Brake Cable upgrade

belgiangoth

My bikes all have either their original shop brake cables or cheapo £1.50 cables with buy-by-the-metre cable casing. I'm thinking of upgrading my brake levers on my fixed pompino and thought that at the same time I might upgrade my brake cables, since Sheldon reckons that cables and outers have a big effect.
I've looked about and it looks like I have a choice between sticking to my £3 brake cables/outers or splashing out about £20. While I would consider spending that much (as I could upgrade the front brake on two bikes and not worry about rear brakes) I would rather have some suggestions as opposed to buying at random.
Any thoughts?

belgiangoth

Okay, narrow it down then
A - stick with the cheap
B - Gore Ride On
C - Nokons

From a quick lookabout it looks like A or B.

Pokerface

Nokons look really cool and DO aid in shifting/braking - but not really worth the money.

I use the Gore Ride-On cables and they are great. Last forever and are smooth as silk.

But you won't really 'gain' anything from upgrading your cables. It's more of a personal preference. Good cables DO last longer though.

I recommend the Gore as option 1 for you.

nicklouse

just use stainless steel inners and outers.

belgiangoth

Right, so pads/levers is the way to go, just check that the cables are oiled and in good working order.

Any suggestions as to good pads for a road bike? I would opt for kool stop dual compounds, but this bike won't be out in rain.

Pokerface

Swiss Stop pads are the best I've ever used. Just get the right compound for your wheels.

Monty Dog

Planet-X are doing i-link cables for a bit less than Nokons - interlocking aluminium outer sections with a liner - just fitted some to my new cross bike and it's possible to have fully closer cable runs for the brakes and gears if you run the inner sleeve for the length of the open sections. I've got a set of Nokons on my race bike which haven't needed any maintenance for 4 years because of the way they're set up.