These cable snips seem excellent value to me and appear better made, more robust & effective than the more modest, generic & cheap alternative pictured along side. I've recently used both on heavy duty stainless steel motor cycle Bowden cables and found the all-steel construction of the US Pro tool much more dependable than the plastic handles of the shorter cycle-specific tool which I bought for about a tenner many years ago. Predictably, the US Pro tool, with its twin jaws of different sizes, makes short work of 4 & 5mm cycle cables, whether brake or gear. The meaty metal around the cutting edges seem to respond well to gentle dressing with a needle file, suggesting the tool would be suitable for long term DIY use, if carefully used. The only down-sides that occur to me is the absence of a pivot bolt that could be tightened if necessary, the two jaws being riveted together. It also lacks the handy cable-end-piece crimp, built into the cheapy's handles.
It's widely available on ebay, etc. at around a fiver.
We've already established elsewhere on the forum that US Pro tools are neither made in America, nor intended for professional use, but having had personal experience of this partic. tool, I felt confident to recommend it as a value-for-money addition to the cyclists' tool box.
- general picture of tools
- detail of tools
