ORIGINAL: lmills34
After all the replies, obviously (after market) strings/cables are pretty popular. But do bow shops have a cheap generic string that they usually put on? EXAMPLE: If i walk into a bow shop and ask them to put on a new string, do they have a stock string that's a lot cheaper? Or do they stock a certain brand of the after market strings?
Most shops stock some sort of generic string. Tailor Maid comes to mind. Prices for these can be as low as $10 for a string and roughly $18 for a set of cables for a dual cam and $9 for a single cable. My experience with them has been, well, less than stellar. Creep forever and servings have been loose---really loose.
Tailor Maid has a better string and it costs more, but I have no experience with them.
Most shops will also handle Zebras, too, but these are not a whole lot better except that they empty the wallet almost as much as a decent aftermarket set. Figure something like $32 to $35 for a string. I don't know about the cables as I don't think they are worth bothering with.
My best suggestion is to get a decent aftermarket set and pay to have them put on and set up. Although the initial oulay may be more you'l find that once they are broken in and the tuned it usually stays in tune till the strings are ready to be replaced. That is the major advantage I see to them.