73conti

I have a 27" Schwinn contintental. 27" tires. Handlebars are up high.

Never replaced the cables on a this large of a bike. I was going to get a jagwire kit off ebay.

How much length or rather, what do I need to buy, to do my brakes and my shifter cable... both cable and housing?

Thanks, first timer here.

Retro Grouch 

That is a big bike.

1. Brake and shift inner wires generally come in 1,700 mm or 2,000 mm lengths. That should be long enough to fit your bike. One end has a fitting. Derailleur cable ends are all but standardized but there's two common brake cable ends. Be sure to get the one that fits your brake levers. FWIW, I buy galvanized cables because I can solder the cut ends easily and not have to mess with end crimps.

2. On a bike that old you won't have index shifting. That means you can use brake housing for your shifters. I'd guess that 6' would be plenty for everything but it only costs around a dollar per foot so I'd buy a little more to be sure.

3. Your shift cables will be too long so you'll have to cut them. If you solder them like I do, you can do the soldering first and then cut through the solder with whatever tool you have handy. That way you'll get no fraying. If you own a Dremel, that's the tool I'd use for cutting the housing.

fietsbob

order Tandem lengths

73conti

I was going to buy this kit that had the following:
But since I can use brake cable for the shifter like Retro metioned, perhaps its not a smart buy?

Are the lengths above enough for my tall man bike?
Are the shifter cable above compatible with my old bike?

gregjones

He said HOUSING.

73conti

That shows how much I know... figured the housing was the same.

JohnDThompson 

For a 1973 Schwinn Continental the housing is the same for both brakes and shifters. It wasn't until indexed shifting took off in the mid 1980s that special compressionless housing for shift cables became necessary.

BTW, if you have the original equipment Schwinn shift levers, make sure your replacement cables have the necessary disc end rather than the currently common barrel end.

FBinNY 

+1, Schwinns of that era used Huret derailleurs and levers. These took a (now defunct) disc cable end, and it won't come on a modern gear wire. Take the outer covers off the lever and confirm the cable head before buying anything. If you have a disc head pictured in the post above , search for "Huret" gear wire.

73conti

thanks, I will check the shift cable for the proper end before ordering. Just to confirm though, as for the brakes, a modern cable will work?

The shifting cables still work fine on the bike its the brakes I need to tend to. I was going to get new pads as well.. kool stops as everyone suggests for steel rims however, I just realized the rims are upgrades to aluminum so I am not sure if that's still what I need to use.

So the kit then I described above is not compatible?

What I need is 7' of cable housing (can be the same for the shifter) and then enough brake cable and shifter cable (perhaps huret?)

You might be able to tell I am a little overwhelmed by what I need to purchase.... I was going to simply get them on ebay.

FBinNY 

Yes, the brake cable is almost surely the same as a modern pear shaped (road type) end. If the gear wires are OK, you can put off that for the moment, and focus on the brakes

The shoe recommendation is the same and will work even better on aluminum than steel.

AnkleWork

Measure what you have?

73conti

Thanks John for mentioning the "Huret" cable. Indeed that is what I have on my shifter.

Heres a good question, a long span of shifter cable is exposed down the center tube of the frame... it does have housing covering it. I remember as a kid bikes that were similar.

When I replace the cable, should I be just using cable housing or do I have to cut and expose portions of the cable to work correctly?

Hope that makes sense without pictures.

JohnDThompson 

It can work either way, but long runs of housed cable have more friction than bare cable and thus may have poorer shifting performance. Best performance is obtained by using only enough housing to guide the cables around corners, while leaving it bare elsewhere.

73conti

Alright, things are making more sense.

Another question. Huret cable. I can buy NOS on ebay. Is that cable compatible with modern housing? For example if I buy jagwire brake cable and housing... can I use the housing on the Huret?

FBinNY 

The older gear wires were thicker than modern ones, and so may not work with modern gear housing. However, they're thinner than modern brake wire and so will work very well in modern brake housing. One more reason to save by not buying costlier gear housing.

gregjones

Take a look here. That's housing by the foot. It's a bit cheaper, per foot, to buy a longer length of it. 25' for 15 bucks and you can use it for shifters too.

I use these folks quite a bit for cables, tools and things like that. Great service, fast to ship.

73conti

in regards to the Huret cable.

Theres a few NOS on ebay, and I am not sure which one I need and if they differ: See the following (I hope its kosher to post links like this, I apologize if it is not...im not a spammer just need the right stuff!!)

NOS
Huret Gear Derailleur Cable Wire for Vintage Road Racing Bike 50 inches Long | eBay

THIS APPEARS NEW
Jagwire Basics Galvanized Derailleur Wire 1 2x2300mm Shimano Huret Simplex | eBay

ANOTHER NOS
Lonquer 1M 25 Ejac Road Bike Bicycle Inner Cable Schwinn Raleigh Simplex Huret | eBay

Anyway, if anyone has a moment to take a look for me and let me know what I should be leaning towards in regards to HURET CABLE.

73conti

Hi again, im just giving this a bump in hopes of being steared in the right direction in regards to HURET cable that I need for my shifter (Schwinn contintental)... im sure itching to order, install and get back out on the road!

FBinNY 

All three have the correct head, so the key i length and price. Both NOS wires are about the same length 1250mm or 50" which is fine for downtube levers, but not enough for levers mounted to the stem or handlebar.

So the JagWire one's 2300mm wire wins out by a metre.

Howevr it's a doube ended wire, which means you'll need a decent pair of wire cutters to cut one head of without fraying the wire. If you don't have a sharp pair of diagonal cutters, buy a pair of bicycle cable cutters, which should cost you less than $20.

BTW= plan ahead and buy 3 of these wires, 2 for the bike and a spare in case you mess up.

73conti

Just wanted to say thanks for the tips... esp. bringing HURET cable to my attention. I would have purchased the wrong stuff and would have had to deal with repackaging and returning via the mail if it wasn't for that advice.

I have new brake cables, brake pad and shifter cable on my bicycle now ..... even took off the kickstand... ready to roll now!

noglider 

I have filed down cable ends to make them fit those shifters. It was a b-itch to do, but it worked.