Repairing cable ends

[ukdodger]

Is there a way of doing this? It's annoying to have to dump an otherwise perfectly reusable cable because the end has become frayed and wont fit back in the hole!
Tried soldering without success. You just end up with a big blob.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Soldering but sometimes with even steel the grease etc will prevent a good "Wet" of solder even with aggressive flux.

Degrease and twist the ends together to there natural form, lightly press to shape with smooth pliers then super glue.

[MikeF]

Presumably you mean inner into outer cable. Is there enough to cut a clean end? I know this shortens the cable.
It depends on how frayed the cable is and how many many bends in the outer. Sometimes trying to reduce the fray as much as possible before replacing the cable and twisting it as you insert it so the fraying wire(s) tend to twist back in place can help. Ideally an inner wants pulling through and not pushing, but I haven't found a foolproof way of doing that.

[ukdodger]

Hi,
Soldering but sometimes with even steel the grease etc will prevent a good "Wet" of solder even with aggressive flux.

Degrease and twist the ends together to there natural form, lightly press to shape with smooth pliers then super glue.

Tried that but not with the Super glue or using smooth pliers. Does Super glue work on metal?

[ukdodger]

Presumably you mean inner into outer cable. Is there enough to cut a clean end? I know this shortens the cable.
It depends on how frayed the cable is and how many many bends in the outer. Sometimes trying to reduce the fray as much as possible before replacing the cable and twisting it as you insert it so the fraying wire(s) tend to twist back in place can help. Ideally an inner wants pulling through and not pushing, but I haven't found a foolproof way of doing that.

Inner into outer is one case but it's not impossible to get the inner through with a little effort. Much worse is the Rohloff gear cable. At the Hub end the hole in the connectors is little more than the diameter of the cable and Rohloff cables are expensive. I've had no success trying to get the diameter down by twisting and they are cut to a specific length so no spare!

[Mick F]

Tried that but not with the Super glue or using smooth pliers. Does Super glue work on metal?

Superglue works well, but doesn't work well ............... if you see what I mean.

The SG glues just fine, but then the inner is too thick where the SG is to fit through the outers and ferrules. I tried it when this subject came up in the past.

I always use my cable cutters nowadays, and you get a nice clean cut that doesn't produce a fray. This can go through the outer easily and then I finish off with an alu end cap squeezed ever so gently to protect them. I bought a job lot some years ago from Wiggle.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Hi,
Soldering but sometimes with even steel the grease etc will prevent a good "Wet" of solder even with aggressive flux.

Degrease and twist the ends together to there natural form, lightly press to shape with smooth pliers then super glue.

Tried that but not with the Super glue or using smooth pliers. Does Super glue work on metal?

Yes as well as needs be to insert a carefully smoothed out and cleanish cut cable.

Straighten smooth and clean/ degrease cable first, don't try reforming cable after superglue.

[andrewjoseph]

i've used superglue for this for years. apply glue with a brush to the last cm or so, then i quickly pull it through my fingers to get excess glue off. when i remember i use an old rag so as not to get glue on my fingers.

then i put a cable end cap on and crimp it.

[Brucey]

soft solder for steel, silver solder for stainless steel cables. The right flux is vital in each case. PTFE impregnated inners cannot be soldered easily.

-don't let the solder wet any part of the cable that is to flex later on.

- file or grind the cable end to size so that it can be threaded through the outer

You can buy thin brass tube that can be made into cable ends for some hub gears, eg SA ones, maybe Rohloff too. Again you need to confine the solder/silver solder to the 'nipple' else it cause the cable to fatigue if it flexes where it is soldered.

cheers

[Spinners]

I twist it back into it's normal shape and then slip over a bit of electrical wire 'outer'. If your bike is blue, brown or yellow with green stripes it can make a nice match

[horizon]

I think I posted this before but it's quite simple:

When the end has frayed on the rear tandem brake cable, you cut it down and use it on your single bike rear brake.
When the single bike rear brake cable frays, you cut it down and use it on your single bike front brake.
When the single bike front brake cable frays you cut it down and use it on the children's bikes.
When that frays, you cut it down and use it for spare cables for your KlickFix fittings.

If you leave all your cables quite long, you might be able to snip them a couple of times.

[ukdodger]

I think I posted this before but it's quite simple:

When the end has frayed on the rear tandem brake cable, you cut it down and use it on your single bike rear brake.
When the single bike rear brake cable frays, you cut it down and use it on your single bike front brake.
When the single bike front brake cable frays you cut it down and use it on the children's bikes.
When that frays, you cut it down and use it for spare cables for your KlickFix fittings.

If you leave all your cables quite long, you might be able to snip them a couple of times.

Good idea but what if you cant cut back. That's my point.

[ukdodger]

soft solder for steel, silver solder for stainless steel cables. The right flux is vital in each case. PTFE impregnated inners cannot be soldered easily.

-don't let the solder wet any part of the cable that is to flex later on.

- file or grind the cable end to size so that it can be threaded through the outer

You can buy thin brass tube that can be made into cable ends for some hub gears, eg SA ones, maybe Rohloff too. Again you need to confine the solder/silver solder to the 'nipple' else it cause the cable to fatigue if it flexes where it is soldered.

cheers

How will I know if my Rohloff cables are PTFE?

[horizon]

Good idea but what if you cant cut back. That's my point.

Cables are cheap and the unused portions that are thrown away are easily recycled in the metals bin. Replacement also allows for a cetain amount of regular replacement to take care of rust etc. So leave a good end each time, cut back if you can, recycle if you can't and buy another one. The number of new cables will be small.

That said, if it's a Rohloff then you have a point. But then I would say that parts should be common, commonplace, interchangeable and cheap. Which is I suppose why I worry about the complexity of a Rohloff. You do have my sympathy and I would share your frustration.

[goatwarden]

I assume the OP's problem is not obvious to anyone without a Rohloff. For these (external selector; I think its fairly similar for the internal) you need to carefully trim the cables to the correct length then clamp the ends in with a pointed grub screw which inevitably damages the cable end. So if you make a mistake you have no realistic alternative than to try again with new cables (unless you can lose some length from the outers and cut a new end on the cables. It's not a brilliant piece of design but it is very unusual for the cables to break; so once you have them in and working they should be ok for a few years.

No real solution to offer other than take great care to cut the cables to the right length for installation (Rohlof sell a template, for some extortionate amount, which is no more than a measured length of automotive brake pipe. I use a length of brake pipe.)