Page 1 of 1

How to cheaply bulk-order a bunch of brake & gear cables & accessories?

Posted: 29 May 2024, 5:07pm
by jimster99
Hi all,

Random question of the day time. I'm planning to do up a few junk bikes from ebay/facebook I purchased a couple of years ago - something like 3 x kids bikes, 2 x women's bikes and 1 x road bike as a fun mini-project. They need complete brake & gear cabling overhauls. Is there anywhere that will sell me a bag of brake & gear cables & housings etc. for Shimano/SRAM road & MTB bikes? I'd like to get enough to do say 30-100 bikes (probably a lifetime supply)! Ali Express / ebay do sell brake & gear cables & housings cheaply in bulk (but not the noodles/rubber boots etc). I guess they'll be low quality but will they be just about OK? I can't find a bulk seller of v-brake noodles anywhere.

PS As the TLDR context for this slightly bizarre request, I used to dabble in expensive bikes (not that expensive - most expensive was under £1k) but (living in central London) they would get either nicked within months (I've lost probably 20+ bikes & motorbikes over the years) or I'd have to store them inside and lock them with multiple heavy locks when outside, which I found too impractical. So my recent solution has just been to buy incredibly cheap bikes and then when one gets nicked I just pull another one from my backup pile and carry on. And because they're really crap, I've found the theft rate has plummeted dramatically (only lost 2 x wheels and 1 x seat/post in the past 2 years).

Thanks :)

Re: How to cheaply bulk-order a bunch of brake & gear cables & accessories?

Posted: 29 May 2024, 5:17pm
by Jdsk
How does SJS Cycles match up to those requirements?
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk

Jonathan

Re: How to cheaply bulk-order a bunch of brake & gear cables & accessories?

Posted: 29 May 2024, 5:54pm
by jimster99
Thanks Jonathan - I had a look at SJS Cycles and they do seem to sell workshop boxes of 100 packs of this kind of thing *but* more expensive than ebay/ali express (but I presume genuine and more reliable quality). Very helpful. Just have to decide if I fancy taking a risk or paying more for quality...

As an example:

SJS sells 100 Shimano branded brake cables for £200 (https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cables/shim ... ox-of-100/)
Ebay sells 100 generic brake cables for £30 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283816748878)
And finally...AliExpress sells 100 generic brake cables for £24 (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006 ... ry_from%3A)

Re: How to cheaply bulk-order a bunch of brake & gear cables & accessories?

Posted: 29 May 2024, 7:53pm
by foxyrider
To be honest, for the stuff you are doing the generic ebay/Aliexpress stuff is fine. IME where you want to spend is on decent outer casing, i've not had any issues with the generic cables i've bought. As for noodles a quick look on Ali found this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005 ... 00726590_7 which looks a good deal! free shipping too.

enjoy your mechanicing

Re: How to cheaply bulk-order a bunch of brake & gear cables & accessories?

Posted: 29 May 2024, 11:29pm
by jimster99
foxyrider wrote: 29 May 2024, 7:53pm To be honest, for the stuff you are doing the generic ebay/Aliexpress stuff is fine. IME where you want to spend is on decent outer casing, i've not had any issues with the generic cables i've bought. As for noodles a quick look on Ali found this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005 ... 00726590_7 which looks a good deal! free shipping too.

enjoy your mechanicing
Thanks foxyrider, really appreciate the steer. Will give the generic stuff a try and see how I get on!

Re: How to cheaply bulk-order a bunch of brake & gear cables & accessories?

Posted: 30 May 2024, 8:35am
by aflook
https://bankruptbikeparts.co.uk/collect ... e-job-lots

Cheers& good luck with the project
Adrian

How to cheaply bulk-order a bunch of brake & gear cables & accessories?

Posted: 30 May 2024, 9:29am
by ihc
Fibrax https://fibrax.org/phone/index.html are good for this sort of thing.
It may just be my memory, but prices do seem to have crept up recently, but the stuff they produce is well made and long lasting.

Re: How to cheaply bulk-order a bunch of brake & gear cables & accessories?

Posted: 30 May 2024, 4:03pm
by jimster99
ihc wrote: 30 May 2024, 9:29am Fibrax https://fibrax.org/phone/index.html are good for this sort of thing.
It may just be my memory, but prices do seem to have crept up recently, but the stuff they produce is well made and long lasting.
Thanks ihc - that looks like exactly the right sort of supplier! Very much appreciated. Will check them out.