Inquiries answered Mon to Fri Austin, Texas
+1 (565) 555-2353
Xervilo

Group 06 · Cables, housing, ferrules, lube, grease

Shift cables are 1.1 mm and brake cables are 1.5 to 1.6 mm, and swapping them is not an option.

A bike cable and housing kit cut to your frame: stainless inner cables, 4 mm lined shift housing, 5 mm coiled brake housing, ferrules and end caps. Plus dry and wet chain lube for Austin dust or winter rain, and grease for bearings and threads. Road, city and kids' bikes, shipped from Texas.

Lube and grease from $9 Cables per kit or per metre Indicative, confirmed in our reply Quote held 7 days
Send your bike's details Cable diameter table
  • 1.1Shift inner cable diameter, in mm
  • 1.5–1.6Brake inner cable diameter, in mm
  • 4 / 5Shift and brake housing outer diameter, in mm
  • 2Brake fluid families that must never meet
  • 1.1 mm shift inner
  • 1.6 mm brake inner
  • 4 mm lined housing
  • 5 mm coiled housing
  • 4 mm ferrule
  • 5 mm ferrule
  • Pear head
  • Barrel head
  • Dry lube
  • Wet lube
  • Lithium grease
  • DOT 5.1 / mineral
Coiled bike cable housing with inner cables, ferrules and end caps
Pear head on the left inner, barrel head on the right. Pear fits drop-bar levers, barrel fits flat-bar levers and most shifters.

Item 01

Cables and housing

Shift inners are 1.1 mm stainless, brake inners 1.5 or 1.6 mm. A 1.1 mm cable in a brake lever will fray and pull through; a 1.6 mm cable will not even thread into a shifter. The cable head decides the other half: pear for road brake levers, barrel for flat-bar brake levers and nearly all shifters. Tell us which bars you have and we send the right head, or both heads on a double-ended cable where that exists.

Housing matters more than people expect. Shift housing is 4 mm with straight strands under the plastic, so it does not shorten under load and the indexing stays put. Brake housing is 5 mm with a coiled steel wrap, which flexes slightly and is why it must never be used for shifting. Ferrules cap the housing ends and stop the cut edge chewing into the frame stop. We send a full set, 4 mm and 5 mm, plus crimp end caps so the inner does not splay.

A full kit for a road bike with external routing runs about 2 m of brake housing and 2.5 m of shift housing. Internal routing takes more. Send a photo of the down tube and we will put a length in the reply rather than guessing short.

  • Shift inner1.1 mm stainless
  • Brake inner1.5–1.6 mm
  • Housing4 mm shift, 5 mm brake
  • Cable headsPear, barrel
  • Checked againstLever type, routing, run length

Per kit or per metre of housing. Confirmed in our reply.

Chain lube being dripped onto a bicycle chain

Item 02

Chain lube and grease

Dry lube carries the oil in a solvent that flashes off and leaves a thin wax-like film. It stays cleaner on Austin's limestone dust and needs doing again about every 100 miles. Wet lube is thicker, survives rain and street spray, holds for roughly 200 miles, and collects grit like a magnet if you do not wipe the excess off the side plates. One drop per roller, spin the cranks, wipe the outside. That is the whole method.

Grease splits by job. Lithium grease for bearing cups, hub cones and anywhere water gets in. Synthetic grease for threads, seatposts, pedal spindles and the inside of a quill stem, because it does not go gummy when it sits for two years. We will tell you which one in the reply. Anti-seize for a steel bolt in an alloy frame if you ask.

  • Lube typesDry, wet
  • Reapply~100 mi dry, ~200 mi wet
  • GreaseLithium, synthetic
  • Use onBearings, threads, posts
  • Checked againstWhere you ride, what you are servicing

Per bottle or tube. Indicative from $9, confirmed in our reply.

Cable and housing diameters

Which inner and which housing

Measure an old inner with a caliper if you are not sure, or count what the lever takes. Shift and brake parts are not interchangeable in either direction.

