Bicycle Mechanics - Cable Ends

How do you all dress your cable ends? My choice method is using fingernail polish.......it's clean and prevents cable ends from fraying.

solder the ends..

i just let it fray usually. then i wrap it back up if I need to and can. or I replace it when it's time. but I also leave more hanging out and wrap a few circles of it.

but if I didn't do that I would use spoke nipples and crimp them on.

Where can I get those crimp on deals for cables?

Originally posted by Chi
Where can I get those crimp on deals for cables?

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product.asp?number=06001

i use bits of chewing gum. read it in a magazine few months ago forgot which..

I have used the little crimp on things and little bits of heat-shrink tubing.

That's disgusting, tFUnK :p !!

Thanks for the info on the crimpies. :)

A bike shop will give you some but don't get greedy, they cost us six cents a piece. Who believes it for a little piece of alluminum, surprised me the first time I ever looked at the packing slip.

Didn't hurt my feelings to pay my LBS 10 cents each. I would like to see him stay open!:D

Use duck tape..cut to
specs works good takes
a bit of fussin thou?;)

The LBS here seems to make very good deals on the big stuff. So I see where the dime evens out. I also don't mind paying, because of all the free advice he has given me.

I hate to buy something from a big dept store where the people selling "stuff" don't know beans about it, how it's used, or how to adjust and maintain the "stuff" you just paid for!

I know what you mean about 25 cents worth of free stuff, but wally world has never given me anything except those blue plastic bags!

I give them away, but I have had people expect to get a lifetime supply(Hand full) and get offended when when I ask for a buck.

My biggest gripe about buying cables online is that you can't get just a few cable ends from most sources. Nashbar will sell you 150 for $10.00, and you have to buy 2 batches ($20 total) if you want both derailleur and brake ends. My LBS will give them away if you spend $5 on a cable, but that means I'm paying $3.70 for a cable end because Nashbar is selling cables for $1.29. I also don't think it's right to ask the LBS for free cable ends for cables bought online. If I ran an LBS, I wouldn't even sell cable ends--I'd just give them away to people who bought cables from me

What would be helpful is if Nashbar, Performance and others would throw in one or two cable ends with each cable. I'd be happy even if they raised their price a bit to cover it.

P.S. I know I am resurrecting a long dead thread, but I thought it was better than starting a new one just for my rant.

A wrap of duct tape or a big booger.

What kind of solder will work on cable ends?

Silver solder.

I've since abandoned my long time method of choice of using fingernail polish. I'm back to using the old crimp on cable ends.

What brought on the switch, out of curiosity, back to cable ends?

Nashbar will sell you 150 for $10.00, and you have to buy 2 batches ($20 total) if you want both derailleur and brake ends.

Nah - just buy the brake ones. That 0.2mm size difference doesn't make a difference when crimping...

Excell sells the cable ends and housing ferrules in packs of ten.

Excell sells the cable ends and housing ferrules in packs of ten.....and the handling and shipping?

What kind of solder will work on cable ends?

Any solder will work with a little plumbers flux and a big enough iron.

SS

Any solder will work with a little plumbers flux and a big enough iron.

SS

Off topic, but, SS, you ever do any roadie stuff with BLN down in Norman? Ride with OEF? I'm from Norman originally (OU Class of 99 as well, for the record) and get back there for a few weeks in the summers most years.

Off topic, but, SS, you ever do any roadie stuff with BLN down in Norman? Ride with OEF? I'm from Norman originally (OU Class of 99 as well, for the record) and get back there for a few weeks in the summers most years.

I was a pure roadie until a few years ago. Now I ride about 99% road. I live on the north side of OKC so Norman is 50 miles or so. I ride a lot of OBS rides. And I do the Norman Conquest, Streak and Redbud Classic every year. The bike is off right now being painted OU metallic red with old Sting-Ray type decals. If you ride any around here this summer look for a OU red MTB with street tires. That will be me.

SS

I missed the Conquest last year, but did the route with some guys the weekend before.

Oh, and Boomer Sooner!

I bet you can find generic ends at a good hardware store. or some kind of small cable crimp.

or, you can use aluminum spoke nipples. not sure what is cheaper, ends or nipples.

but it seems like there would be a use for them outside of the bike industry, therefore you should be able to get them at a hardware store....

I use the cable ferrules (I think that's the right term), that come standard on most new bikes.

I just use the caps.

Just the little crimp on bullets for me

Liquid plastic

Liquid electrical tape. Plus, you can get it in different colors if that's your thing.

Acrylic paint.

superglue is real good and real cheap.

Now I posted this very thread over a year and a half ago and someone just brought it back up. Now I'm getting all sorts of great ideas on this round. Nice...

Now I posted this very thread over a year and a half ago and someone just brought it back up. Now I'm getting all sorts of great ideas on this round. Nice...Not like there is any rocket science involved here. But I kinda like the fingernail polish as you could color corodinate and even add sparkles for extra chi-chi, or go gol-in-the-dark. Anodized spoke nipples would be good for extra bling too.

Nothing. It's not a thorough bike cleaning until I've poked a finger with a frayed cable strand. :p

if I dont have any little metal cable end things I just dip the end of the cable in some super glue (cyanoacrylate)

Nothing. It's not a thorough bike cleaning until I've poked a finger with a frayed cable strand. :p
I don't mind poking a finger, it's ripping my tights that I'm concerned about.

Regular solder and flux will NOT work on Stainless Steel cables...

I use the aluminum cable caps and keep them on it not with crimping but w/ good hot melt glue. Then, because I am so cheap, I can remove them (w/ a heat gun) and reuse them by either drilling the glue out w/ a small drill bit or re-heating them w/ the heat gun.

This also works for teflon coated cables if you use the good glue sticks.

This also does not "crush" the end of the cable if you have to re-thread it through the housing later.

The finished cap also looks "prettier".

I know its freaky but you asked...

www.bicycletoolsetc.com sells crimp-on cable ends in packages of 25 for $1.50.

Heat shrink tubing works great for this, and is easy to remove when needed.