raverson

I have a few Schwinn Var/Cons kicking around in the shop that I'm planning to work on during the winter off season and most of the original grey housing will need replacing. Shopping around, the best I've seen in bulk is Niagara selling 25ft. lengths of Jagwire housing in both "XTR" grey and silver.

Has anybody used either of these and are they a reasonably close match? Also does anyone know of other sources to check?

Thanks much.

RobbieTunes

I like the Jagwire just fine. It's a lighter color grey than the Shimano I'm used to, but is very close to the Campy grey, which is a lot lighter.

raverson

So how would you say it looks compared to the original Schwinn? (ballpark close counts)

Mr IGH

[chicago accent on]It's freaking gray, what do youse want?[/chicago accent]

Any of the Schwinn stuff is sooo old, who knows what color it's supposed to be. If you want it to match exisitng housing you might get lucky, otherwise maybe you'll have to replace all of it. The newer housing is thicker so it's gonna look weird next to the OEM stuff no matter what shade of gray.

raverson

No, I would definitely not use old and new housing on the same bike. My question is comparing the color of the original to whats available new, and if it's a reasonable match.

Mr IGH

What color was OEM? My answer; various shades of gray depending on the lot/manufacturer/year. With that in mind, I'd say it's a "reasonable match" for my bikes, some people really take the this OEM thing to the same level as Bloomington Gold Corvette restorers.

The OEM stuff has smaller diameter than the current JAG lined housing. To install lined housing into stock Schwinn cable stops I have to trim the outer plastic cover off the metal casing. If you're looking for true OEM look, modern lined cable housing isn't exactly correct.