Re:
bike shop mechanic hat on:-
not a fan of jagwire, they're ok-ish, had some issues a while back before i had my own shop, OE jagwire cables where the gears kept going out, as if the inner wire was stretching constantly, turned out it was a lack of stiffness in the outer cable meaning that as the cable gets pulled the outer was compressing enough that the gears wouldn't shift properly, especially at the back going up to first or second gear.
also, the cheap inners won't be stainless.
so if you're gonna buy jagwire, aim for the better quality versions with ideally stainless inner cables.
the brand i use in the shop is either Halt cable inner/outer or Elvedes inner/outer, all have stainless inners, and the outer is properly lined. for example for £7 retail you would get an inner cable and enough outer for the length of the inner, plus all the end caps for inner/outer, i have them in both brake and gear options, sometimes there is enough outer cable that means on some bikes you can use one £7 brake or gear pack and add one other inner cable and you can do the whole brake or gear system, just depends on how long each outer needs to be, so worst case £28 gets you all the cables you need front and rear, gear and brake, but quite often it's just £20 as you buy 1 brakes worth and one gears worth then just one gear inner and one brake inner at £3 each.
i've been using them for ages in the shop with no dramas.
that said, when it comes to shimano road i always use a genuine shimano stainless gear inner, as some generic cables have a smaller head which can pop out of the shifter where the head sits, using the proper cable stops this but they are £8 just for the inner! hence only using them where appropriate.
basic rule though, buy quality cables, makes a big difference to the smoothness of the shift, makes the lever feel nicer under load and they ladt longer.