Inner cable and housing by system
SystemInner diameterHousingHeadFerrule
Road shifting1.1 mm4 mm linedBarrel4 mm
Flat-bar shifting1.1 mm4 mm linedBarrel4 mm
Road rim brake1.6 mm5 mm coiledPear5 mm
Flat-bar brake, V or cable disc1.5–1.6 mm5 mm coiledBarrel5 mm
Internal hub gear1.1 mm4 mm linedBarrel4 mm
Kids' bike brake1.5 mm5 mm coiledBarrel5 mm

Some sealed systems use 5 mm shift housing with a full inner liner. If your frame has sealed ports, say so and we match the housing to them.

Brake fluid: DOT and mineral oil are not alternatives

Hydraulic brakes run one or the other, and each needs seals made for it. Put mineral oil in a DOT system and the seals swell and go soft, usually within hours. Put DOT in a mineral system and the seals harden and leak. Either way the fix is a new lever and caliper, not a flush. We do not quote hydraulic brakes blind: the fluid type is printed on the lever body or the reservoir cap, so photograph it and send it. DOT fluid is also hygroscopic, which is why an opened bottle is good for a bleed or two, not a year on a shelf. Mineral oil is not. Fluid-related parts live with the rest of the hydraulic gear on brakes.

How a consumables inquiry runs

Four things to tell us

  1. What bars and levers you have

    Drop bars with road levers, or a flat bar with trigger or twist shifters. That decides pear or barrel heads and nothing else needs to be said about the lever.

  2. How the cables run

    External along the down tube, or internal through the frame. A photo of the down tube and the chainstay covers it. Internal routing needs longer housing and sometimes sealed ferrules.

  3. Where the bike lives and rides

    Garaged and ridden dry, or locked outside through the wet months. That is the dry-versus-wet lube answer, and it also decides whether we send lithium or synthetic grease.

  4. We reply within one business day, Mon to Fri

    The reply lists inner diameter, housing size, head type, ferrule count and run length next to each line, with indicative prices beside them. The total holds for seven days.

Questions and limits

What people ask before ordering a kit

Can I use brake housing for a shifter?

No. Coiled brake housing shortens a fraction under load, which shows up as indexing that drifts a gear after a hard shift. Use 4 mm lined housing for shifting. The other way round is worse: lined shift housing can split under brake loads.

How much housing should I order?

For an external-routed road bike, about 2 m of 5 mm brake and 2.5 m of 4 mm shift leaves room to cut. We add a margin on purpose. Short housing pulls the brake on when the bars turn, and there is no fixing it afterwards.

Do you sell degreaser and cleaning kit?

Lube and grease, yes. Solvent degreasers we mostly leave alone: they ship as hazardous goods and your hardware store has them cheaper. We will say which solvent is safe near a sealed bearing if you ask.

Will new cables fix a skipping gear?

Sometimes, when the housing is gritty and the shift feels heavy. Often it is chain wear instead. A chain past 0.5% wear eats an 11-speed cassette, and no cable fixes that. Check it every 1,500 miles and see drivetrain parts if the chain is gone.

Is the price here binding?

No. Prices on this site are indicative. The number in our reply is the one we will hold for seven days. Nothing is charged on this site; there is no cart.

  • No brake fluid without the type named. Photo of the lever or reservoir cap, or we wait.
  • No cutting housing to a length you guessed. We send it long and you trim. Short housing is scrap.
  • No hazardous-goods solvents. Shipping rules make it pointless and local stores stock it.
  • No coiled brake housing on a shifter. Even if it is what you have in the garage. The indexing drifts within a week.

What goes in the reply. Inner diameter, housing type and size, head shape, ferrule count and the run length we are quoting, written next to each line with the indicative price beside it.

Tell us the levers and the routing. We will size the kit.

One business day reply target, Mon to Fri. Indicative prices held seven days once we reply.

Send your bike's details

Nearby in the catalogue

Brakes and bleed kits Drivetrain parts Bar tape, grips and stems Tyres and tubes City bike parts Chain length calculator Compatibility checks