That mechanic who insisted I never use WD-40 on cables was dead wrong

I had this old timer at a group ride last spring swear up and down that WD-40 would wreck my shift cables and ruin the housing liners. He said it gums up after a few months and makes everything sticky. I believed him for over a year and dealt with gritty, slow shifting on my commuter bike. Finally after a particularly muddy ride in November I got frustrated and sprayed a little WD-40 down the cable housings just to see. It cleared up the friction instantly and the shifting has been smooth for three months now with no issues. I'm not saying it's a permanent fix or anything but that blanket "never use it" advice really held me back. Has anyone else found that WD-40 works fine in a pinch for cable maintenance?

2 comments

2 Comments

victorhill19d ago

Respectfully, I think that's gonna cause problems down the road.

king.aaron19d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, "gonna cause problems down the road" pretty much sums up my worry too. I used to think it was just a temporary fix that we could clean up later, but you've convinced me that kind of thinking is exactly how things get worse. The more I look at it, the more I see how one quick solution just leads to three new messes. I've been on the other side of this argument before, arguing everything was fine, but now I'm not so sure. It's like building a house on a cracked foundation and hoping nobody notices.