Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Topic started by: Gattopardo on 02 September, 2019, 07:42:07 pm
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Hello
My usual suppliers of stainless steel brake and gear cables, wilkinsons, seem to now supply galvanised cables and seem to have increased in price by 50%. Don't have a localish bike shop so who do you guys use. I usually stock up on 20 of each to keep me going.
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I get mine from Spa Cycles. Seem decent quality, and are lasting me for years.
And "20 of each to keep me going" - what are you doing to them!? Apart from some losses in the twists and turns of Stis, mine seem pretty indestructible.
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Decathlon sell stainless inners. Seem OK, probably rebranded jagwire? Need to have a more careful look at them.
cheers
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Shimano cables are drawn smooth and better than Jagwire.
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Ask the LBS for a deal for quantity - they would buy in boxes of 100 and the margin to RRP is pretty good. As suggested Shimano would be the preferred brand - although another shout for Decathlon.
Rob
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Shimano cables are drawn smooth and better than Jagwire.
Jagwire do several different grades and so do shimano. I like the most polished jagwire gear inners best; they don't rely on a coating (which is bound to come off and **** everything up) in order to work.
Fibrax sell some nice (polished, uncoated) stainless inners too. IIRC their own testing shows very clearly that after a fairly short period of use, any advantage that competitor coated inner cables have is lost and uncoated, well polished inners perform better in the long term.
cheers
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On a related note, does anyone want some galvanised cable inners? ;D
(I accidentally bought several between the switch to galvanised and the price hike / change in packaging.)
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I bought some polished stainless inners recently (Jagwire - Slick Stainless Steel) and can't believe the difference. They need much less effort. Well impressed.
Buying in bulk means they work out at £1.99 each.
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For convenience I usually end up in Halfords where they sell Clarke stainless inners for £1.99 (-10% British Cycling discount) they seem fine for my use.
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And "20 of each to keep me going" - what are you doing to them!? Apart from some losses in the twists and turns of Stis, mine seem pretty indestructible.
Usually used on other peoples bikes and replace on bikes I pick up. People know I mess with bikes so end up fixing other peoples bikes.
Ask the LBS for a deal for quantity - they would buy in boxes of 100 and the margin to RRP is pretty good. As suggested Shimano would be the preferred brand - although another shout for Decathlon.
Rob
No lbs that i'd want to use.
Shimano cables are drawn smooth and better than Jagwire.
Jagwire do several different grades and so do shimano. I like the most polished jagwire gear inners best; they don't rely on a coating (which is bound to come off and **** everything up) in order to work.
Fibrax sell some nice (polished, uncoated) stainless inners too. IIRC their own testing shows very clearly that after a fairly short period of use, any advantage that competitor coated inner cables have is lost and uncoated, well polished inners perform better in the long term.
cheers
Saw teflon coated wires and did wonder.
I bought some polished stainless inners recently (Jagwire - Slick Stainless Steel) and can't believe the difference. They need much less effort. Well impressed.
Buying in bulk means they work out at £1.99 each.
Where from?
For convenience I usually end up in Halfords where they sell Clarke stainless inners for £1.99 (-10% British Cycling discount) they seem fine for my use.
Try to avoid halfords if I can.
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My limited experience of teflon-coated cables has been from removing cables of unknown history from a second-hand bike and discovering a patchily-coated steel cable in otherwise pristine condition, and a whole load of teflon dust. On that basis I've mentally filed them somewhere between "waste of time" and "okay for race mechanics".
Related: Experience has taught me that (given a quality outer with appropriate lining) lubricating new cables is an own-goal, as you're just introducing more stuff to gum up. Which isn't to say that a squirt of lubricant to flush the gunk out can't extend the life of a cable once it's starting to get a bit sticky, but new cables are best fitted dry. (A bit of grease to discourage water from entering the open end seems harmless, if inconclusively helpful.)
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agree about coatings. BTW you can often identify the cable type from markings on the nipple.
Re lubrication; it depends on the lube. Some lubes soften the liner, others separate too easily leaving a thickener in the cable which gums everything up. I find a mix of oil and Finish line Teflon grease works as well as anything and far better than nothing; in this case the Teflon helps to thicken the grease which means that if the grease dries out it still lubricates the cable; there is much less thickener per se.
