Where Do I Shop For Tools?

Michael Press schreef:

A home mechanic does do not need special cable cutters
or cable housing cutters. To cut cable housing put some
old or left over cable in the housing at the cutting
point, put side cutters on it, then give them a good hard
squeeze. Now clean up the cut end and maybe file it.

That's true, but boy it is nice to have a special cable(housing) cutter
when the number of bikes increased in my garage. Best tool I have bought
in the last year. Should have done that earlier.

Lou

On Jan 11, 12:20*am, Michael Press wrote:

A home mechanic does do not need special cable cutters
or cable housing cutters. To cut cable housing put some
old or left over cable in the housing at the cutting
point, put side cutters on it, then give them a good hard
squeeze. Now clean up the cut end and maybe file it.

Mmm. For a while I used the Knipex diagonal cutters from my
electronics toolbox for cutting cables and housings. Then I remembered
the price of the Knipex and thought the price of BBB cable cutter,
seen in a store, so reasonable in comparison, I bought it.

How does a housing cutter differ from a cable cutter? I have a couple
of bikes on which I'll replace all the cabling in the general service
before I sell them. And it is probably worth having all the right
tools for my Rohloff-geared bike, as the Rohloff change is
agricultural enough without adding rough cabling to it.

Andre Jute
http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/B...%20Smover.html

In article
,
Andre Jute wrote:

How does a housing cutter differ from a cable cutter? I have a couple
of bikes on which I'll replace all the cabling in the general service
before I sell them. And it is probably worth having all the right
tools for my Rohloff-geared bike, as the Rohloff change is
agricultural enough without adding rough cabling to it.

Cutoff disc in a Dremel (oops, right, the very existence of those makes
people who spend lots of money on bike locks upset, so they forget they
exist) will cut cable housing very clean, and has multiple other uses. A
pointy stone could be used to deburr, if needed.

OTOH, for as much housing as a home mechanic is likely to ever use,
buying it cut to length at the LBS is not such a terrible option, unless
your LBS is absurd, or not actually local.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

Ecnerwal schreef:
In article
,
Andre Jute wrote:

How does a housing cutter differ from a cable cutter? I have a couple
of bikes on which I'll replace all the cabling in the general service
before I sell them. And it is probably worth having all the right
tools for my Rohloff-geared bike, as the Rohloff change is
agricultural enough without adding rough cabling to it.

Cutoff disc in a Dremel (oops, right, the very existence of those makes
people who spend lots of money on bike locks upset, so they forget they
exist) will cut cable housing very clean, and has multiple other uses. A
pointy stone could be used to deburr, if needed.

Yes they cut the cable very clean but also burn/melt the teflon inner
lining and the plastic outer cover. You spend more time fixing that than
the cutting itself. I done that for a while so I know what I'm talking
about. I was fed up with it and eventually bought the (Parktool) cable
cutter. That was very well spent money.


OTOH, for as much housing as a home mechanic is likely to ever use,
buying it cut to length at the LBS is not such a terrible option, unless
your LBS is absurd, or not actually local.


Agreed but the hassle make people postpone changing the housing.

Lou

On Jan 9, 10:07*am, wrote:
Hi there...

I need some tools to work on my own bikes. *Where's the best place to
get them and who has the best prices?

Many thanks,

Casey Keller
Valencia, CA

Falco-great cutters.

wrote:
I need some tools to work on my own bikes. Where's the best place to
get them and who has the best prices?

"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote:
There really aren't that many specialty tools you need for general bike
repair. A decent local shop will probably have most of what you need
(which, as I implied, won't be all that much). Bring your bike in and
they'll be able to tell you what you need for the work you'd like to do
on it.
You might also consider getting a decent repair book first, because that
will give you an idea of what you want to get into, as well as the tools
involved. The Park repair book is a very good one, and they have an
excellent on-line website that goes with it.

wrote:
Thanks for responding. First, a thank you. 10 years ago when I was
first getting into cycling, you were a big, big help with all your
advice.

Yes, I have a book. I'm also about to take the beginner course at the
United Bicycle Institute up in Oregon. (let's see how many
opinionated posts THAT arouses!)

The tools I need are bike specific. A good cable cutter/crimper, a
fourth hand and a heavy duty chain tool.

Michael Press wrote:
A home mechanic does do not need special cable cutters
or cable housing cutters. To cut cable housing put some
old or left over cable in the housing at the cutting
point, put side cutters on it, then give them a good hard
squeeze. Now clean up the cut end and maybe file it.
Please post your replies after the writings you reply to.
http://www.oakroadsystems.com/genl/unice.htm#upside


You're right about spiral-wound brake casing. Modern gear casing really
needs a diamond-faced cutter such that the cutting faces squeeze the
casing instead of splaying it.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Jan 9, 9:07*am, wrote:
Hi there...

I need some tools to work on my own bikes. *Where's the best place to
get them and who has the best prices?

Many thanks,

Casey Keller
Valencia, CA

For stuff like this I made a list of the tools I wanted and spent some
time comparing between sites and stores. The result is that I usually
use a combination between Craigslist, eBay, and Amazon. But I've also
bought a couple of used tools from my LBS when they had multiples.

Jay Beattie wrote:
I like the Park or Shimano cable cutters for STI cable housing,
although I suppose I could use ordinary cutters with a cable in the
housing. *With no cable, you squash the housing.

You can use ordinary cutters with the right technique. I re-cabled my
mountain bike a few months ago and used my Sears Craftsman 6" diagonal
pliers and a file for everything. For the STI housing, I didn't leave
a cable inside, but I didn't try to cut the whole thing at once. I
just snipped away at the housing with the tip of the cutters, a few
strands at a time. It still only took a few seconds, and it barely
ovalized the housing - I got them perfectly round by hand afterward.
My cuts looked similar or better in quality than the cuts from the
shop where they cut the section off the spool. About 30 seconds touch
up with a file, and the ends were perfect.

For the cables, I compared the cuts from my diagonal pliers and my old
(but like-new) Park cable-only cutter. Both produced perfect cuts.