Cycling UK Forum

Apologies if asked before.

Can some kind soul tell me what the difference is?

Something to do with the lining/inner lubing?

More to the point (being a meanie) is there any difference in performance?

IIRC SP41 housing is only available in pre-cut lengths and it is pre- lubricated with a silicone grease. Shimano say no additional lubrication is required when assembling SP41 outer and their inners.

AFAICT SP40 housing is basically the same stuff, but with no grease applied, so it can be supplied in bulk reels and cut to length accordingly.

Both SP40 and SP41 cable housing can be fitted with sealed or non-sealed ferrules. IME too many sealed ferrules in a cable run can make the cable a little bit too draggy; normally only one or two sealed ferrules (in carefully chosen positions) is sufficient to keep the water out, even if the cable run uses three separate sections of housing.

Assembling SP40 takes longer but you have full control over the end result.

cheers

Thanks Brucey.

I had the idea that you shouldn't grease gear cables inside the inners as it could chemically interfere with the lining.

But clearly Shimano do from what you say - and I stress that I'm not disputing this.

So maybe I should grease SP40s?

With Finish Line Teflon (PTFE) which I generally reserve for my wheel bearings?

the shimano grease is (allegedly) a silicone grease and won't react with the cable liner.

Finish line PTFE grease isn't a silicone type lubricant but I have used it in SP40 type housings for years and if it does soften the liner, it appears only to be a slight effect.

cheers

Brucey wrote:the shimano grease is (allegedly) a silicone grease and won't react with the cable liner.

Finish line PTFE grease isn't a silicone type lubricant but I have used it in SP40 type housings for years and if it does soften the liner, it appears only to be a slight effect.

cheers

Good enough for me brucey.

many thanks

Shimano also makes (or buys in, presumably) its own “special grease” for gear cables. A bit cheaper from the Germans, maybe. It’s white, and a colourless fluid separates from it in storage. I shake the tub hard to remix it before use.

I bought a roll of 10 metres of SP41 cable housing from Wiggle a few years ago. It came in a bag with a Wiggle label and looked like something Wiggle had cooked up themselves or bought for assembling bicycles. It has some grease in it but I add more when new and occasionally thereafter for the life of the cable. I also use the Shimano grease for brake cables.

I've also got a (10m I think) roll which purports to be SP41 pre-greased, as well as a bunch of pre-cut, which is bloomin' annoying!

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my CLT-L09 using hovercraft full of eels.

Main difference is SP40 has a coiled metal core like brake cable, SP41 has long strands like every other gear cable (I've ever used). Theory is that STis need the rigidity provided by SP41, SP40 may be OK in other applications.

Brucey wrote:IIRC SP41 housing is only available in pre-cut lengths

yes, between 1m and 300m
e.g.
Y60098580 SIS-SP41 Outer Casing Box (Black / ø4 mm × 50 m / 164 ft.)

jessand wrote:Main difference is SP40 has a coiled metal core like brake cable, SP41 has long strands like every other gear cable (I've ever used). ....

no, where did you find this information?

SP41 is following the SP40 (used already in 2006) and , as Brucey already wrote, is pre-lubricated with a special silicone grease

you can struggle to get SP41 in precut lengths for some bikes. I bought many year's worth of SP40 housing, er, many years ago and at that time you could get SP40 on a reel but not SP41.

I wonder how they get the grease into the housing? It must be co-extruded or something.

As a kid I wondered how they got the stripes in toothpaste too...

cheeers

jessand wrote:Main difference is SP40 has a coiled metal core like brake cable, ...

that was SIS40