Let's Talk Consummables
 

What do you use for cables, housing, tips and crimps?

What are your opinions on galvinized vs stainless vs teflon coated cable wires? Is housing a big deal- do you need the fancy jagwire stuff or will the lower end stuff do just fine?

At numerous times I've considered buying bulk. Do you recommend this option or do you usually go on a pay as you need basis?

I'm always looking for sources for clear cable housing with the inner plastic lining for smooth cable action. The ones that were used on early to mid 80's bikes, where you can see the silver, coiled, flat spring from the outside through the clear plastic outer sleeve. Only regular source I can find is Pork Chop BMX from eBay, but I have found a set from DiaCompe too, a couple of years ago.
Every time I asked for some from LBS's they tend to always give me a weird look then promise to check if they still have the big spool they remember they had of it somewhere in the shop or at shop owner's house,......... but of course they never come up with it....... the hoarders.....

Pay as you go, unless you are cabling an awful lot of bikes every year. Bulk is nice and handy, though. I use regular QBP cables and bulk housing on my own bikes. Works very well. Unless there is a need for the super slick stuff, keep it simple.

A picture is worth a 1000 words. Bulk is worthwhile under the following caveats:

• I try to turn 2 bikes or more a month on average.
• I use the same parts on the bikes I keep as the bikes I resell, except maybe tires.
• I try to minimize cost on a bike reconditioned for resale, but use good quality consumables. Some will argue that Kenda tires are cutting corners, no pun intended, but Kenda is a large OEM supplier on LBS bikes as well.
• I hate paying for postage and now Niagara wants $150 minimum order, so a box of cables and I am at $100 already.
• Stainless is worth the slight upcharge.
• I have used XLS, but recently switched to Jagwire. I can't "feel" the difference, but the price gap is reduced in the last 12 months.
• Bulk bearing buys can save a bundle. I bought 3000 1/4 balls and saved about 75% off bottled bearings.
• Bulk cable housing purchases savings are about 2/3 less than individual item purchases.

I stock several colors of brake cables, more than the better LBS, and most of the bikes are friction shifting, so I don't need much SIS cable. I only stock black SIS cable because I only need a short loop at the RD. I have yet to redo a brifter setup needing another cable color.

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/lxk3dpq87fi...10.23.jpg?dl=0

I've always used bulk, Clarks, Jagwire, Shimano, and Sunlite. The Pre-lubed Jagwire is my favorite thus far. This latest build though I ordered this Road Pro | Jagwire fancy stuff. I'll report back if it's worth it.

Similar to OJ, but not nearly as organized and tidy. Buying in bulk is all about economics and volume. You will save a lot of $$, but how much of this stuff do you use?

I always use stainless cables and lined housing.

I keep thinking I should buy shift cables and ends in bulk. As much swapping around as I like to do with shifters and derailleurs- you can only do that so many times before your cable crimps badly and starts fraying at the pinch bolt.

Unless it's a special bike (and sometimes even if it is) I just use basic black or white housing and cables from the LBS. I don't buy bulk, since I don't actively flip bikes.

edit: Chains, I just use your basic, cheap KMZ chains, and have never found a reason not to (again, unless it's somehow a special bike). Brake pads, I spend on Kool Stop, because they just work so well. Tires I default to Paselas unless I want something specific.

So, where is the best place to buy bulk?

Also...how about chains?

aw shucks!

when i saw "consumables" immediately thought of alimentation.

oh well, this sort of consumable merits a bit of thought as well. ;)

i'd like to know an ebay or similar source to buy bearings and stainless cables, not in great bulk, but $20ish worth.

i used to get bearings from loose screws, which went out of biz.

i buy the least expensive colored and lined housing off ebay whenever i'm building a bike. it's under $9 (shipped) for 7 ft.

hoods from vo or ebay and paselas from the lowest internet seller.

chains come from ebay too, either kmc or sram.

Like Chombi above, I've gotten the clear-over-coil cable housing from Porkchop BMX. Their website usually has a better deal than their eBay sales, however. Most any other color can be had on eBay for $0.99/ft shipped. I've never felt the need to buy in bulk, with that kind of deal. My LBS sells a couple different colors at $1/ft, too.

Stainless inner wires with lined housing.

I buy housing in bulk but not always the inner wires because I tend to reuse them, rear wires become fronts and I get SS inner wires on the cheap localy.

it seems ridiculous to order individual cables from the far east (hong kong), but i just did it. just too damn cheap to pass up on ebay.

you can blame me for global warming. sorry.

