What company sells brake and shift (outer) cable ferrules in enough variety to select the ones that will fit my bikes?

Look on eBay for 4mm and 5mm brass ferrules. There’s a ton of them. Of course there’s your LBS.

I wonder if the OP has an older bike, from before indexing was the gold standard. Andy

It is impossible to tell you what fits your bikes until you tell us what bikes you have.


-Tim-

Cable stop size and style have changed over the years. I accredit Shimano and their early indexing systems in making most all cable stops the same (WRT the casing and ferrules). Before this it was typical that each brand had their take on this simple part. Casing end ferrules weren't the standard when I started wrenching (1973), we would cut the spiraled casing (what we call brake casing today) as clean as possible and that was it. Just fit it into the stop. We felt that the nicer stops held the casing tighter, and remember that without any low friction liners (who here remembers Wescon cables) the casing OD was often less too. But not to any industry agreed on size. Schwinns had the skinniest casings of most and today when I fit the 5mm lined brake casing on an old Varisty I have to trim back the outer plastic coating for the length of the stop (although, now, I do grind the ends flat whenever I can) because the OEM stops are too small for the full casing OD.


Every good service shop should have a few treys/organizers/spill bottles of the common ferrules. Good wrenches save the odd extra ferrules that come with cables as well as odd ones that come off service bikes. This is exactly where your LBS exists. So you can take your bike to them and find out what ones will work. Then, of course, that social contract you agreed to when you interact with the outside world says you should buy the right ones. With known right ones in hand you can measure the various elements of the ferrule and order dozens to get the best price each. When customers buy cables/casing from us we usually just give them a handful of ferrules and end crimps. Andy

Shimano used to include a special ferrule for bikes that used a different kind of chainstay cable stop with a stepped end.

Mavic index derailleurs use a very narrow specialty ferrule.

There is no kit that is going to include weirdness like that. This is why there are bike shops.

I guess I should have asked "who makes ferrules?"

My LBSs have proved useless in this search.

I'm not asking "what does my bike need?" That would be a pretty stupid question.

Jagwire makes ferrules.

Is your LBS a section at your main street hardware store? That kind of question seeks ground-floor knowledge.

Almost everyone rebrands something (Giant, Trek, Spec, Raleigh [through their distributor, Accell]); probably made by Jagwire if it is a decent price, sometimes made by Shimano depending on what 'group' it is intended for. Wheels Manufacturing makes machined brass ferrules, but they aren't available in combo pack from them—just other resellers.

Wheels, Jagwire, Dia Compe, Shimano, SRAM, Campy, Sun Race and likely many more "make" ferrules. Or at least distribute cables with ferrules under their own brand names.


I will take issue with "I'm not asking "what does my bike need?" (post #7) as your OP said " to select the ones that will fit my bikes?" strongly suggests that you are looking for ferrules that do fit your bike. And no, this is not a stupid question. Just one that has a simple answer best discovered with the ferrules and bike in the same spot at the same time, hence the LBS suggestions from me and others. But it sounds like the LBS you went to either can't or doesn't want to help you. Maybe another more motivated shop?


There are questions that the internet isn't really equipped to answer, like what ferrule fits your bike. Andy (who, like others, is still wondering what kind of bike is in play)