Originally Posted by
dynikus
1. what goes on the end of this spindle to keep the crank arms on? Is it just a big (not sure the size) nut?
Yep, you need a 10x1.25mm flanged serrated nut. Any bike-shop should have plenty in stock.
Be sure to tighten it to 25-30 lb*ft with a torque-wrench. This is amongst the highest-torque fasteners on a bike and you need an automotive-style torque-wrench with at least 12" handle. You get just one chance to tighten this nut and if it's not tight enough, it will eventually fall out and then the cranks will wobble on the square-taper end of the bottom-bracket axle and get gouged to death. Just do a quick search for "loose crankarm" on this board to see how frequent a problem it is.
Originally Posted by
dynikus
2. How do I measure and cut brake cables? I'm thinking cut the small ball thing off the end, run the cables how they would be on the bike, then just cut off however much excess there is. wire cutters and tin snips don't really seem to do the job though, so also how do I cut cables? I'm assuming there's another specialty tool I'm gonna need to buy.
Cables usually come with a ball on one end and a barrel on the other. Cut off the one that you don't need. I find the Shimano cable cutters to be the best. They have higher-leverage than the others and they use thin crescent-shaped blades. This causes them to operate more with a slicing/cutting action than the squeeze & crimping movement of the others. You'll find they cut cable-housing better without crimping and require less after-cut repairs than anything else. The procedure is this:
1. slice off unused end of cable, remove from cable-housing
2. test-fit the housing on the bike. Install in brake-lever and push, do not pull, the housing through the frame-guides to the brakes.. You do not want to stretch out the housing by pulling it through. This will end up elongating the housing which requires compressing whenever you squeeze the brake-lever. Causes excessive lever-squeezing before the brakes actually grabs.
3. make a mark on the housing where it would end on the brake-caliper. Spin our handlebars lock-to-lock on each side to make sure you don't have too-short of cable-housing. All the bends should be gradual and no kinking of the housing anywhere when you sweep the bars fully from side to side. Only once you've confirmed you've got the length determined correct then cut the housing. Look at the cut end to make sure you don't have a crimped curled-in end blocking the inside of the housing. If so, bend it back out with needle-nose pliers.
4. install inner-cable through brake levers, then the cable-housing.
5. clamp cable on brake's fixing-bolt
6. cut off excess, leave about 2" extra beyond the bolt.