I'm a believer in better quality consumables except when it comes to chains and FWs - Cheapo KMC chains have proven to be exceedingly reliable and trouble free, but of course you can't replace a chain without replacing a FW, and that's the other place where, IME, the cheapest turns out to be equivalent to (or better than) the items costing 5x as much. That's why I usually stick with SunRace FWs.

I like to keep a few "consumables" in stock, especially things like brake and derailleur cables, so I don't run to the LBS every time I need one (and may have my bike hobbled). I changed to Stainless Steel recently as it seems a little slicker than the Galvanized, and hopefully less prone to corrosion.

Since I buy in advance, I can do direct Chinese orders for $1 to $2 per cable, or less. E-Bay is your friend. I still buy them several at a time.

I used to put a little ball of solder on the cable ends. :However, the last time I tried with Stainless, I had a lot of troubles getting the solder to stick. I noticed the new cables I was getting were welded, so I've now started tig welding my cable ends.

For years I've used unlined cable housings. I now bought some teflon lined cable housing, 25 ft rolls off of E-Bay for dirt cheap. We'll see how they last. I usually get 10 to 20 years out of my unlined cables, but have heard of people getting less than a year out of lined cables... pretty scary thought. If that is true, I'll look for something else.

Chains also from E-Bay, $10 to $11 each for HG-73 chains (Shimano 9S). I have some replaceable pins somewhere, but I got 2500 miles out of my last chain pushing the pin back in. I marked the pin on the new chain I just mounted... I think. Anyway, I coudn't find my pins so I just pushed it back in for another test.

I usually just re-use my bearings. However, I decided to try some E-Bay ceramic bearings in one hub. So far, so good... I think ;)

I bought several tubes with my last Ribble order, $3.33 each, although I will frequently pick up some at a LBS or dept store (assuming they have them in stock, it isn't uncommon for narrow 700c tubes to be out of stock).

I did pick up some extra tires for my projects, but I don't really want to buy them too far in advance as I don't want the rubber drying out.

I've got some import bar tape on the way. I don't know what to expect. I may end up buying some Fizik 3mm tape sometime soon. A little more expensive, but hopefully good stuff.

Loose Screws is back in business, but only a few bearings. Hopefully the new owner will eventually be able to rebuild the inventory of small parts stock that Jeff had.

Loose Screws Bicycle Small Parts Hard to find bicycle parts, made easy! For both the classic and modern cyclist.

^ thanks, david. i didn't know they were still up.

i scanned his site. he still has a lot of really hard to find items. hopefully, he'll continue to add stuff i actually use, like bearings.

Ball Bearings

1/4 : Bearing Ball Store, Wholesale Bearing Balls

What do you use for
cables: Novara Teflon from REI-if I only need the cable
housing: Jagwire or Campagnolo, especially if I need the kit
tips and crimps: good question, I ran out a short time ago, use whatever I can find, scavenging between minor refills of the jar

What are your opinions on
galvinized vs stainless vs teflon coated cable wires: 1-Teflon, 2-Stainless, 3-Not
Is housing a big deal? Yes. I go for performance when non-friction, appearance on friction.
Do you need the fancy jagwire stuff "need" is a strong word, but yes, my ego dictates the big kid stuff
or will the lower end stuff do just fine? not if I'm going to ride it a lot and it's not friction

At numerous times I've considered buying bulk.
Do you recommend this option or do you usually go on a pay as you need basis? As needed.

Bulk buying mandates that I make some choices before I've even bought the other stuff on impulse.
It also indicates that I have a "n+1" problem and am willing to admit it. I don't go there.

The worst thing for this is pegboard. I like hanging stuff up just like the bike shops.
This, of course, leads people to think it's available, just like the bike shops.
Some of it is decoration, some to torture 1 or 2 specific visitors, and some just to act capable.

It is, but they should drop some of the extra parts and put Tube Tops in those kits.

wow! "world's largest ball bearing store"!

"kid's, would you rather we go see the world's largest ball bearing store or the great ball of twine?"

thanks for the link! i'm gonna need some more bikes to overhaul now...

Reasonable and impressive.

100 ft Roll Teflon Lined Brake Cable Housing Many Color | eBay

stuff like this gives me pause. i almost want to buy it, just to see its quality. but the other side is telling me I might as well flush money down the toilet.


Very, very impressive. I am currently building up my garage workspace. would be awesome to have somthing like this.

That place linked looks good.

I've used vxb for bearings, and have been satisfied. The site is a bit harder to navigate than the previous link, but they also carry G10 balls, which I think are closer to what Campy actually used than the G25 are.