Danger of generic cables and housing?
 

Hello all. I'm looking to buy a cosmetic set of cables and housing. It seems as though everything in the set is fairly generic. Is there any risk of using generic parts in this case? I had previously bought some generic red bolts that stripped or torque-broke almost immediately and had to go to my LBS to extract the broken bolts. Would I run a similar risk with this cable and housing kit? Or are all cables created equal? Thanks in advance.

They could be less slick and more prone to rust and gunking up thus degrading shifting performance. Don't know if any of that could pose any actual danger though.

Or they could be completely fine.

You can buy cables (housings) from Jagwire in various colours if rthat is what you want.

https://www.bike-components.de/en/Ja...g-10-m-p49776/

(select the colours to see some of the variants).

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm interested in a full kit which is why I'm looking at that item on Amazon. The housing is probably the most important, but my existing cables are fairly short so I'd end up needing new cables anyway. I've never had a problem with used cables on other bikes before, but maybe I was just lucky. As such, my famous last words are, "So how bad can these new ones be?"

jagwire do make a few full kits with all the accessories at various trim levels in a few select colors. As you go up in price, you get more doodads for cable management and frame protection, in addition to better cables and housing.

As long as you don't use the shifter housing for the brakes, you should be fine with generics. I've definitely used generics in the past.

Edit: Many cheap cables have a generic "housing," which suck for indexed shifting. Avoid those.

And, brake and shift cable housing is different.

The cables themselves are different too, but that's not what was asked.

Okay, I'll check out their kits, thanks. When you say a "generic housing which sucks for indexed shifting," what do you mean? My shifters are definitely indexed and not friction.

Don't go cheap on cables and housing.

I've used the color Jagwire kits in the past. They're Ok. The housing is fine, but I prefer basic cables available in bulk from most shops.

cheaper shifter housing may not be compressionless, which may result in sloppy shifting. FWIW I’ve used generic shifter housing for a 9-speed XT drivetrain, and generic brake housing for road and MTB, with no problems, but IIRC I’ve always used “name” shifter cables/housing, either OEM Campagnolo, Gore Ride-On or Jagwire, for 9- and 10-speed road applications

I'm surprised that no one has made this clear to the OP. Generic inner cables are of lower quality manufacture. The metal alloy (galvanized steel? Not sure) will most certainly corrode after a season or two. Also, the cables are not die drawn to create a smooth outer surface. The result is a cable that darkens and has friction. The best inner cables are at a minimum stainless and die drawn. Other very good cables have various coatings (like Teflon) to minimize friction. I've used these, and they can be quite good. They tend to be stiffer, which may be a problem depending on the bends that your cable must take.

Outer brake housings from generic (think Bell) cable kits have are simply wound steel covered by a colored rubber layer. These are not lined. Nor are they rigid enough. There is a big difference between good quality lined housing and generic dime-store housing. For indexed shifting greater than 8-speed, you need rigid compressionless housing that's made with longitudinal strands, lined, and with good quality ferrules at the ends. A good kit will contain the proper ferrule tips to mate to STI shifters and to various kinds of stepped-down cable stops (for internally guided cables, for example).

Don't go cheap if you plan to keep and ride the bike. If you plan to flip the bike, then let the dictates of your character determine what cabling you'll choose.

The linked product has stainless cables. This means they wont rust/corrode in ways that others have mentioned are concerns.
It comes with aluminum housing caps which in general are much better than the standard plastic shift caps provided by jagwire.
Dont think twice to use the cables and housing if its the color you want.

I use brake housing that is about as generic as it gets- its 25 yards of Sunlite brake housing as it costs like $20. Its what I use for all our cable brake bikes(9 bikes right now) and the stuff works perfectly fine.
Shift housing doesnt specifically say its slick, so Im guessing it isnt internally lubed. Thats pretty cheap, but its how housing used to be decades ago. You can drip some chain lube in right before you thread the cable thru as that will help keep the interal sleeve slick.

those cable will be fine. heck the super cheap schwinn kits from walmart will work better than rusty used cables.

I see this as a matter of perspective. On a "normal" bike, plain old generic cables and housings work just fine. They may have more friction. They may tire and fail a little sooner but on a clean run with no kinks or chafe points, that's still years. Just do routine inspections. Replace if you have doubts. Now, those with less than strong hands may benefit from spending more to reduce cable friction for braking. But they might get to the nearly the same place running oil inside the housings and periodically cleaning and re-oiling.

Exceptions: Bikes with challenging cable runs: tight turns, less that perfect entries into brake levers, index shifting where cable friction and stretch can make shifting unpredictable. For good index shifting stay away from spiral wound housings as it compresses.

Bikes did just fine for 80 years before SS cables came out. Before Teflon. Yes, the good stuff is nicer and feels nicer. Easier to shift and brake, May last longer. The cheap stuff may require some attention to lubricating inside the housings. But it all works, except as noted above. Now there is some really bad cables housing out there. I've volunteered in coops and seen some amazingly bad stuff. Look at what you are buying. There's lots of quality generic cable out there. Wound steel cable technology is 100 years old. Literally, not rocket science.

Ben

I would go Jagwire for sure. That is generally what almost all of my bikes are running. Higher quality cables and housing will work a lot better, sometimes say in the case of brake housing it will not compress and give you better braking. Plus you can do all of the colors and even do the link housing which is super light, compressionless and smooth as buttah. Cables and housing are pretty low cost compared to other upgrades yet can give quite an improvement.

I had cheap brake cable snap as I applied the brakes. Fortunately I only slightly bruised my hand.

general generic failure is likely to occur. I'd generally not worry though.

I found Jagwire cables set were better than SRAM sets. Brakes, cable type were no different but the SRAM shift cables failed on me. The lengthwise rods that stiffin the housing failed and the housing failed. It was a couple of years but the Jagwires have held up longer.

I find good brake cables and compression-less housing (like the Jagwire Pro stuff) makes a noticeable difference over generic, That said, while generic do not perform as well, I don’t think they are dangerous.

OTOH, I’ve never seen much difference in function between generic and more expensive shifter cables and housing.

I've used cheap Sunlite brake cable housing for some projects. The stuff compresses for awhile so I had to adjust the brakes often. After several rides it settles in and stays put. Next time I'll get some decent compressionless brake cable housing from Jagwire or Shimano.

I've read claims that cables don't stretch but I'd swear the cheaper stainless cables I've used did stretch. I'd need to measure to be sure. But even in shifter applications, where housing compression wasn't a factor at all, I've had to adjust cable tension several times until the cables settled in.

I haven't had any catastrophic failures of cables or housings with cheaper stuff. No unusual friction or other performance problems. Just some apparent compression with the housing and stretch with the cables.

FWIW, even the cheapest Shimano stuff that comes with entry level RevoShift grip shifters and SunRace SLM10 thumb shifters seem to work better -- less cable housing compression, no apparent cable stretch.

Regarding your bolt issue, if they were "generic red bolts," they were probably an aluminum alloy - most likely a 7075 alloy called "ergal." If you start replacing steel bolts with aluminum ones, you're gonna have a bad time, especially if you try to torque them to steel specs.

Having them break immediately might have been the best outcome, though; the yield strength of 7075 is crap compared to steel, so it's better that the bolts broke when you were putting them on rather than on a ride.