Cable Cutters Recommendation?

two wheels good

Hi

I'd like a recommendation for a cable cutters. Is there a general cutters, for example an electricians, I can look for in my local tool shop instead of a dedicated bicycle tool.
Is there any specific feature about a bicycle cable cutters I should not do without

Thanks

davey101

Just get a good pliers. Works fine for me.

tomasrojo

There's a gap in the metal of the tool to allow you to crimp end-caps. Not sure if that's the only difference. I suppose any tool that allows you to make a clean cut without distortion will do.

Morgan

Just make sure you get a cross-cut wire cutters like this:


not one of these, which will just squash cables and housing.

Lumen

tomasrojo wrote: »

There's a gap in the metal of the tool to allow you to crimp end-caps.

I've taken to using superglue on my cable ends. It has several advantages.

SurferDude41

My choice of cable cutter is Shimano,
I used to work as a shop mechanic, used in bike shops everywhere.
Mine is over twenty years old now, still as sharp as a Samurai Sword:D

http://harriscyclery.net/merchant/370/images/large/TL6025a.jpg

andy69

guy in a bike shop told me to just get a cheapo one from Aldi or BnQ....use it the once/twice, as the surface is of course brand new, and just throw it out then.
got one for less than a tenner and it worked great. i just keep it now for any general household stuff, but for the next set of bike cables i need to cut, i'll just pick up another one (mind you, i'd only go through cables once a year, so this approach might not work for everyone of course!)

langdang

Used one of these for years - sharp and hard so it will last. One clean cut rather than the death by mangling that cheapo cutters perform on cable outers.
I got a very good deal on the price tho...

nak

We have the old version of the Park Tool cable cutter http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7202

It has lasted years, well worth the money.

seamus

+1 on the park tools.

Any good pair of wire snips will work fine on inner cables and brake cable outers. If you have enough fine motor control, they'll also do just fine for crimping the end caps.

However you need a proper pair of cross-cutters for gear cable outer. Plain old wire cutters will make a mess of it.

studiorat

Half the price of the Park Tools and BB one.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=10187

Oh Yeah! And Solder the cable ends!

doozerie

I've had the old Park Tool version for years and it has been very good. Apparently the newer version linked to above is more robust again (I've read of people breaking the older version but I've never come close to damaging mine). I've seen the newer one for under 30euro on some sites a while back so you may find it at a bargain price if you are lucky.

But whatever the brand you choose, any decent cutters are a worthwhile investment. As already mentioned a few times, cheap or inappropriate cutters will crush the inner cables and cause them to unravel and you may find that you can't feed them through outer cables/frame housings/brakes/derailleurs afterwards. And when cutting outer cables poor cutters will crush them too and you may have to spend some time opening them up again afterwards (depends on the construction of the outer cable). Those are hassles that I prefer to avoid. I got by for years on a pair of old wire cutters and when you hit the jaws with a hammer they cut through inner and outer cables cleanly most of the time, but on the odd occasion when they didn't give a clean or effective cut they caused me serious headaches and turned what should have been a quick job into a slow and tedious one. I've never had any problems at all with my Park Tool cutters and given they have lasted for several years now and look like lasting many years more they have proved to be great value, and certainly preferable to throwing a cheap pair into landfill every now and again.

Hermy

andy69 wrote: »

guy in a bike shop told me to just get a cheapo one from Aldi or BnQ....use it the once/twice, as the surface is of course brand new, and just throw it out then.

False economy - very wasteful and bad advise in my opinion.
Far better to spend money once on a quality wire cutter which you can use again and again.

victorcarrera

The cross cut or overlapping type are better than the side cutters.
If you only have a side cutters it needs to be strong because the cables are.
If you squash the outer cable it can easily be opened again with a small philips screwdriver or similar. If the inner cables start to fray they can be twisted back into position again. I think the superglue is a good idea and worth a try.

kenmc

A small cold-chisel and one good belt of a hammer is better than a side-snips in an emergency, but a proper cable cutter is the best - right tool for the right job and all that...