I’ve always bitten the bullet and bought oem cables and brake pads, even though the prices are a real wallet stretcher . The cables I changed purely as a precaution, nothing wrong with them, just didn’t want a failure to spoil any trip I might be on. Buy cheap, buy twice is still relevant I think. Plus the fact the job has to be done twice.
As for brake pads, i've used SBS Ceramic on the rear and Galfer on the front for ages, which have both served me very well. But i couldn't find the Galfer pads at a sensible price last time so gave the Street 634HS SBS pads a go for the front after reading advice on here over the years and i must confess i'm liking them a lot so will stick with them from now on. They were even cheaper than the Galfer pads too, which was a nice bonus.
Little update on the SBS front pads. As a pad, brilliant, in wet or dry, I can't fault them in that respect.
Thing is, I always used to harp on about how good the Galfer pads were and how they lasted ages but at the same time they barely made a mark on the discs, they were extremely disc friendly.
I've had the SBS pads on for just short of 6 months and unfortunately they've very noticeably eaten into my after market discs.
Once I'd cleaned the dirt off the pads they looked like they were brand new, in fact they looked no different to when I took them out of the packet.
I was doing my pre-winter caliper service and my pistons were absolutely fine, so it would seem that the pads are just a harder composite than the discs.
Bit of a shame, 'cos as I said, the pads work brilliantly in all conditions but when compared to the Galfer pads the disc wear is massively different in comparison.
Because I service my calipers once or twice a year it is something I check so I spotted it straight away.
I'll keep an eye on it but I can see me changing them some time next year as pads are much cheaper than discs.