Rethreading used cables - tips?
 

Brand new cables are welded closed at the end so they don't fray, of course. But often when reinstalling a used cable, the end frays enough that it makes it tough to get in certain shifters, housing, frame nooks & crannies, etc. Does anyone have any good ways of keeping the cable tips from fraying during a reinstall? Makes me wish I knew how to weld! ;)

And please withhold the "just buy new cables" comments. That's not what I'm asking.

Solder or a little dab of superglue.

success will depend on how much extra you have and how tight the bends are.
i know the original sram shifters had a fairly sharp turn just inside the levers which made it tough to get even new cables through.
best bet, as you alluded to, is to have as smooth an end as possible. that means cutting off the tip to form a new one with good cable cutters. any strand going rogue will make life really difficult so straighten out the old cable as best you can and smooth out the crimped spots to make as round as you can before the cut. that should leave you an even, if not smooth, end that you can gently coax through turns.
if you want to go the extra mile, solder the end just enough to have it run in between the strands but not enough to form a bulb. superheat the cable itself about a cm from the tip

Just to add a little to the above good post, once you've cut and done most of the prep work on the cables deburr the ends with a very fine file or stone.

Rub wax on the first inch of the cable. Bees wax may be best but any candle may work.

file, and or wax...

When I install a new cable, I generally leave about 2 inches after the RD clamp.

When I reinstall, I will generally clip about 1/4" or so off so the end is fresh. I also "twist the cable or the housing in the direction the fibers are spun so it minimize the chance of snagging something.

I'll echo the 'use sharp cutters' comment. Makes a difference.

If you're running SRAM shifters, I haven't had very good luck getting used cables thru the shifters.

My 'cheap SOBs are us' trick is to use the take-off rear derailleur cable as the new front derailleur cable and just replace the one side with new.

HTH

M

Good, sharp, cycling specific cable cutters will work wonders as others have said....but I suppose that you could buy new cables with the $'s instead.

Problem for me is where the clamp force at the derailleur screw has deformed the cable. Anybody know what I mean?

twist clockwise.

If you pop the housing from the braze ons, you can generally lube without undoing the cables themselves.

Ya. I have one of those ugly messes on one bike right now but am too lazy to route a new one threw the frame and up and over BB and down there and over there. I attribute it to a cheap 2 buck cable. It was all I had when building up the frame recently. Never happened to me before. I have high end cutters.