Is there much /any noticeable difference in quality of these? Im currently running jagwire for my mech and it feels noticeably stiffer than the shimano stuff ive used before.

Is it worth an “upgrade” to anything when it comes to changing?

Imo yes there is a difference in quality when it comes to cables. That said, in my experience jagwire are usually pretty good, came standard on my last 2 bikes with no issues. I usually buy shimano these days though. Just got some optislick ones but not fitted them yet.

I think Shimano inner cables are more flexible.

I run standard shimano with middleburn oilers and have no issue

Split outers, maybe the inner matters more. Need an inner that will cope with the weather on the exposed parts. Good outer (e.g. SP41), ferrules and boots are key to avoid crud getting in and fraying ends.

Whole run inners, just get SP41 outer and any old stainless steel inner will do. Found zero difference between posh brand inner and cheap stuff, so long as the outer is lubed inside (which SP41 is).

Buy the outer off a reel for the length you want (or plenty more than you need so you have a read supply for the future). Way better value than pre-cut length packs.

Look after the ferrules though and get the cable length and angle to shifter right. Odd angles bend at the shifter and the ferrule splits, then the crud gets in and the outer frays and rusts up.

Shimano with the sealed ferrules are as good as cables get. You may not notice an improvement straight away but they will still be working smoothly in a few months time. Cheap ones can corrode after one ride if you put the bike away wet.
I have tried all sorts of fancy expensive cables and have ended back up with shimano.

IMO once you get above the crap, there’s no real difference in day 1 feel. But that soon changes in use. I use Shimano, the sealing really does make a difference and the outers seem pretty forgiving of contamination anyway. I bought a couple of full sets years ago and now I just reuse parts and add an occasional few metres of outer to a mail order.

Inners, afaic anything stainless is fine. I bought a million cheapo Clarks stainless inners from CRC a while back and still using them up, if there’s a difference between these and top end inners made out of woven unicorn pubes, I can’t tell.

The clarks premium stuff is basically xtr and does the job nicely, always cheap at Halfords

ive got a clarks kit and the left over bits of an xtr kit and while the inners are black thats about the only similarity. The outers of the clark are much much stiffer and the inners not as well finished.

Forgive me for jumping on the back of this but are there any inners that are thinner than the others (or outers that have a wider inner)??

My remote lockout on my Fox forks is really slow to return to the open position and I’m wondering if its the cable that has too much friction

SP41 and XTR cables is the standard answer isn’t it?

never let me down

What is the go to for compressionless brake cable? Its for cable discs….

Shimano and many other cables are 1.2mm
SRAM ones are 1.1