Treated thusly, stainless steel inners normally don't need any attention for several years, except on interrupted cable runs, which are easy enough to fettle provided the guides are slotted.
cheers
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Kim - Saw the cables at Decathlon, at twice the price as normal cables I doubt I will ever use them.
Lubing cables on motorbikes used to be a thing, but not any more as modern cables have liners that oil/lube affect and become sticky. On modern cable outers have plastic liners so the fear of making things sticky so usually just wipe the cable to remove any oily residue maybe use graphite lube....or a pencil if i can be bothered.
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Saw the cables at Decathlon, at twice the price as normal cables I doubt I will ever use them.
IIRC the gear inners are £1.99. For polished stainless. I don't think you can do any better than that on the high street, perhaps at all.
yes you can buy galvanised cables for less money. But they are a bit (or a lot, in some gear systems) shit....
cheers
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Here's a link and you can reserve in store
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/universal-stainless-steel-inner-gear-cable-11mm-227m-id_8043618.html
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I bought some polished stainless inners recently (Jagwire - Slick Stainless Steel) and can't believe the difference. They need much less effort. Well impressed.
Buying in bulk means they work out at £1.99 each.
Where from?
https://www.starcyclespares.co.uk/bulk-box-of-100-jagwire-inner-bike-gear-cable-wire-shimano--sram-galvanised-stainless-slick-3575-p.asp
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I would respectfully suggest that, as an 'occasional' user, if £1.99 is too much to spend on a cable then you ain't charging enough AND your 'customers' know it...
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Halfrauds are selling stainless steel clarke gear cables for £1
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/gears-drivetrain-cables/clarks-universal-stainless-steel-inner-gear-wire
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Thanks for that, Gattopardo. I've ordered 6 for my spares box.
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Well I ended up with 24! 14 are for the next few weeks, as I'm recabling a few bikes.
Can also compare shimano, clarkes, and btwin cables.
Noted that the Btwin cables ends aren't marked with anything.
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I'm collecting mine tomorrow.
6 seemed to be plenty, but now I come to think about it, I've got 10 gear cables fitted to 5 machines at the moment so, if they look good, I perhaps should order some more! And urge Halfords to do the same offer on brake cables :)
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Normal clarke cables, the £1.99 ones have crimp ends. There was an oddity for a short while and I got 10 clarke brake cables for £9 but the link no longer worked an hour later.
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new cables are best fitted dry.
You don't always get a choice, unless you're careful.
Shimano's outer sets come pre-lubricated, or did the last time I checked.
There's a shot of grease in the end with the logo, so when you thread the inner through, it spreads the grease through.
If you don't want greased cables, you've got to put the logo at the mech end of the cable run, so the inner pushes the grease out.
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I buy cable by the metre, because 'sets' won't fit most of my bikes, and hadn't encountered this.
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Decathlon sell stainless inners. Seem OK, probably rebranded jagwire? Need to have a more careful look at them.
cheers
Hello
Looked at the decathlon cables and there is no marking on the end, while the cables from clarke are marked with a C.
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I buy cable by the metre, because 'sets' won't fit most of my bikes, and hadn't encountered this.
Where do you buy cable from on a roll nower? Years ago used to buy brake cable by the meter for bonnet and boot release cable for cars from the local bike shop in kidderminster. Do you solder nipples on or use the bolt on ones. Brough back some memories.
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I buy cable by the metre, because 'sets' won't fit most of my bikes, and hadn't encountered this.
Where do you buy cable from on a roll nower? Years ago used to buy brake cable by the meter for bonnet and boot release cable for cars from the local bike shop in kidderminster. Do you solder nipples on or use the bolt on ones. Brough back some memories.
We were talking about outer. Readily available in workshop rolls from the usual places.
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I buy cable by the metre, because 'sets' won't fit most of my bikes, and hadn't encountered this.
Where do you buy cable from on a roll nower? Years ago used to buy brake cable by the meter for bonnet and boot release cable for cars from the local bike shop in kidderminster. Do you solder nipples on or use the bolt on ones. Brough back some memories.
We were talking about outer. Readily available in workshop rolls from the usual places.
Ah that makes sense, sorry my misunderstanding and recollection of use of brake cable wire.