Zip Ties

[Lewis Moon]

This may seem like a REALLY off the wall question, but is there a "better" zip tie? I ask this because I bought a pack from one of the Big Boxes (Lowe's or Home Despot) and proceeded to break almost every one I tried....and no, I wasn't over tightening. I finally got a couple to work and at the end of the next ride, the sensor was being held on by one tie, as the other had spontaneously broken. The breaks aren't even in the "usual" place (the ratchet pawl) they were along the main length of the zip tie. I probably got a bad batch, but they are all probably made by the lowest bidder in some fourth world country. Is there an alternative? Almost all of the speedo/cyclometer companies (cough cough, Garmin) are using them for mounting now.

[Richard]

Electrical supply houses or Automotive supply stores have good strong ties.

[rice rocket]

The black ones are better than the clear ones because they're usually UV resistant. Other than that, I use just the standard Lowes/Home Depot ones. They've held my radiator to my car for...oh...3 years now? :)

[dekindy]

I had the same problem and someone on the forum was nice enough to send me some industrial strength ties from their large supply. The answer is yes because I have not had one break since.

[Vientomas]

As an aside - When in Baja I was looking for some zip ties. My Spanish is terrible, but I assumed "zip-tie" was akin to a brand name and it would be universal. Nope. Zip ties are "cinchos" in Spanish.

[pjm]

Panduit. Available at electrical supply stores.

[Lewis Moon]

The black ones are better than the clear ones because they're usually UV resistant. Other than that, I use just the standard Lowes/Home Depot ones. They've held my radiator to my car for...oh...3 years now? :)

I always buy black. Those were the ones that broke.

[11.4]

The black ones are UV resistant but the addition of the carbon black to the plastic, which creates the UV resistance, also makes them less flexible. UV exposure isn't that great on a bike unless you leave it on the roof of your car outside around the clock. The translucent ones do a better job.

And Thomas & Betts makes some really nice zipties with a small metal tooth to engage the strap, much better plastic, and a smoother and more compact profile as well. They aren't cheap -- a bag of a hundred costs about $18 at electrical supply houses. But entirely worth it. Get the 10-12 inch ones so you get something with enough girth to be really strong -- the breaking strength on them is rated at something like 70 lbs.

[gdw]

http://www.cabletiesplus.com/Departments/Cable-Ties.aspx

There are lots of different sizes available on line, all of these are mil spec approved.

[oliver1850]

T&B, Thomas and Betts.

[likebikes]

tiewraps.com

made in usa

[Bob Ross]

Panduit. Available at electrical supply stores.

^^^This. Or Hellerman-Tyton.

[Steve in SLO]

FWIW: milspec=UV resistant

[djg21]

This may seem like a REALLY off the wall question, but is there a "better" zip tie? I ask this because I bought a pack from one of the Big Boxes (Lowe's or Home Despot) and proceeded to break almost every one I tried....and no, I wasn't over tightening. I finally got a couple to work and at the end of the next ride, the sensor was being held on by one tie, as the other had spontaneously broken. The breaks aren't even in the "usual" place (the ratchet pawl) they were along the main length of the zip tie. I probably got a bad batch, but they are all probably made by the lowest bidder in some fourth world country. Is there an alternative? Almost all of the speedo/cyclometer companies (cough cough, Garmin) are using them for mounting now.

I have some high-tech zip ties made from high density, carbon-impregnated, reinforced nylon that I can sell you for $10.00 each. They are available in black. Let me know what size you want and send me a PayPal payment in the appropriate amount, and I'll put them in the mail and cover all postage.

http://www.n54tech.com/forums/images/smilies/scratch.gif

[MattTuck]

http://www.cabletiesplus.com/Departments/Cable-Ties.aspx

There are lots of different sizes available on line, all of these are mil spec approved.

