What are those things called that go on the end of the cables?

[purplemoon]

....when was the last time you saw a bird in a bike shop???

There's a lovely young woman working in my LBS

 

[joebe]

I've just found pink ones on ebay........

 

[Amanda P]

Cable ends, or young women?

 

[HLaB]

That reminds me I replaced my front brake last week and I need some of those cable things.

 

[MartinC]

There are alternatives to cable crimps.

You can get 2.5mm tubular shrink insulation from places like Maplins. Pop a 1cm piece of this over the cable end and shrink it with a cigarette lighter. When you take it off (easy) for whatever reason the cable hasn't been squashed by crimping a cable cap on.

You can solder the ends. You won't be able to solder the stainless steel cable but the solder will hold the strands together.

Cable caps do give the cables a non sharp/scratchy end though.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

There's a lovely young woman working in my LBS

..which shop do you work in?

If you still need cable end caps / crimps send me a PM and I'll post you some

Thanks for the very kind offer howeevr I'm going past the lbs in an hour so I'll pick some up on my way.

 

[purplemoon]

..which shop do you work in?

I don't work there!

But the shop in question is http://www.reveloutdoors.co.uk/

 

[palinurus]

You can solder the ends. You won't be able to solder the stainless steel cable but the solder will hold the strands together.

I used to do that. I'd pre-cut my cables to the right length, take them to work, dip them in some engineering flux and pop the ends in a solder bath. Smooth off with emery paper then fit. I didn't think it would work when I first tried it, somehow it does.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I don't work there!

'twas supposed to be a compliment!

 

[purplemoon]

'twas supposed to be a compliment!

Whoops!

 

[Mr Pig]

Just a thought. Could you not solder the end of the cable together? A lick of solder into the part you're cutting would also stop it fraying wouldn't it?

I've nevber had a problem as I've always managed to cut them without fraying

 

[ColinJ]

If you have a decent pair of cable cutters you can slice straight through cables without them fraying. It's a good idea to put those nipple things on though to stop them fraying later.

The main reason for covering the ends of cables is that they can make nasty weapons in a crash. Once your leg has been stabbed by the end of a cable you won't leave one unprotected again!

Incidentally, the same principle applies to handlebar ends. If you don't put plugs in handlebars, a bar end can act just like an apple corer. You don't want that...

If you don't believe me, read this horror story - yikes !

 

[Mr Pig]

If you don't put plugs in, a bar end can act just like an apple corer.

Yes, in theory, but what are the chances of your handle bars falling on an apple?

 

[TheDoctor]

I've seen an 'apple-cored' leg, and I never, ever want to see another.

Halfords (yes, I know...) sell cable ends. £1.99 for a pack of 10 IIRC

 

[02GF74]

^^^ wot he said - shrink fit - lighter too.

or yoou could just wrap insulation tape over the end.