Ah, the wonderful world of Inventory!

Derailer cables, like road and mtb brake cables, are in my fair estimation, best bought as one ended, stainless steel, boxes of 100. This should cost about 60cents per cable. It is about half as much to buy galvinized cables, but they suck. Since our type of customers certainly aren't going to replace cables as a yearly ritual, we might as well have them use good cables and housing (plastic lined) so that in 3 years the cables are still useful.

Yes, you need to have a distributor (and do all the neccessary leg work beforehand) in order to do this. You then will have to start paying sales tax if applicable in your state.

My reccomendation: buy a stainless steel 'POP' which is a kit of derailer and brake cables, all typical types, SIS housing, Brake Housing, a sweet box of different ferrule types, cable noodles, cable tips, etc, and even brake pads! In all we got a deal from J&B daily special (20-25% off) and paid some $420 for this setup, Clarks brand. We charge 1.50 for cables, 50cents/ft for brake housing, and $1/ft for sis housing. 4.50/pair for mtb brake pads, etc.

I'm interested if this thread might develop into different shop choices for what inventory we stock for our customers and why, how much we charge, etc.

We have invested heavilly in new inventory to supplement what we lack in used parts and it has signficantly paid off in terms of quality of service to our patrons, but admittedly, has been a huge pain in the ass and taken lots of lots of work hours and our budget (negative cash flow situation for those of you bussiness savy folk).

best from SB

Ed, Bici Centro

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 7:23 AM, rachael spiewak <rachael@sopobikes.org> wrote:
Does anyone have a preferred brand or source for a filebox of universal (double ended) derailleur cables.  We're *this close* to having a distributor account, which will probably solve the problem, but in the meantime, our people, they need to shift gears.  One source we use sends them individually bagged, which is dumb (we reuse the bags, of course, but we don't need that many).  JensonUSA and BikepartsUSA are lacking in photos and descriptions, and when I call them, they give me different information from the people at Pyramid and Jagwire.

I'm starting to think that the world is consipring against DIY bike repair, also made evident by the complete elusiveness of Park Tool FR-2 in this town.  One retailer asked why in the world we might need that tool...it's for OLD bikes.  Well you see, sir...

Anyway, any info on a filebox of 2-ended shifter cables would be marvelous.

-rachael

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Ed France
Bici Centro
601 E. Montecito St.
Santa Barbara, Ca 93103
310 936 0857
Bici Centro is a project of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition