Cycling UK Forum

colin54 wrote: ↑25 Dec 2021, 9:04am I saw the virtue of these being extolled by Russ Roca on the excellent Path Less Pedalled youtube channel in his 2021 bike gear best of video amongst other items, about a minute into the vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPT1gFgCpYM
' Cable Cherries', little 7mm diameter spherical gizmoids, that fix to the end a cable by a clamping grub screw.
https://www.wizard.works/shop/accessori ... -cherries/
£ 15 a pair, Kerrching !!! Imagine the feeling of joy when one bounces off during a ride, or into a dark corner of the shed.

Imagine the frustration when you find the grub screw has turned your cable end into a birch broom.

531colin wrote: ↑27 Dec 2021, 11:29am Imagine the frustration when you find the grub screw has turned your cable end into a birch broom.

Exactly. Anything that crimps the cable end makes it non-reusable. Left to it's own devices a cut cable will unravel and will do when heat shrink falls off. What's needed is something that bonds the cable ends. Soldering the ends is the ideal solution but getting the right flux and the right amount of heat onto a stainless steel cable is too much of a faff for me so super glue is a more pragmatic solution.

Of course any of this is only a problem for us inveterate bike fiddlers. If your bike components don't migrate and change and cable lengths don't get adjusted then a simple crimp that stays in place 'til the cable is at end of life is fine.

Soldering the ends is the ideal solution but getting the right flux and the right amount of heat onto a stainless steel cable is too much of a faff for me so super glue is a more pragmatic solution.

It was exactly that challenge that prompted me to try the cyanoacrylate glue, which appears to work well. Dunno how long it'll last, mind. Don't see why it shouldn't last quite well. A proper soldered end would be the best solution, of course, but beyond me, as I don't have an appropriate heatsource, or solder or flux!

There are dedicated tools for crimping cable end caps, with up to 6 dies, giving a hexagon crimp that will not disturb the cable lay much, and allow minimal loss of cable when you cut the ferrule off.
Search Amazon for "ferrule crimping tool"
Around £20 - £25, which is probably cheaper than setting yourself up for silver soldering.

Rethreading the cable should be pretty uncommon, especially considering the cable will often be crushed too much for easy rethreading by being clamped at the mech or brake caliper.

This one is three dies https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Jagwire-Pro-Ca ... _84898.htm for a triangular crimp, but includes a cutter.

andrew_s wrote: ↑27 Dec 2021, 1:14pm There are dedicated tools for crimping cable end caps, with up to 6 dies, giving a hexagon crimp that will not disturb the cable lay much, and allow minimal loss of cable when you cut the ferrule off.
Search Amazon for "ferrule crimping tool"
Around £20 - £25, which is probably cheaper than setting yourself up for silver soldering.

Rethreading the cable should be pretty uncommon, especially considering the cable will often be crushed too much for easy rethreading by being clamped at the mech or brake caliper.

This one is three dies https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Jagwire-Pro-Ca ... _84898.htm for a triangular crimp, but includes a cutter.

You can get a couple of solder wires and a bit of flux for less than a tenner on E bay.
Any butane torch is good enough to get cable red hot, I should think a lot of practical people will already have a torch?
And you can do so much more with silver solder than just stop your cables fraying.

531colin wrote: ↑1 Jan 2022, 5:49pm
You can get a couple of solder wires and a bit of flux for less than a tenner on E bay.
Any butane torch is good enough to get cable red hot, I should think a lot of practical people will already have a torch?
And you can do so much more with silver solder than just stop your cables fraying.

good point - Lidl quite often do a cheap gas cartridge powered thingie which can be used for both simple soldering and heat shrinking -I used mine to heat-shrink some tube onto dynamo contacts - has different tips/heads depending on what yu want to do. Seem to remember that it will also other things but can't remember what - hair perming?

Sweep wrote: ↑2 Jan 2022, 8:14am

531colin wrote: ↑1 Jan 2022, 5:49pm
You can get a couple of solder wires and a bit of flux for less than a tenner on E bay.
Any butane torch is good enough to get cable red hot, I should think a lot of practical people will already have a torch?
And you can do so much more with silver solder than just stop your cables fraying.

good point - Lidl quite often do a cheap gas cartridge powered thingie which can be used for both simple soldering and heat shrinking -I used mine to heat-shrink some tube onto dynamo contacts - has different tips/heads depending on what yu want to do. Seem to remember that it will also other things but can't remember what - hair perming?

Silver soldering needs a good cherry-red.....unlikely to do this unless you can use the flame direct onto the work, I think.

531colin wrote: ↑2 Jan 2022, 4:27pm

Silver soldering needs a good cherry-red.....unlikely to do this unless you can use the flame direct onto the work, I think.

Haven't done any soldering since my days of tinkering with my Vespa controls Colin, but this is the Lidl item I was thinking of I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_a85lOo-p0

Have no idea if it's up to this job (am not with it at the moment to test) - maybe someone who has used it can advise.

531colin wrote: ↑2 Jan 2022, 4:27pm Silver soldering needs a good cherry-red.....unlikely to do this unless you can use the flame direct onto the work, I think.

This is why I find it too much of a faff. I don't want the flame and flux anywhere near the bike, components and cable outer. Having fitted a cable and cut it to length I don't want to remove the inner to solder it on the workbench and then refit it. A cable crimp and a blob of superglue later if I'm going to remove the inner is much simpler. I'd agree that solder is a more elegant solution but life's too short and cables don't last forever.

Used to solder cable ends until manufacturers started Teflon coating them.
(But never used anything fancy like silver solder, just ordinary electricians stuff.)

If I use a pot of flux specifically designed to use with stainless steel, my mapp torch and the solder pictured, what are your top three tips you would pass on, when I try to solder the ends of some stainless steel cable inners? Thanks.

Use some emery to clean the end of the cable. Dip it in the flux. Heat the cable with the torch then remove torch and feed the solder on the wire. If the solder doesn't wick into the wire you probably didn't get it hot enough. So repeat.

Cheers... am I aiming for cherry red?

Cherry red is possibly a little too hot but try it and see.

Cherry red for silver solder.
Lead free solder probably needs a lower temperature? I have only used it on copper plumbing fittings.
Usual things which stop solder “taking” are either dirty workpiece or not hot enough; but it’s possible to overheat flux and that will also mess things up. Black is a bad sign!

Silver soldering stainless cable ends is childishly simple; dip the cable end in the flux, get it cherry red, the flux melts and carries all before it, run in the silver solder !