at the moment, the levers are just a little too far away. From the brake hood position, naturally - only the er end section of my fingers are able to pull on the lever (not the ends of the levers, but nearer the top center) which is not quite enough leverage when I need to brake hard.

Ideally the levers would be a centimetre or two closer, which I think would solve the problem...

Do I need proper bike cable cutters (such as the Park branded ones) or will any generic cable cutter do? Or leave it to the pros...(..even though I'd quite like to learn...)