Cable stop size and style have changed over the years. I accredit Shimano and their early indexing systems in making most all cable stops the same (WRT the casing and ferrules). Before this it was typical that each brand had their take on this simple part. Casing end ferrules weren't the standard when I started wrenching (1973), we would cut the spiraled casing (what we call brake casing today) as clean as possible and that was it. Just fit it into the stop. We felt that the nicer stops held the casing tighter, and remember that without any low friction liners (who here remembers Wescon cables) the casing OD was often less too. But not to any industry agreed on size. Schwinns had the skinniest casings of most and today when I fit the 5mm lined brake casing on an old Varisty I have to trim back the outer plastic coating for the length of the stop (although, now, I do grind the ends flat whenever I can) because the OEM stops are too small for the full casing OD.


Every good service shop should have a few treys/organizers/spill bottles of the common ferrules. Good wrenches save the odd extra ferrules that come with cables as well as odd ones that come off service bikes. This is exactly where your LBS exists. So you can take your bike to them and find out what ones will work. Then, of course, that social contract you agreed to when you interact with the outside world says you should buy the right ones. With known right ones in hand you can measure the various elements of the ferrule and order dozens to get the best price each. When customers buy cables/casing from us we usually just give them a handful of ferrules and end crimps. Andy