Gear Cable failure - on the road

[Ajax Bay]

I 've got a pair of Draper Expert cutters that cost about £10

At home I use these Draper Expert wire-rope-or-spring-wire-cutter and they do the business. Still <£10.
But having broken an FD cable last weekend I am looking at the issue of whether, on a long ride that it's important (to you) to finish, carrying a spare gear cable (and a brake cable) is prudent and worth the weight. I used to carry a spare cable but it dropped below the threshold of items to carry. But that also begs the question: what about cable cutters. If you're lucky the parted cable can be removed from the outer by just pulling, even if it has frayed at the end, and last weekend I was able to do this (and use the lower limit screw to push the chain onto the middle chainring). It was Saturday so 50km further on I was able to buy a cable and fit it. But I would not have been so lucky later in the day or on the Sunday (maybe).
And "yes" I should have replaced the gear cable before it broke. (Btw, I think the tension/force required in the FD cable, because of the angle of the FD 'arm' to the (down pull) cable, is much greater (? x 3) than the tension in the RD cable - so the FD cable is more likely to break ceteris paribus.)
I could not countenance carrying the cable cutters linked above: they are too heavy and too bulky. I'm carrying a chain splitter which weighs 83g but what is more likely: a broken chain or a broken cable?
Does anyone have recommendations for effective but lightweight and as small as possible cable cutters one could carry?
Alternatively, are there on the road repairs which would be more effective?
Gear cables are most likely to break either in the STI/Ergo (1) or at the lock nut (2).
1) A break in the STI can be a so-and-so to sort out as the wire frays and you can struggle to get the now very short end bit out of the 'anchor' in the STI (even having it clicked to 'nil'). I carry a stout but suitable calibre safety pin which can help poke it out, as well as being an aid to removing unwanted items from the surface of tyres (and no doubt other uses eg temporary clothing mends).
2) A break at the lock nut is more straightforward though sometimes the wire will fray on parting so badly that it'll be difficult to pull through the outer (hence my question above). But if one carried a spare length of cable, is there an effective assured means of joining it to the cable that is now too short to do its job. Is a reef knot and tape over sufficient? And for a brake cable? Or can you get cable connectors that can eg screw into/onto the two bits of cable to be joined. For an FD cable this would be under the down tube: for an RD this would be under the chainstay.

 

[DCLane]

On longer 300k+ audaxes I'll carry a spare gear and brake cable. I also tend to carry one brake pad. Some electrical tape can be used to stick the extra cable bit together.

 

[Drago]

I carry spares. Unless you're like 8% body fat or something, the few ounces of the cables is irrelevant.

 

[TheDoctor]

I'd just carry spare cables. Although I can't remember the last time I broke a cable.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I'll carry a spare gear and brake cable

I carry spares.

I'd just carry spare cables.

Cable cutter for the tools/spares bag recommendation, then? Or do you all assume that they will not be needed and the excess wire can just be wound up into a tight multi-loop and taped secure?

 

[Drago]

Wrapped in a cloth with a few other bots and bobs, cable ties, a bit of tape etc, stuffed up inside the seat tube on each of my bikes.

 

[Milkfloat]

I would never consider to carry cable cutters - it is simple enough to coil spare cable.

Regarding a chain splitter - if your chain cannot be repaired your ride is over, with a broken gear cable you can easily bodge and continue.

 

[TheDoctor]

I'd just coil the excess up. But even carrying all four cables is lighter than a decent pair of cutters, and there's no point carrying a rubbish pair.
Could always avoid the whole cable thing and ride a fixed. Only one cable to worry about then

 

[Bodhbh]

what is more likely: a broken chain or a broken cable?.

I've had to deal with chain issues on the road several times - either the chain snapped, or links got bent, or it gets jammed and you have to break the chain to fix the problem. I've never had a cable go. My tool kit has a small pair of pliers in it - I wouldn't cut inners with em normally, but i'm sure they're fine for roadside bodges. Or just coil it as others have suggested.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Perhaps I'm being a bit cavalier about this, but surely if you inspect your cables regularly the risk is pretty low? I've only once had a cable break on me (rear derailleur) and I blamed myself for not checking assiduously enough. I suppose you can't very easily inspect inside new fangledy shifters with all their hidden wotnots.

You've got me worried now.

I do, by the way, have a small "Leatherman" style pair of pliers in my kit, that can be useful for all sorts of things, but I think that if I tried to cut a cable with them the result would be a hacky bodge.

 

[Deleted member 35268]

Perhaps I'm being a bit cavalier about this, but surely if you inspect your cables regularly the risk is pretty low? I've only once had a cable break on me (rear derailleur) and I blamed myself for not checking assiduously enough. I suppose you can't very easily inspect inside new fangledy shifters with all their hidden wotnots.

You've got me worried now.

I do, by the way, have a small "Leatherman" style pair of pliers in my kit, that can be useful for all sorts of things, but I think that if I tried to cut a cable with them the result would be a hacky bodge.

You can't always tell if a cable is on the way out. I had one brake in the gear lever and there were no prior warnings. I will add a spare in though, good idea and minimal outlay.

 

[mjr]

I'd just coil the excess cable. Maybe I'll carry cables on my next tour or maybe I'll rely on finding a bike shop nearby. I have snapped a FD cable before - I used the low limit to select middle ring and completed the ride (another 35 miles IIRC). I do check my cables for corrosion occasionally, I guess it's fairly easy to handle one snapped cable and Sod dictates that the cable will snap in a way that's a nuisance to extract the snapped bit. So maybe I'll leave it to shops. I know they're not heavy but I could say that about every individual extra thing and it would add up eventually.

 

[Ajax Bay]

stuffed up inside the seat tube

How do you access the bottom of the seat tube to stuff this little bundle (hopefully never to be used) treasure "up" it? A special Di2 trapdoor?

carrying all four [spare] cables

What are cables three and four used for, please?

My tool kit has a small pair of pliers in it - I wouldn't cut inners with em normally, but i'm sure they're fine for roadside bodges

a small "Leatherman" style pair of pliers in my kit, that can be useful for all sorts of things, but I think that if I tried to cut a cable with them the result would be a hacky bodge.

Suggest you (both) try to cut a(n old) gear cable with them next time you have an opportunity. I used to carry a small pair of pliers, till I realised that they would not 'cut it' (a cable).

surely if you inspect your cables regularly the risk is pretty low? I've only once had a cable break on me (rear derailleur) and I blamed myself for not checking assiduously enough. I suppose you can't very easily inspect inside new fangledy shifters with all their hidden wotnots.

Regular inspection of cables is good practice, and if you see my OP, I admittted a mea culpa this time. I replaced my RD gear cable immediately after the 600, so now both cables are 'new'. "New fangledy shifters" - Certainly others have had to wrap on a ride because the cable broke right at the point where the nipple is attached in the STI and the residue end could not be extracted (see OP).

 

[Drago]

Wrap it in a bit of cloth with a string dangling down, a bit like a ladies sanitary product.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Suggest you (both) try to cut a(n old) gear cable with them next time you have an opportunity. I used to carry a small pair of pliers, till I realised that they would not 'cut it' (a cable).

I wouldn't try to cut a cable with my little pliers, I'd be pretty sure they'd make a mess of it. But they are often useful for other stuff, such as pulling sharp things out of tyres and fixing mudguard problems and the like as well as off bike uses.

You do realise that by publishing this thread you've hexed us all, and our cables are going to start breaking. The only way to prevent this from happening will be for us to carry spares. Then they'll never break.