buffalowings

I do most of the maintenance for my bikes (changing frayed cables, adjusting derailleurs, making fit changes etc etc). I went into my LBS looking for a derailleur cable for my winter bike, I walk in, ask for a cable. $4.00 is handed over and I walk out. I was reading into different cables etc, and realized there are zinc cables, galvanized cable, stainless steel, stainless steel with teflon etc etc. So I ask my bike shop if the cables they sell are stainless. "No, just regular steel" the guy behind the counter replies, "Can I have stainless instead?", "yeah, but it'll cost you more" hands me a $25 set of two Shimano shifter cables.
Do they not have stainless steel cables in bulk? I go online and find stainless steel jagwire for $4.00 a piece. I'm not angry that they sold me zinc cables for the same price, but do you really only stock zinc cables for the common people, and dura-ace for the rest of your posh clientele?

note:maybe the title should read, "How am I supposed to shop at THIS LBS again" because the website I went onto is owned by another physical bike shop that is local to somebody besides me.

fietsbob

Move to a city with more shops to play off against each other and internet prices..

Little Darwin

I am sure that they stock whatever they can make money on.

Perhaps where you live there are mainly two types of people, those who just want cheap, and those who want the big named over-priced.

I sometimes buy the kits at *mart for $10 that include a full set of brake and derailleur cables plus housings ferrules and crimps... I stop and shift fine with these. I do coat the cables with Tri-flow or whatever other similar lubricant I have on hand before guiding them through the housing. I noticed a little rust on the cables the last time I changed a set, but I was changing them anyway, so all is good.

The useful life of a stainless cable may be more than a plain steel cable, but I don't run cables, tires or brake pads on my bikes until anywhere near the end of useful life.

buffalowings

I would recommend something a little better then the bell brake and shifter kit. the housing for the derailleur is coiled and if I recall, neither were lined with plastic. Tried it once and made everything feel very mushy and weak.

linus

There is a good chance that the staff sold you a stainless steel cable for $4. Packaged ones are usually more and have some extra coating on them.

We only carry stainless cables in our shop because that is where you don't want to cheap out on.

dedhed

These generally work OK with friction shifters, but indexed shift cable has longitudinal reinforcement that doesn't compress and cause poor indexed shifting. These kits are fine for older, seldom used, and cheaper bikes.

FBinNY 

The dealer cost upcharge for SS gear wires vs. Galvanized (zinc plated) wires is about 30%. When I wholesaled Jagwire gear wires, SS was over 90% of my sales, since the small difference didn't justify selling the cheaper wires, except for shops where the lower end was a large part of their business.

What we don't know is if the cables originally sold were indeed stainless, but the shop rat was ignorant.

knobster

This is why I don't shop at bike shops anymore. I want what I want and I can rarely get what I'm wanting at a local store.