I have a ton of old bikes that I’m looking to fix up. I’m not sure what to buy in terms of bulk cables and housing.
I know there’s a difference between shift and gear cables. And also road and mountain bike cables. When I look online there seems to be different diameters as well.
So I think that I’ll have to get a pack of:
– road shift cables
– mountain shift cables
– brake cables (should work with both mountain and road??)
Along with the housing that fits with each cable. Right?
Is there a “one size fits all” for road/mountain bike cables // gear/shift cables? or at least cables/ housing that are good for most bikes?
Appreciate any advice!
by Two-Narrow
3 Comments
Oh also I’d like to buy in bulk like in the picture. ^
I would say, get stainless instead of galvanized. There’s a few differences between the shifter cables, but they generally work. The Shimano head is a little larger than the others and the cable is 1.2mm. Sram has a slightly smaller head and the cable is 1.1mm. Campy has a rounded head and the strands are twisted in reverse. I would assume you probably don’t have any campy, but if you do, use campy. Shimano and sram can sometimes be used interchangeably, but I have had some Shimano heads get jammed in a Sram shifter. If you were to get only one, I might say sram. Then there’s always jagwire, who make all of them.
Shifter cables are all the same, except for campy, which uses a smaller head. You can file down a standard cable head to work, just don’t get it stuck.
Mountain bike/flat bar brakes use the more squared off cylinder looking head, and road bikes use the more rounded off penis looking head.
That pic is a MTB brake cable btw.