I bought two sets of Shimano's shift outer caps with nose + tube-type dust caps
that go over them,
which come in sets of 50 pieces each.
In the image above, I've already separated them, but
↑I took ones that came like this
and divided them up
into separate cases.
Actually, I only use the tube-type dust cap part.
With recent frames that claim to be compatible with both electronic and mechanical components but are really designed more for electronic,
they're set up so you can technically build them with mechanical components too.
The shift cable is internal and exits from a hole behind the BB toward the front derailleur,
but when you use a liner, the end of the liner points upward,
and over time fine sand gets in and makes the cable feel sluggish.
I bought a large quantity of just this tube by itself as a cap for that spot a long time ago,
but recently I was running out, so I looked into it
and found that these days they only seem to sell it
in a set with the nose-type shift outer cap,
so I had no choice but to buy the set and divide them up.
I was also grateful it came in this container.
Recently Shimano has been phasing out plastic containers,
so I was worried they might have stopped using this one.
This case is very handy for storing small parts.
Other things sold in the same container
include chain quick links in 50-packs,
but back in the day, Shimano's SM-BH90 disc brake hose
olives and connector inserts in 50-packs each
also came in this container.
These days, this sales format no longer exists,
and it was discontinued on May 14, 2022, exactly one year ago.
There was an ultimate hack for buying olives and inserts at rock-bottom unit prices through this,
but that's no longer possible.
Actually, maybe they caught on to it,
which is why it suddenly disappeared. Damn!
Now olives are sold only in 100-packs
or inserts only in 100-packs,
with olives at ¥3,956 including tax
and inserts at ¥12,409 including tax.
The old 50-pack set at the time it was discontinued was ¥8,932 including tax,
and buying 2 sets to get 100 of each would be ¥17,864,
so you might think the current ¥3,956 + ¥12,409 = ¥16,365 is cheaper—
but there was a way to buy that made it not cheaper.
I won't go into the details.
While looking at the site of a distributor
that's the only one in Japan handling SRAM road components,
I saw there were 2 different types of olive and insert 5-packs,
and I wondered what the difference was, so I sourced both.
SRAM calls olives "fittings"
and inserts "barbs,"
but I'll continue calling them olives and inserts below.
One is part number 11.5378.803.002, which
I'll call "5378" below.
When the last 002 of the part number changes to 004,
it becomes a set of 1 olive and 1 insert,
and when it becomes 003, it's a set of 50 olives and 50 inserts.
The other is part number 11.5018.061.000.
I'll call this one "5018" below.
Contents of the 5378.
If you look at images from a bit earlier, you can see that
Shimano inserts have a shape like a gas valve stopcock
with barbs, and are press-fit onto the hose.
SRAM inserts use a screw-in method with an included torque wrench
onto the hose, and the red olive has a flat end on one side with a directional aspect—
you can't install it on the hose facing the wrong way.
The flat end side has a threaded hole,
and it installs based on the thread relationship with the insert's outer side (the larger thread diameter side) of the hose.
So unlike Shimano, there's no possibility of the olive ending up
slightly floating away from the hose end
when you crimp it.
Contents of the 5018.
In addition to the contents of the 5378,
SRAM's nuts and boots (as the names suggest)
come included, 5 pieces each.
↑Left is 5378, right is 5018.
The reason I thought "what's the difference?" about these two is
they're the same retail price.
Both are ¥5,110 including tax, by the way.
If this became widely known, even if you don't need it,
everyone would just buy the nut and boot-equipped
5018, which is 11.5018.061.000,
and even when 5378 would be sufficient,
people would buy 5018,
which would mean the people who genuinely need
nuts and boots wouldn't be able to get them—
or at least that's what I'm worried about,
so I mainly wanted to tell fellow shop pros:
please don't deliberately buy the 5018 when you don't need it!
Well, a pro shop would probably
just buy the 50-pack, which is the cheapest unit price and only comes in 5378.
Below are the part numbers, pack sizes, and list prices/unit prices including tax:
11.5378.803.004 1 piece ¥1,500／¥1,500
11.5378.803.002 5 pieces ¥5,110／¥1,022
11.5378.803.003 50 pieces ¥20,680／¥413.6
The ¥1,500 for the single pack
is backed out from a ¥1,500 including-tax price,
which comes to ¥1,363 before tax.
I wish they'd just set all the pack sizes to round numbers like this.
By the way, only those of you who are fellow pros
and promise not to deliberately buy the 5018 when you don't need it
are permitted to like this post. Thanks for your understanding!
