Meh.

I love the idea of soldering the ends.

It's always talked about, but I've never done it. Think I will the next time I have the opportunity, though.

In the grand scheme of all the work many/most of us do on bikes ... this one sounds like very little incremental effort, but with functional benefits AND an elegant beauty.

Plus ... the aerodynamic advantages are HUGE and obvious

Alright, I see I'm about to be out-voted here, but for the record you are all crazy! Now, I'm going to go replace all my cables.

Soldering is that extra step that no one really notices, except the rider. Sure it takes me some minutes to gather the soldering iron, solder, flux and heat up the iron, solder the end, let the iron cool and put it all away. But it's like the cherry on the fudge over whipped cream on the ice cream over the banana. I hate those candied cherries, but I'd feel gyped without it.

I hate the crimp-on ends; as soon as you need to remove the cable they're useless. Plus they look cheap and nasty.

If you've spent the coin on quality stainless cables, it's worth looking after them - this includes getting hold of some appropriate solder and finishing the end once they're cut to length... that way they'll last years, and be a joy to service. It's simply the Right Way.

Never mind buying a torch though; a gas stove will work fine.

Also, for cutting housings, you can't beat an angle grinder. Especially for the multi-stranded gear cable housing. Traditional housings can be cut with sidecutters or whatever, but it's a good move to grind or file the end flat.

+1

The first trick is to use galvanized, rather than stainless steel, cables. It solders much more easily.

My second trick is to solder the area where I PLAN to cut the cable. Then I cut through the soldered area.