Cable cutters?

[pq]

I need some cable cutters. I've had a Park Tools pair for ages, but they went blunt quite quickly so I'm looking for something better. Right now I'm using a chisel and a big hammer against a rock which does a very good job, but is incredibly awkward and can't really be done while the cable is on the bike.

Thanks!

[Mick F]

How many cables do you need to cut?

I bought a pair of Lifeline cutters maybe ten years ago. They may have cut six in that time.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-cable ... g-cutters/
Wiggle don't have them at the moment, but that's probably where I got mine.

[Bonefishblues]

I thought Park Tools were about as good as you could sensibly buy?

I bought cheaply, knowing I'm not exactly a serial cable cutter, as Mick indicates above. If/when blunt, I'll chuck & change.

[pq]

I bought my Park ones thinking the same, but have been quite unimpressed. I cut cables fairly regularly for a non professional - I guess 2 or 3 times a month. At that rate of use I was expecting the Park ones to outlive me...

[Bonefishblues]

I'm pleased I didn't splurge then - mind you, I would definitely have been passing them on as an heirloom

[scottg]

Knipex,
“You never actually own a Knipex. You merely look after it for the next generation.”

https://www.kctoolco.com/knipex-95-61-1 ... stic-grip/

[pq]

So have you got a pair of those Knipex ones? They're only €31 on amazon.de, I'm quite tempted.

[Bonefishblues]

Looks like the nuclear option

[NUKe]

you could try the lifetime warranty route

[Brucey]

IME the trick to making cable cutters last well is not to cut gear outers with your good set; this knocks hell out of the edges faster than anything; the steel wires are much, much harder than in spiral-wound cable.

You get a better (squarer) cut in gear housing with a cutting disc in a Dremel tool or an angle grinder anyway, so I just do that these days.

cheers

[pq]

Thanks Brucey, I used the Parks for everything including outers - it never occurred to me to use an angle grinder, but I'll do that from now on. I'm re-cabling my tandem shortly, so that'll be the first time I try it.

[pq]

I've just looked at the warranty, and since I'm the original owner it seems to be covered, but I have no idea when/where I bought them. Still, I've filled in the form.

[Ivor Tingting]

I have a pair of Park cable cutters. I have to say I have been impressed, but then I don't cut cables with the frequency that the OP does. They cut cables effortlessly and nice clean cuts. I don't cut outers with them I use a plasma cutting disc. I must have made 4 cuts with them in 4 years. Last time I used them was re-placing a friend's Rohloff gear cables then prior to this, mine.

[pq]

So Park won't warranty them - wear and tear they say which is fair enough I think. I'm going totry to get them sharpened, failing that I guess I'll get those Knipex ones. Thanks all.

[pwa]

Rather than the by-pass / scissor type of cutter I get a cleaner cut from tolls where two sharp edges meet end to end, like these

https://hwebber.co.uk/shop/c-s-osborne- ... gLqwvD_BwE

I do get a small amount of splaying with this sort of tool but nothing that a second or two of manual twisting won't rectify.


I have used a Park tool for the job and it gives a less precise cut so I rarely use it.