Viewing 32 posts - 1 through 32 (of 32 total)
  • £8.50 for a gear cable and three feet of housing. ..Rip off?
  • mcmoonter
    Free Member

    I've not bought a cable or housing for years. Went to Sandy Wallace Cycles in Inverkeithing yesterday. I bought a stainless cable and three feet of housing. £8.50. I nearly fainted. Am I out of touch with todays's prices or had I just been fleeced. Either way I wont be shopping there again.

    CHB
    Full Member

    You are out of touch.

    piedidiformaggio
    Free Member

    Sounds about right to me

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    Stranger
    Free Member

    Klas Ohlsen sell Shimano cable sets (includes front and rear inners and outers) for a fiver.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    Yep, rip off. You just need to know where to go!

    I buy 5 sets of 4 Clarkes cables (2 gear, 2 brake) From the Cycling Weekly website for £5. If I never use the brake cables, that's 50p a cable!

    And a roll of 10m of Shimano SP41 gear outer for well under £30 from Ultimate Persuits.

    What you've just bought would have cost me under £3.50. 🙂

    PJ266
    Free Member

    In my LBS I pay about £4.50 for everything needed to do a rear mech. They do take a bit of money off for me though.

    AndyP
    Free Member

    Klas Ohlsen

    [Mark and Lard mode on]
    whoooooooooooooooooooooooooo??

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    PJ, my way is still cheaper in the long run…! 😀

    Can't find the cheap cable outer on the UP website right now, and I bought some a month or two ago as well.

    Wiggle have it though,at a couple of quid more….
    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Shimano_SP41_Gear_Cable_Outer/5360016356/

    £30 delivered at SJS Cycles…..
    http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Shimano-Shimano-SIS-SP41-4-mm-Black-Outer-Gear-Cable–Workshop-Roll-Of-10m-4847.htm

    Cheap by the meter here…..
    http://www.mcconveycycles.com/store/product/11401/SHIMANO-SP41-4MM-GEAR-CABLE–/

    mcmoonter
    Free Member

    I'll vote with my feet. No more shopping there.

    PJ266
    Free Member

    PP – Ive been thinking about doing what you suggest for quite a while now, It'll mean I'll change my cables more often too!

    mcmoonter
    Free Member

    I'll shop at the Leslie Bike Shop from now on. They supplied and fitted two sets of cables and outers and set up my gears for a tenner or thereabouts

    karnali
    Free Member

    thanks pp i need a new road set soon and they are cheap. and the outer is cheap at wiggle with a 5 of 25 voucher

    Stranger
    Free Member

    Klas Ohlsen

    [Mark and Lard mode on]
    whoooooooooooooooooooooooooo??

    Klas Ohlsen – the really useful store!
    A hardware IKEA. Sort of…
    They have a large branch in Manchester Arndale.
    An Aladdin's cave…

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Klas Ohlsen, they'r kinda like Woolworths (they even took over the woolworths shop in Reading)

    Xan
    Free Member

    I'll shop at the Leslie Bike Shop from now on. They supplied and fitted two sets of cables and outers and set up my gears for a tenner or thereabouts

    Now I feel even worse. Went into a local Cyclelife shop (Overdrive in Airdrie) Charged me a £20 to supply and fit 2 inners and 1 outer (may I add it looked like something you would get on a Apollo. What makes it even worse they ran the rear cable about 4" too short. There was not enough room for suspension pivot, handle bar movement or to get a decent loo into rear mech,to the extent that the cable rubs off the drop out. And to make it even worse they managed to contaminate (although they deny it) a brand new pair of sintered pads.
    Regards

    bauchlebastart
    Free Member

    Funny that – I was recently in Sandy Wallace Cycles to buy gear cable outer, approx 2.5 meter length, and 4 ferrules: "£18 please sir"
    When I questioned the price, the reply was that they charged £1.99 per foot ie over £6.50 /meter. Without hiding my bemusement, I declined to pay and left.
    Went to my local shop and got 3m length of cable 4 ferrules and 2 cable crimps for £5.
    Will never shop at SWC again.

    nickc
    Full Member

    Roll of SP41 and inners in bulk….

    mcmoonter
    Free Member

    Bauchlebastart, I should have done the same, but I felt as the outer had been cut, I was compelled to buy it. Wont be an issue next time, as there wont be a next time.

    hora
    Free Member

    I was charged £12.50 for a stretch of outer and one set of inners.
    I didn't complain. I just never visited that store again.

