Finishing cables..

[wafter]

I know the usual approach is to cut to length and crimp on cable ends, however I'm less keen as this usually requires cutting them off if the cable inner needs to be removed for any reason.

I've read of soldering the ends to prevent them fraying; however I've not had much success with this (maybe I'm doing it wrong).

I'm interested to hear any thoughts or experiences the good folk of CC might have on this subject - ta

 

[roley poley]

I use spoke nipples on the cable ends and find them easy to pull off gripping the head with pliers...still need to trim a few mill of splay at times

 

[ColinJ]

I'm interested to hear any thoughts or experiences the good folk of CC might have on this subject - ta

I once didn't have a cable end available after fitting a new cable but I wanted to go out on the bike so I just hopped on and set off with the end of the cable unprotected. Within an hour the sharp cable ended up stabbing one of my legs...

So, my vote is to use the cable ends!

 

[Ajax Bay]

My approach to OP's dilemma is to leave a new cable a cm long before crimping on a cable end. Then if one needs to remove and rethread a clean snip will leave a nice tight end, which may need a bit of fingertip twisting care.
As it happens I have just done this to replace front and rear (rim) brakes, but using the in-place cables.
A bit of bending sometimes required to make sure there's no interference caused by the FD cable end eg catching shoe/crank.

 

[jay clock]

100 cable ends for next to nothing.. They come off with pliers. Just fit a new one afterwards

 

[cougie uk]

I've used superglue in the past. Helps if you glue before you cut the cable to prevent fraying and then another dab after its cut.

That or cable ends and you can use a nice colour for the bike.

 

[ColinJ]

A bit of bending sometimes required to make sure there's no interference caused by the FD cable end eg catching shoe/crank.

I had an annoying ticking noise on one bike. It took me hours to spot that my right heel was catching the end of the FD cable!

 

[raleighnut]

pliers here too like @roley poley but with one addition, if you squeeze the ends at right angles to the 'crimp' you can get them to fall off and then if you're lucky re-use them.

 

[presta]

If you pinch the nipple across the opposite axis to the one you crimped it on, it'll open back up, and you can just take it off again. Soft solder won't take to stainless steel.

 

[wonderloaf]

Heat shrink sleeving?

 

[biggs682]

Leave them raw

 

[T4tomo]

My approach to OP's dilemma is to leave a new cable a cm long before crimping on a cable end. Then if one needs to remove and rethread a clean snip will leave a nice tight end, which may need a bit of fingertip twisting care.
As it happens I have just done this to replace front and rear (rim) brakes, but using the in-place cables.
A bit of bending sometimes required to make sure there's no interference caused by the FD cable end eg catching shoe/crank.

^^this
and this:

cable ends and you can use a nice colour for the bike.

plus matching valve caps!

 

[Sharky]

I had an annoying ticking noise on one bike. It took me hours to spot that my right heel was catching the end of the FD cable!

Me too. And every time you get off the bike to look for the clicking, it stops!

 

[Paulus]

I leave a couple of inches of cable showing so that should I need to remove the cable for any reason there is enough spare to nip off the cable end if it won't pull off.

 

[chriswoody]

Whilst I completely concur with the responses above and also leave my cables slightly long to allow for future possible fettling, if you have money burning a hole in your pocket you could always purchase some cable cherries :

Removable cable end crimps, available in a variety of colours from this site:

https://foragercycles.com/collections/cable-cherries/products/cable-cherries