How long does your cable's last

[Ming the Merciless]

this cheap bloke uses a spoke nipple crimped on as a cable cap ...loads in a match box from old smashed up wheels

Don‘t your nipples chafe over time?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The caps are cheap as chips. Just crimp them on, job done.

 

[theclaud]

I've wrapped PVC electrician's tape round cut cable ends to stop them fraying before now. Despite certain disparaging comments from @theclaud, it actually works. The trick is to do it before the wire strands start to unravel.

The very idea!

Hello Wobblers, BTW. Hope all's well!

 

[theclaud]

I wouldn't bother too much about the claud's comments on bike maintenance/life/politics/gender politics/cookery/animal husbandy/carpentry whatever though anyway.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Super glue followed by a blob of babybel rind wrapped in insulating tape. Jobs a goodun

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Super glue followed by a blob of babybel rind wrapped in insulating tape. Jobs a goodun

Bodgers & Sons Ltd lives on…

 

[cheys03]

My current favourite for preventing frayed inners is using a short length of 2mm internal diameter heat-shrink electrical insulation. Fit over the cable while the end is still neat, heat to shrink and job done. The brave can lick the forefinger and thumb to ‘crimp’ the excess together with a pinch while it’s still hot. Any excess is easily trimmed with a pair of scissors. Weight saving too 🙂
It might not be the ‘done thing’ but it works for me and uses stuff I already keep in stock for other projects.

I’ve only had one inner gear cable fail, never a brake cable (but most of my bikes use hydraulic to be fair).
The gear cable broke as is common, in the drop bar brifter. No doubt punished by the tight turns inside.

 

[keithmac]

I suppose you could use heat shrink?.

 

[MichaelW2]

The rear gear cable on my Bob Jackson tourer breaks prematurely under the botton bracket. Instead of a continuous metal or plastic cable guide it has two braze ons that put a kink in the angle.

 

[tyred]

Heat shrink user here too. It's the best I think. Soldering is great but only on galvanised cables.

 

[Blue Hills]

Heat shrink user here too. It's the best I think. Soldering is great but only on galvanised cables.

are heatshrink tubes strong enough to hold the strands?

 

[tyred]

are heatshrink tubes strong enough to hold the strands?

In my experience yes.

 

[Dogtrousers]

What's the problem with soft metal cable end caps? (apart from the fact I can never find any when I need them)

I'm not knocking other methods, just not seeing a problem with the default.

 

[Blue Hills]

What's the problem with soft metal cable end caps? (apart from the fact I can never find any when I need them)

I'm not knocking other methods, just not seeing a problem with the default.

not unknown for them to come off - and once they do can be a hell of a job to get the strands into a new one.
If you like the caps I recommend you bulk buy a fair old few from the bay or wherever.
Best way to buy cables as well. I have a workshop box of gear cables. So not tempted to keep ones on the bike/s past their best.

 

[Ajax Bay]

not unknown for them to come off - and once they do can be a hell of a job to get the strands into a new one.
If you like the caps I recommend you bulk buy a fair old few from the bay or wherever.
Best way to buy cables as well. I have a workshop box of gear cables. So not tempted to keep ones on the bike/s past their best.

OK I'll bite (and am with @Dogtrousers and @Ming the Merciless here).
If not secured (crimped) properly, yes they can come off.
"Hell of a job"? ". . . near impossible to get one of those crush-on caps on the end."
Relay the cable strands with fingertips. The hole in a cable end is 50+% larger than the cable diameter. Poke it! If a challenge: cut a few mm off, to a 'clean' end'.
Cable ends are best bought 10 at a time at your LBS. How many are you likely to 'get through' in a year (personal use)?
How do you decide when gear cables are "past their best"?