Wow. Flash back to the late nineties, pitching to a silicon valley VC... "So, we're going to be THE website for buying zip-ties on the web. We expect to sell the zipties at cost, and monetize the huge number of page views with advertising. We will be www.cableties.com..... we expect our IPO in several months. " :rolleyes:

[russ46]

As others have posted, Panduit & Thomas & Betts (T&B) are a better choice then Big Box store selections. You will find them stronger & more flexible in both clear & black, especially in the smaller sizes we typically use. You won't experiance the failures that can occur without warning with typical Big Box store manufacturers.

[Lewis Moon]

Thanks all! I'm going to start looking for either of the afore mentioned companies while at lunch today.
I was really gobsmacked when zip ties started breaking on me. They're one of the little things you depnd on w/o thinking.

[Steve in SLO]

Wow. Flash back to the late nineties, pitching to a silicon valley VC... "So, we're going to be THE website for buying zip-ties on the web. We expect to sell the zipties at cost, and monetize the huge number of page views with advertising. We will be www.cableties.com..... we expect our IPO in several months. " :rolleyes:

Kind of like The Scotch Tape Store on SNL...

[Lewis Moon]

Effin' Jeebus. Just got back from Electrical Supply. These puppies are going into a hermetically sealed mayonaise jar when I get home....:eek:

[Peter B]

<snip>

Thomas & Betts makes some really nice zipties with a small metal tooth to engage the strap, much better plastic, and a smoother and more compact profile as well. They aren't cheap -- a bag of a hundred costs about $18 at electrical supply houses. But entirely worth it. Get the 10-12 inch ones so you get something with enough girth to be really strong -- the breaking strength on them is rated at something like 70 lbs.

If you're trying to hold something that matters these are the end of the story.

[jds108]

nevermind, already answered...

[gavingould]

i'm waiting for Zipp ties. they'll be carbon, wider than the other guy's ties, and probably dimpled for aero...

[krismac23]

This may seem like a REALLY off the wall question, but is there a "better" zip tie? I ask this because I bought a pack from one of the Big Boxes (Lowe's or Home Despot) and proceeded to break almost every one I tried....a

I was told one day that Nail clippers are the best way to cut zip ties one your done. It has made a HUGE difference in cleaning up the look of zip ties on your bike. Gets ride of that annoying plastic bur if you use Dike cutters. I just hold on to old toe clippers i have laying around or something. Just my too scents. OH and i buy my zip ties from home depo or something.

[Bob Ross]

Gets ride of that annoying plastic bur if you use Dike cutters.

??? If you have an annoying plastic bur left over after using dikes, you're doing it wrong. For making a clean, straight, precise cut, dikes > nail clippers any day.

ime, of course.

[krismac23]

??? If you have an annoying plastic bur left over after using dikes, you're doing it wrong. For making a clean, straight, precise cut, dikes > nail clippers any day.

ime, of course.

Try it out. U'll be surprised.

[victoryfactory]

A 25 post zip tie thread. I love it!
Ha ha ha ha

[Lewis Moon]

A 25 post zip tie thread. I love it!
Ha ha ha ha
Paceline in a nutshell. Ya gotta love it.

[regularguy412]

A 25 post zip tie thread. I love it!
Ha ha ha ha

It's all these indoor trainer 'miles' lowering everyone's IQ.

:D

Mike in AR:beer:

[11.4]

i'm waiting for Zipp ties. they'll be carbon, wider than the other guy's ties, and probably dimpled for aero...

You don't like 25 posts? You know it's wintertime.

Never would have made it this far if not for the Zipp tie post above. You know this crowd. Just suggest anything that's bigger than other guy has, and you'll attract a following. Bunch of perverts. If you think of all the things you could do with carbon components ... And dimples? You ain't thinkin' rims, fella.

[cash05458]

sorry but I had to laugh at this thread as ridiculous and totally agree...my god...go black man and you will never go back...or your wife wont anyway...!:banana:

[Plum Hill]

Gathered from 35 years in the electrical industry: black Thomas and Betts with the metal tang.

Pray tell, where did the wimpy name Zip Tie come from? They were always known as Ty-Raps until the Gen Xers got ahold of them.

