roccobike

Don't know if this has been posted before or not. I just picked up a new Bell replacement bike cable set at Wally World. They raised the price to over $9. At first I was a little put off by what appeared to be just a price hike. However, Bell finally realized the majority of bikes out there have index shifters and the one size fits all cable housing they were selling doesn't work well with anything over 7 speeds. They've replaced the old housing with new, correct lined housing that actually appears to be pretty good! I'm going to try it out on a index Centurion I just picked up. Certainly worth the extra $3 to get the correct housing and not fork over a lot more for a few feet of housing at the LBS for a flipper.
The new container has a yellow sticker that says "Perfect for Index Shifting".
IF this has already been posted my apologies.

oddjob2

Good to know, thanks. However, my 100 count box of Jagwire stainless road brake cables just arrived. Lol

DMC707

I got a couple sets of these ----- Was a screaming bargain per the LF compared to my LBS --- love the stuff - i might stretch the wallet a bit more if i do an 11 speed conversion, but i think for my current 7 speed -9 speed project machines -- this will be good !

mainstreetexile 

Ah, shoot, I just ordered a set of the bell cables from amazon and noticed two different numbers now. I went for the cheaper, should've paid an extra 2 dollars for these.

It looks like the old version are "Bell Pitcrew 500" and the newer version are "Bell Pitcrew 600". Amazon is out of stock for the 600s but the description says:

• New index shifter compatible cable set
• Compression-less housing for better shifting performance
• Includes 2 brake and 2 gear cables, all housing and ferrules
• Proper length for most mass bikes

roccobike

Last time I went to the LBS it cost $7.50 for four feet of shifter cable housing, no cable, just the housing. I counted my fingers and toes when I left just to make sure they were all there. I need to try this new Bell stuff, but it looks like decent quality housing.

RobbieTunes

Thanks for the head-up, Al. Great to know. The Walmart near here has really cut back on the bike stuff.

DMC707

I found the same bubble packs at Sears for the same price as well when i was there scoping out some tools one day recently

Primitive Don

Good to know, thanks for the heads up!

dddd

I always only bought the WalMart kits for their Campag-compatible cable ends, which drives up the cost of replacement wires severely.

Are the new kits still Campag-compatible?

I don't bother using unlined housing at all, since I could get much better lined housing from among parts discarded at the shop.

I prefer to recycle cabling, selecting the longer wires then cut down to shorter installed lengths where possible.
Likewise, lined housings can be cleaned (out using solvent dri-lube spray with a kinked cable wire doing the scrubbing inside), then blasted dry with compressed air from a presta chuck. Using a light swipe of GripShift lube on the wires, they work like new, and the silicon-based lube never thickens, so gives the longest service interval of any lube.

Bikedued

Their unlined housing was crunchy on some bikes. Notchy even. If they have lined housing now then it's worth it. Are both the shifter and brake cables lined? Did they ever switch to stainless cables? I used to build sell bikes with that kit, but I stopped flipping a while ago. No one responds on CL here anymore.,,,,BD


What will the average consumer do if they don't have a indexed housing cutter?