    Sick of rip off pricing.

    BigDummy
    Free Member

    While I am as ever in awe of Peter's thrift and sheer excellence, if I need cable I need cable and £8.50 is not a terrifying amount of money. I'm not sure it's worth getting terribly steamed up over.

    Daffy
    Full Member

    Bunch of whingers! £8.50 isn't exactly alot of money for keeping a place open where you can buy this stuff. Lights, staff insurance etc all cost money.

    Books in Waterstones cost me more money than Amazon, but I still buy more than half of my books from there as I don't ever want to not have a Waterstones.

    Either more people shop in stores and help to spread the fixed costs or there will be fewer (and eventually none) stores becoming progressively more expensive as they try to cover costs from fewer customers.

    I try to shop as much as possible from LBSs ad local shops and I'm a Student with little income.

    Merry Christmas Y Filthy Animal!

    hora
    Free Member

    Lights, staff insurance etc all cost money.

    Its a very very expensive hobby. You could probably run a motorcross bike for little more money in a year.

    peachos
    Free Member

    i was charged about £15 a couple of weeks back for 3m of outer cable. the attendant kept questioning me if i was sure i needed this much (yes, i'm doing 2 x full length rear mechs). felt absolutely scammed when i looked on ebay and found 30m for £20.

    skidsareforkids
    Free Member

    The rrp for those from madison (the official shimano importer) are as follows. SP41 outer retails at 35p for 10cm, stainless inner £3.50, outer ferrulles are 80p each, crimps 15p each. Sounds bang on to me! Some shops charge slightly more for outers and cables to absorb the cost of the ferrulles and crimps to avoid stock-level nightmares, but generally you paid the going rate. If you compare that price to a pre-packaged set, a "Deore" set which includes pretty much the same stuff retails at £24.99. Bargain!
    As for the guys shouting about getting such cheap deals, they are either getting more basic stuff (non sealed ferrulles, non-greased outers, non-stainless inners) or the shops are short changing themselves, and it won't last forever… Better stock up!

    IA
    Full Member

    I'd expect cheaper online, but sounds reasonable for a shop. I accept if I need it there and then it'll cost me more. If "a few days" will do, then I'll order it in. I don't think anyone makes their millions off running a bike shop!*

    *except maybe oddly say CRC, where they do sell it cheaper…

    rootes1
    Full Member

    <<Klas Ohlsen

    [Mark and Lard mode on]
    whoooooooooooooooooooooooooo?? >>

    one in Kingston – evil love child of ikea and robert dyas

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    felt absolutely scammed when i looked on ebay and found 30m for £20.

    I shall have a look for that, cheers! 🙂

    As for the guys shouting about getting such cheap deals, they are either getting more basic stuff (non sealed ferrulles, non-greased outers, non-stainless inners) or the shops are short changing themselves, and it won't last forever… Better stock up!

    Nope, mine is proper Shimano SP41 (XT/XTR) outer and quality Clarkes cables.
    But yes, I heve stocked up!

    (The SP41 was about £17 delivered last time I bought some, so it has gone up a lot, but it's still cheap!)

    AndyP
    Free Member

    one in Kingston – evil love child of ikea and robert dyas

    robert dyas?

    [mark and lard mode on]
    whoooooooooooo?

    … and so on.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    Damn. He's right.

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/30-METRES-OF-BLACK-4mm-GEAR-OUTER-CABLE-NEW_W0QQitemZ200418194243QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR?hash=item2ea9daf343

    Even if you replace it 3 times as often as SP41 (Which I doubt), it'll still be cheaper. 🙂

    skidsareforkids
    Free Member

    Non-greased outer really doesn't shift as well, or last as well and also some cheap outers are very prone to splitting along their length. Ever seen OE cables split so the strands of steel splay out through the plastic? Furthermore, you can rarely change outers without changing inners, so there are hidden implications there with the cheap stuff. If anything, i would use good outer cabling and cheap cables. SP41 with a high quality teflon coated inner like XTR can last years if you look after your bike worth a damn. I have gore cables on one of my bikes, and i actually think it is certainly nothing like two and a half times better as the price suggests.

    PJ266
    Free Member

    Im not sure about the inners (they havent rusted though) and the outer is certainly shimano SP41 (cut from a big reel) I thought about £5 was average tbh.

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