[11.4]

If you're going with the T&B ties, and you want to use a nail clipper, you need this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ALWMCW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_10?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A214QR0RLUH6NQ

Now I don't like nail clippers myself. You get a completely unprofessional double-beveled edge and you don't completely get rid of the bur. Plus, you want to be seen by Andy Schleck clipping his zipties with a fingernail trimmer? What next? Reaming his seat tube with a heel callus file? Trimming his bar tape with pinking shears? Really.

For my zipties, I'm more into Lindstrom flush bevel cutters:

http://www.amazon.com/LINDSTROM-PLIER-CUTTER-DIAGONAL-MICRO/dp/B000HYQH5Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1359260138&sr=1-1&keywords=jewelers%27+pliers+diagonal

This pair is reserved only, exclusively, solely, for zipties. Of course, that's only the beginning.

Next, I use a Portasol propane microtorch. Just touch it lightly to the cut end to burn away and smooth out the end of the tie. It'll also create a slight bulge which won't slip back through the other end of the ziptie if the little stainless steel tooth that's rated at 70 lb breaking strength ever decides to fail.

Still not done, though. You need to burnish the surface while it's still hot. Jeez, guys, you worry at length about how to use cyanoacrylate and gold paint on the ends of your brake cables, and you don't do any better with your zipties? You guys must have just owned Schwinns. Not a Masi among the bunch of you.

Anyway, burnish the hot plastic end with a Mehaz Cuticle Pusher/Pterygium Remover:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JUVJCY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AUIL138JMYJLZ

It's important that you use a tool like this. I do NOT want to see any of you, ever, using a screwdriver blade. If you do, you have to hand in your Richard Sachs'.

And by the way, if you're doing this on anything better than that Schwinn, puhlease treat your frame and your finish with respect and use this under whatever it is that you're connecting to the frame:

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Clear-Paint-Protection-48-inches/dp/B004VG88MQ/ref=pd_sim_auto_4

I'm not suggesting you actually get it from Amazon, by the way. The same stuff is silkscreened to make those cool films that you windows and whole cars covered with. Get it from one of the shops that makes those custom films. So come up with a really cool design that integrates your Garmin speed/cadence sensor (beautifully aerodynamic and architecturally significant design that it is) into your Cervelo S5CA. Got it? Now go to work.

[victoryfactory]

When the Verizon guy came to do an install I casually asked him if
he had a couple of zip ties so I could straighten out the wiring.
He hit me with a 250 pack of the good stuff! Black too!

I think they have a special $200. proprietary nipper with a
built in heat burnisher too but he wouldn't show it to me.

VF

[Bob Ross]

Try it out. U'll be surprised.

I have tried it out; I used nail clippers, then cuticle trimmers, for years. Finally decided I wasn't doing enough electronics work to warrant keeping a pristine unsullied pair of diagonal cutters away from the zip ties. Never going back.

If you're not getting a cleaner, straighter, closer-to-the-place-you-want-to-cut cut with dikes, your dikes are dull. Or crappy. Or both.

[SoundsGood]

Wow. Flash back to the late nineties, pitching to a silicon valley VC... "So, we're going to be THE website for buying zip-ties on the web. We expect to sell the zipties at cost, and monetize the huge number of page views with advertising. We will be www.cableties.com..... we expect our IPO in several months. " :rolleyes:
Actually...

There really is a CableTies.com website. We don't sell them at cost -- sorry -- but to show our appreciation to members of the Paceline Forum we have set up a discount for you. Use the coupon code "thepaceline" (without the quotes) to save 10% on your purchase of cable ties, here (http://www.cableties.com/).

Enjoy! :)

[gavingould]

now that's service!

whoever is checking the server logs and incoming referrers at cableties.com should get a free beer or two from his boss.

[SoundsGood]

whoever is checking the server logs and incoming referrers at cableties.com should get a free beer or two from his boss.
At least, right? ;)