I am in the midst of building up a bike for myself for the first time. I am not a wrench by any means, but it is going well so far. The one thing I am lost about is cables. I have never really given them much thought in the past. But now that I am parting this bike out myself, I need to choose what cables to use. I understand that there is a difference between brake and shifter cables. I don’t know much beyond that, however. So what should I know? What cables/housings do STers suggest? Is there an appreciable difference between brands, or are they pretty much fungible?
I am using SRAM components on a Litespeed Saber if it makes any difference.
Brake and shift cables ARE different. They are wound different and the shift cables are thinner. The end pieces are also different to fit either a shifter or a brake lever. I’d suggest that you head to the lbs and ask them for “top quality” cables for the bike you are building. Just let them know what type of shifters and brake levers you are using.
First make sure you use stainless cables, they last better and stretch less. Derailleur cables are thinner, make sure you have the right ends, Shimano and Campy are different. If you are using aero brake levers they could use either the road style, mountain style or a specific one if you are using the Vision levers. The housing will also be different. We use the bulk Jagwire cables and housing with good results, IMO its as good as the Shimano, but less expensive. You can use Nokon if you have any strange bends to negotiate and the weight weenies use Powercordz instead of cables, but be prepared to sell a kidney for these options.
Make sure you have a pair of high quality cable cutters such as Park, Pedro’s etc.
Dont spent a bank on “fancy” cables. Nokons are a pain in the ass. Just get yourself a SRAM cable kit and go from there. I have ridden them all and not once ever seen any performance gain from the high end cables over quality OEM from Campy/ShitmaNO/SRAM.