Sears Austria made "Puch" 3 speed bike has frozen shifter cable. Is there a way to service this cable

Question

It seems to be frozen in the cable housing, must it be replaced?

If I have to replace this shifter cable and housing how do I do it? The bike has a pulley for the shifter cable. Which size shift cable do I need, and do I remove some of the cable housing to accommodate the pulley? Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer 1

Should work with a 4mm shift cable. That should be able to tread through the pulley. Just check out how it threads through and try to replace it the same way. When in doubt take it to a bike shop.

Answer 2

Sometimes you can drizzle penetrating oil down a cable into the cable housing and get it loosened up.  

There will probably be a lot of friction inside the cable housing so shifting will be ragged even if you get it free.  A rusted cable is just waiting for an opportunity to break.  Plus, I suspect the cable housings aren't looking too good, so now would be a good time to replace it.

While you are at it, I'd suggest you go ahead and replace all of your brake cables and housings, as well.  Your brakes and shifters will all work better and your bike will look nicer.

I'd carry some pieces of the cables and housings to your local bike shop.  They'll tell you what you need.  Also, you might try checking out Harris Cyclery.  They have lots of info on 3 speed stuff.  Here is the link:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/hub.html

Hope this helps