Update:
↓There's no way there's that many!
that go over them,
which come in sets of 50 pieces each.
In the image above, I've already separated them, but
↑I took ones that came like this
and divided them up
into separate cases.
Actually, I only use the tube-type dust cap part.
With recent frames that claim to be compatible with both electronic and mechanical components but are really designed more for electronic,
they're set up so you can technically build them with mechanical components too.
The shift cable is internal and exits from a hole behind the BB toward the front derailleur,
but when you use a liner, the end of the liner points upward,
and over time fine sand gets in and makes the cable feel sluggish.
I bought a large quantity of just this tube by itself as a cap for that spot a long time ago,
but recently I was running out, so I looked into it
and found that these days they only seem to sell it
in a set with the nose-type shift outer cap,
so I had no choice but to buy the set and divide them up.
I was also grateful it came in this container.
Recently Shimano has been phasing out plastic containers,
so I was worried they might have stopped using this one.
This case is very handy for storing small parts.
Other things sold in the same container
include chain quick links in 50-packs,
but back in the day, Shimano's SM-BH90 disc brake hose
olives and connector inserts in 50-packs each
also came in this container.
These days, this sales format no longer exists,
and it was discontinued on May 14, 2022, exactly one year ago.
There was an ultimate hack for buying olives and inserts at rock-bottom unit prices through this,
but that's no longer possible.
Actually, maybe they caught on to it,
which is why it suddenly disappeared. Damn!
Now olives are sold only in 100-packs
or inserts only in 100-packs,
with olives at ¥3,956 including tax
and inserts at ¥12,409 including tax.
The old 50-pack set at the time it was discontinued was ¥8,932 including tax,
and buying 2 sets to get 100 of each would be ¥17,864,
so you might think the current ¥3,956 + ¥12,409 = ¥16,365 is cheaper—
but there was a way to buy that made it not cheaper.
I won't go into the details.
While looking at the site of a distributor
that's the only one in Japan handling SRAM road components,
I saw there were 2 different types of olive and insert 5-packs,
and I wondered what the difference was, so I sourced both.
SRAM calls olives "fittings"
and inserts "barbs,"
but I'll continue calling them olives and inserts below.
One is part number 11.5378.803.002, which
I'll call "5378" below.
When the last 002 of the part number changes to 004,
it becomes a set of 1 olive and 1 insert,
and when it becomes 003, it's a set of 50 olives and 50 inserts.
The other is part number 11.5018.061.000.
I'll call this one "5018" below.
Contents of the 5378.
If you look at images from a bit earlier, you can see that
Shimano inserts have a shape like a gas valve stopcock
with barbs, and are press-fit onto the hose.
SRAM inserts use a screw-in method with an included torque wrench
onto the hose, and the red olive has a flat end on one side with a directional aspect—
you can't install it on the hose facing the wrong way.
The flat end side has a threaded hole,
and it installs based on the thread relationship with the insert's outer side (the larger thread diameter side) of the hose.
So unlike Shimano, there's no possibility of the olive ending up
slightly floating away from the hose end
when you crimp it.
Contents of the 5018.
In addition to the contents of the 5378,
SRAM's nuts and boots (as the names suggest)
come included, 5 pieces each.
↑Left is 5378, right is 5018.
The reason I thought "what's the difference?" about these two is
they're the same retail price.
Both are ¥5,110 including tax, by the way.
If this became widely known, even if you don't need it,
everyone would just buy the nut and boot-equipped
5018, which is 11.5018.061.000,
and even when 5378 would be sufficient,
people would buy 5018,
which would mean the people who genuinely need
nuts and boots wouldn't be able to get them—
or at least that's what I'm worried about,
so I mainly wanted to tell fellow shop pros:
please don't deliberately buy the 5018 when you don't need it!
Well, a pro shop would probably
just buy the 50-pack, which is the cheapest unit price and only comes in 5378.
Below are the part numbers, pack sizes, and list prices/unit prices including tax:
11.5378.803.004 1 piece ¥1,500／¥1,500
11.5378.803.002 5 pieces ¥5,110／¥1,022
11.5378.803.003 50 pieces ¥20,680／¥413.6
The ¥1,500 for the single pack
is backed out from a ¥1,500 including-tax price,
which comes to ¥1,363 before tax.
I wish they'd just set all the pack sizes to round numbers like this.
By the way, only those of you who are fellow pros
and promise not to deliberately buy the 5018 when you don't need it
are permitted to like this post. Thanks for your understanding!
Update:
↓There's no way there's that many!