10 Ways of Finishing Bicycle Cables

Jim’s Tech Talk

By Jim Langley

Last week we covered the importance of finishing the ends of bicycle cables to prevent fraying, possible injury (the cables can stab you), as well as to give them a tidy professional appearance.

We also highlighted two ingenious new tools for finishing cables, Park Tool’s $29.95 EP-1 End Cap Crimping Pliers (https://amzn.to/3QDKjiQ) and Alligator’s ($999!) Portable Wire Cutter, which cuts and welds the ends of cables. Here’s the article if you missed it: https://www.roadbikerider.com/new-tools-finishing-cables/.

Thinking that a lot of our Facebook followers would be interested in this topic I posted a link to the article there too: https://www.facebook.com/langley.jim/posts/pfbid025PmtZJDdKQPKRmo678Yzvme76WFr3ys8Ebw58yNG9EFZAm79HwRoVWjTnTCZwC3Hl. And straight away, the story went sort of viral.

Great comments and cable finishing tips started coming in to the column and the Facebook post. And then a member of the ClassicRendezvous Google Group shared it (CR is an awesome community made up of lovers of all things vintage road bikes; it’s free to join and take part https://classicrendezvous.com/).

As a result of all this interest, I’ve compiled a list of the methods mentioned for finishing cables. It’ll come in handy should you need another way to finish a cable someday. The list is not in any particular order. If you can access the Facebook post and ClassicRendezvous conversation you can see the who’s who of bicycle gurus who shared their best tips but suffice to say that a ton of bicycle mechanic expertise is represented. Mega thanks to everyone!

Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. A pro mechanic & cycling writer for more than 40 years, he’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Tune in to Jim’s popular YouTube channel for wheel building & bike repair how-to’s. Jim’s also known for his cycling streak that ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.