It has been some time since I purchased brake or shift cables. The last time I did so several years ago (Okay, maybe even longer than that) and I purchased outer housings, inner liners and cables from Performance and Nashbar. I don't remember if JagWire was around or prominent then. Looking around today I see many brand names and price points, many unfamiliar. Descriptions are not always that informative, especially for less expensive options. So I would appreciate learning what sources, brands and product features people prefer and any comments people have to offer. Thanks in advance.

I either get Jagwire "Hyper" was the most recent tier I bought and was very nice or Velo Orange has nice sets that will work for road or mtb, just installed a VO set on a road bike this evening.

Jagwire is great

I bought a Jagwire Pro set a few years ago with pretty housing I really liked... never installed it. Then one day I needed some shop work and I had them do the cable install too. Braking and shifting was never better... also my internal routing rattle went away.

I bought some older "Deore XT" compressionless derailleur housing from eBay a few years ago for a good price. I want to say it is 5.5mm thick whereas OEM Shimano housing is more like 4.5mm thickness. So it takes a different ferule. But I really like it because it is extra stiff and it seems to not degrade over time. Not sure if it would work for applications of newer brifters where the shift housing is routed all under the bars. I also am using Jagwire burnished stainless cables. I was told these shift much better and don't develop micro burrs like the some of todays Teflon coated inner wires can. So you don't have to change them annually if you don't want to.

Porkchopbmx has some nice stuff, especially for CV bikes.
Tim

I’ll give another vote for Velo Orange. I just purchased their braided silver cable set. They look great on vintage bikes.

I’ve also used Jagwire and have no complaints with them, either.

Jagwire is very good, but no longer significantly cheaper than Shimano. I buy whichever is on sale via Amazon or other seller. The single bike kits are handy but if you plan to redo more than one bike it may be more cost effective to buy the bulk rolls of cable housing (20' or so, I think).

Last year I got some blue brake cable housing from SunLite, for something like $10 for a bulk roll. It's listed as compressionless, but in reality it needs to be used regularly for a few weeks before it stops compressing. It takes a set, effectively shortening the cable housing, so I needed to adjust the cable tension about once a week for the first month. Now it works fine. But it was a PITA for a few weeks. I got what I paid for.

To be honest, even Shimano's cheapest entry level cable and housing are pretty darned good. They don't look like much but they work very well. When trial fitting a new handlebar, stem, levers, etc., I'll usually start with the entry level Shimano cables/housings that came with a set of cheap RevoShift grip shifters or SunRace SLM10 friction thumb shifters. Even Shimano's cheapest cable housing is fully functional and doesn't take a set and need to be readjusted like the cheap SunLite stuff.

That low end Shimano housing is what I have on my Trek 5900 right now, after installing MicroShift brifters a couple of months ago. After I finally settle on a handlebar/stem combo with reach that doesn't kill my neck and shoulders, I'll install some better looking cable/housing. Probably hi-vis yellow from Jagwire or Shimano. It clashes nicely with the purple frame.

However the entry level Shimano cable sets usually include galvanized steel cable, which will oxidize after a few years depending on weather/humidity. It'll make the brakes and shifting feel a bit sluggish.

I also got a bunch of cheap Blue Sunshine stainless cables, shifters and brakes, on Amazon last year. They don't seem to stretch much and usually need only one retensioning after a week or two.

That stuff is heinous (in the best way) and comes packaged with NIB XT Rapidfire Plus shifters. Wonderful but almost unobtanium without big dough.

Thanks for the comments and information everyone. Good input that is helpful to me. When I saw galvanized cables I kind of wondered if they would not slide as well in the housing, thinking of how the surface of a galvanized piece of metal feels compared to the smoother surface of a stainless piece of metal. I was not aware of Velo Orange cable sets or of Pork Chop's cable sets. It is interesting the ordering options Pork Chop lists in their descriptions. So based on the comments, I think I will stick to stainless steel cable and go shopping for better quality housing.