housing to really fix the problem. In the end, the cable should feel as if it slides with much less effort through the housing section you are working with.

Step #5: After you are satisfied that you have the cable lubed and clean, replace the housing back into its stops making sure that they are firmly seated. At this point you can move on to the next section of housing and repeat Steps #3 and #4, or you can continue to the next step if you are finished.

Step #6: If you are sure you are done, you can now turn the crank which will drop the derailleur down, (or up on Rapid Rise) to the gear you selected at the beginning of this exercise. If the chain doesn’t drop all the way to the smallest cog, just go through the gears a few times while hand cranking and the cables should re-seat themselves. If you are still having trouble getting all of your gears at this point, double check to make sure you replaced the housings into the cable stops correctly. Usually there isn’t any trouble with this method.

In the end, you should notice that it requires far less effort to initiate shifts. This technique should work on most modern bikes, but there are some older bikes, some department store rigs, and some road bikes that this trick won’t work on. It also will not work on bikes with full housing runs from shifter to derailluer.

Finally, if you have a down tube route to your derailleur cables, (many road bikes and older mountain bikes are this way) don’t forget to clean and lube that plastic guide under your bottom bracket shell!