Frayed cables after cutting.

Retro1702

Help - getting braver with my mechancial skills and decided to replace my brake cables.
Any clue as to why the cables fray after I cut them?
Bad technique or just crappy cheap (non bike specific) cable cutters?

moonshine

crappy cheap (non bike specific) cable cutters

Retro1702

Any recommendations for specific cable cutters on a budget then?
Not Park Tool £40 ones...

harpo

cause you don't put these on?
http://www.bonthronebikes.co.uk/cable-end-tidy-brake

Tallyho

If the wires ping apart after cutting, it's easy to just twist them again in the right direction until they close up again enough to slip a stop ferrule over. Twist the ferrule again in the right direction to tighten up and pinch it flat with pliers. Done.

Berk Bonebonce

Your cable cutters are no good. You have to spend about £20 on cable cutters for them to be any good. I got some VAR 990 ones.

prawny

seriously just get the park ones. You can buy some cheap ones first it'll be cheaper in the long run just gettin the park ones. I'm on a really tight budget but 20 difference isn't a lot for the best.

andyrr

Got the Ice Toolz one s a few years back - around £15 - 20 and worked fine for my home usage, inners and outers.

Monty Dog

Wrap a piece of electrical tape around the cable where you want to cut it - keeps the ends together. The important thing with cutters is they need to be sharp and have a scissor-action - most wire cutters are useless. You can get Bowden cable cutters from a tool shop - but just as pricey as bike ones.

k-dog

I bought a set of the Park ones almost 20 years ago and they've been great - perfect cuts every time.

You can get some cheaper ones - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=10187 - I've got some other stuff from that company and it's decent - not like Park but half the price.

Rodrego Hernandez

Cutting close to where the cable is held by the brake / mech can result in a fray if the clamp has squashed the cable. Decent wire cutters won't make a difference, it just happens but is easily remedied - undo the cable clamp and twist the cable and put a cap on it.

sheffsimon

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

Your cable cutters are no good. You have to spend about £20 on cable cutters for them to be any good. I got some VAR 990 ones.

Nope, just get some electricians side cutters - £10 ish - suitable for steel (some only good for copper). Use em myself for inners and outers, and at work for cutting cables.

giant_man

prawny wrote:

seriously just get the park ones. You can buy some cheap ones first it'll be cheaper in the long run just gettin the park ones. I'm on a really tight budget but 20 difference isn't a lot for the best.

+1

onbike 1939

harpo wrote:

cause you don't put these on?
http://www.bonthronebikes.co.uk/cable-end-tidy-brake

The problem with these is that they required to be compressed and this is a problem. When removed the cable strands are flattened and this prevents the cable passing through the outer. A better idea is to use thermal shrink plastic and a hair-dryer or Heat Gun. This holds the strands without fraying them and is easily removed.
If one inserts a short length of waste cable in the outer before cutting, this prevents flattening. I find a Dremel-type tool perfect for this purpose.

moonshine

giant mancp wrote:

prawny wrote:

seriously just get the park ones. You can buy some cheap ones first it'll be cheaper in the long run just gettin the park ones. I'm on a really tight budget but 20 difference isn't a lot for the best.

+1

+2 they are a revelation - no more frayed ends!

Nigel Bennett

I've a set of cutters that do the job OK but mostly I use a Dremel with a cutting disc. Having cut the cable, I heat the end up with some flux on it and braze it up with a tiny bit of silver-solder. Nice neat end that doesn't fray and that will slide through the cable outer without having to faff about removing silly ferrules.

onbike 1939

Nigel Bennett wrote:

I've a set of cutters that do the job OK but mostly I use a Dremel with a cutting disc. Having cut the cable, I heat the end up with some flux on it and braze it up with a tiny bit of silver-solder. Nice neat end that doesn't fray and that will slide through the cable outer without having to faff about removing silly ferrules.

Yo do this with stainless steel cables? In my experience this takes some doing. Fine with the non- s/s cables though.

White Line

When the cable end still looks nice slide it in a tube of superglue ( just enough to cover the end). Looks even neater than soldering.

Wappygixer

Park cable cutters or Shimano which is what I use at work.I use Park at home.Both are as good as it gets really.
If you want some on a budget then the Lifeline ones from Wiggle are pretty good.

freehub

I don't see frayed cable ends cause I put an end cap on.

Nigel Bennett

Silver-soldering stainless steel cables is no problem if you use the right flux - I use Johnson Matthey's Tenacity 5.

johnny2legs

I splashed out on the Parktools cutters. Well worth it imo

Retro1702

Going to get some Park ones, decision made.

rake

if youve got some wire cutters or pliers or similar, place the cable in the teeth with one handle of the cutters placed on a solid (concrete) floor and hit the other handle together firmly with a hammer. even if the cutters are a bit ropey it should slice straight through. because it happens so fast there isnt any time or the cable to be squashed hence a clean cut.