On my drop bar mountain bike.
What do you recommend for slick shifting (shimano 105 doubles 10 speed)and smooth braking ( bb7's)

Cheers
Mike

Shimano SP41 for gears.

Jagwire Pro Road compressionless for the BB7s. The bendy tubes under the bar tape make a massive difference.

Cheers for that.

My LBS reckon 10spd is probably the worst of all Shimano groupsets for suffering from cable friction, and recommend the super duper fancy coated inner cables, at least for the rear.

I used bar end shifters in the past. Front was fine but rear gears were a real struggle to change. I'm hoping the move away from bar end shifters and using quality cables will make the experience a more pleasant one