The Golden Boy 

I'm of the opinion that new, modern cables and housing- even the cheap ones- are better than the "back in the day" stuff.

For indexing- it's LEAGUES better. For friction... if it works, it works. I actually used some NOS cable and housing made for an old indexing system for a friction shifting setup. It's fine. I like it for the "vintage" uniqueness of it- otherwise- I lubed 'em up and let 'em go and it shifts fine.

As far as tires (and brake pads)- it's not the wear- it's the aging of the rubber. I had a really cool set of Specialized Ground Control tires- they were quite the ticket back in the day. They looked fine to me. I was riding them and one day I looked down to see a "thumb" sticking out of the sidewall of my front tire. The rubber had cracked and the strands went apart and the innertube just jutted right out. It still looked fine- not dry rotted or whatever... but it was.

I also had a set of Specialized Expedition and Touring tires- REALLY cool. Really plush. But I was afraid of riding them any more than 5 miles away from home- I sent them on with a bike because of the uniqueness factor- with a warning to replace them if he was going to do any real riding.