I am refurbishing my 1991 Trek 6000 which has Suntour shifters/derailleurs. Can I use any standard cables/housing with these? The ones I have now are frayed (cables) and cracked (housings.).

Thanks

Yes, any modern shift cable/housing will work fine.

Thanks. Is it worth paying for branded cable/housing (Shimano, SRAM) or are they all basically the same?

https://www.jagwire.com/ is another respected brand.

indexed shifting needs a housing of its own , wires standing on end..

Housing for braking is more like what works for both with friction shifting
wound square wire spiral ..

lined housing is a huge step up from unlined, and can be had plenty cheap. There are varieties of housing that are lined with unobtanium and can get quite pricey, but the benefit they add would be small, and only worth it for fancy race bikes.

On install, and every few months or whenever shifting seems sluggish, drop a few drops of thin chain lube down each section of housing, it'll slick right up!

If I remember correctly, SunTour Accushift X-Press thumb shifters used a non-standard (and long-discontinued) shift cable. I found that out working on a SunTour-equipped '91 Cannondale SM400 mountain bike.

SkyDog75 - these are the shifters I have. What did you end up doing? Did you find a work around?

I'd file the ZINC head of the new cable so It Resembles the Old One..

I picked up some NOS (new old stock) cables on eBay, but it took some patience and a careful eye to spot the right ones. In the end, though, I wound up replacing the drivetrain with Shimano parts because it turns out the freewheel needed replacing, too. SunTour Accushift freewheels don't use Shimano-compatible spacing and replacement Accushift freewheels tend to be more expensive than Shimano 7-speed shifters plus derailleurs plus freewheel.

I gave away most of the usable SunTour parts from that '91 Cannondale, but I might still have a cable or two. I'll check, and if I do, I'd be happy to send them your way.

I just finished refurbishing a Schwinn CrissCross with xpress shifting.
I reused the cables and cut new housing. The shifting is excellent. I just used wd40 and soaked the cables do a few minutes then pulled them thru a towel a few times to get the gunk off.

You mentioned cable fray- is it something you can trim and still have enough? Cut off the fray but still use the cables, that sort of thing.

If not, then to the eBay. Good thing is you only need 1 cable if the fraying is at the end but too broken to reuse in original way. Cut the rear derailleur cable to size for the front since its shorter. Just a tip if you can only find 1 cable on eBay or if they are stupidly expensive.

That's great idea, I'll try to see if I can trim the cable and still have enough. The housing seems like a straightforward get. Really appreciate all of your help!

Unfortunately its this kind of stuff that put them out of business in the early 90s. :/

Huh. I've got SunTour Accushift shifters on the tourer I built up this year, no problems at all using standard cables and housings. I am running it in friction front and rear though...

What was the difference between the those Sun Tour and standard Shimano shift cables? Was it the head size like Campy cables or something else? If they require a smaller head diameter I wonder if Campy compatible cables would work.

The shape of the head is different. I have used some generic sunlite mtb cables in replacement, but I've also seen mtb cables(not sure which) not fit properly.

Not all Accushift shifters used a proprietary cable, but the X-Press thumb shifters did. It's a "lollipop" like most mountain bike shift cables, but the dimensions aren't the same. It's an extra-thick disc, almost like a barrel turned sideways. Or kinda shaped like a mallet if you think of the cable as the handle.

In the attached image from an eBay auction, it's the "Express" cable end shown on the package, and the X-Press cable ends are highlighted by red arrows.