Cable/Housing cutter recommendations

[geeter]

I need some new cutters and there are many at around the same price point: Park, Jagwire, Hosan, Shimano, etc. Just looking for some feedback before I grab a pair. Park is my front runner right now as I've always had great longevity with their stuff.

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

[gbcoupe]

I like my Felco C7's. Don't remember what I paid for them.

[P K]

Felcos for the win, had mine for at least 20 years

[Gsinill]

Anything pliers, Knipex only for me.
https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=art_detail&parentID=1371&groupID=1437&artID=127

[AngryScientist]

shifter housing is a little easier to cut, but i've tried a few cutters now, and have yet to find something that does a cleaner job than a dremel and cut-off wheel.

[herb5998]

for Jagwire, it's a pair of cutters, but very good quality. The Knipex stuff is great too.

[yinzerniner]

Park tool is a great default. They’ll last forever.

I’ve had good luck with the jagwire model. Really like the integrated awl for opening up the end after cutting. But if you have a dremel it does indeed provide the nicest and cleanest cuts out there if you’re familiar working with it.

[zzy]

I really like Shimano's for a bike-specific set of cutters. The built in awl and crimper are very convenient and the extra long arm give more leverage (like Felcos).

[Dead Man]

I really like Shimano's for a bike-specific set of cutters. The built in awl and crimper are very convenient and the extra long arm give more leverage (like Felcos).

i like park bike tools... but the lack of a ratchet socket on their BB cups and the lack of an awl on their cable tools is just kinda astonishing to me

[cmbicycles]

I would have said Felco for the win up until a couple years ago. They are still awesome quality and will outlast me. I've used the same pair of Felcos in and out of shops for +/- 20 years (even cutting spokes on occaision), and they are still sharp, but I prefer these from Knipex. https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=art_detail&isMobile=&parentID=1371&groupID=1438&artID=125
They are high quality (like all of Knipex tools I have seen), cut well, feel good in the hand, and have the crimper for cables and housing built in.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191124/8ae7fefd8ec3f02d7825c94eaffe6ae7.jpg


The shimano and similar, thinner steel cutters I found underwhelming. Pedro's I thought worked well, similarly to Felco, but didnt use them much so sold them. The cutters from Park didnt last long, but since it's what the shops I worked in usually bought, I used them till they wore out. They were clunky in the hand, the crimper didnt work as well as the Knipex, and didnt cut well after a month or two of regular shop use. They would probably be fine for home use, but not as high quality cutter as Knipex/Felco.

[peanutgallery]

Shimano cable cutters, best tool they make

No need to grind or dremel, clean the ends of the housing with a dental pick

[dddd]

The Knipex doesn't have curved jaws and doesn't seem to be bike specific, which might be more important for cutting hollow cable housings that you want to remain as round as possible.

My longest-lasting pair, by far, are these ones, sold under many different brands, and having different-colored handles.

These have outlasted all others combined!

https://live.staticflickr.com/725/23063683749_a59d1fb103_c.jpg

[93KgBike]

Park tool is a great default. They’ll last forever.

I’ve had good luck with the jagwire model. Really like the integrated awl for opening up the end after cutting. But if you have a dremel it does indeed provide the nicest and cleanest cuts out there if you’re familiar working with it.

This

[Gummee]

For personal use, I have a Shimano CN-10 that I bought way back in the 80s/early 90s when I first started riding. I thought they were wearing out so I bought a 2nd pair. ...that I don't use.

I have inherited a pair of Pedro's cutters that I like better and use more often than not.

The van has a pair of new Park cutters on it that work pretty well, but I'm not particularly fond of them. Too bulky.

Haven't ever tried the Knipex stuff.

M

[cmbicycles]

The Knipex doesn't have curved jaws and doesn't seem to be bike specific, which might be more important for cutting hollow cable housings that you want to remain as round as possible.



My longest-lasting pair, by far, are these ones, sold under many different brands, and having different-colored handles.



These have outlasted all others combined!



https://live.staticflickr.com/725/23063683749_a59d1fb103_c.jpgThe Knipex is made for Bowden cable, shift/brake cable is Bowden cable system... and if you look at the specs it will fit any standard cable system used on bikes. It is rounded and made for a variety of systems outside the bike biz. I appreciate high quality tools, and often the bike industry doesnt produce the highest quality... they can be good, but not always highest quality. Your felco knock-offs look decent, much like the Pedro's version I had also seemed decent... most others I've seen from bike companies that look like Felco were not good quality.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191124/9c00f1131b455c7e8758c7726ed07fc5.jpg

[R3awak3n]

Knipex everytime

[oldpotatoe]

I like my Felco C7's. Don't remember what I paid for them.

Another vote for Felco..have had mine, including bike shop use, for over 20 years..still like new.

[oldguy00]

For the two popular ones being mentioned here, knipex and felco, do either have the ability to cut brake housing without leaving a jagged burr? Does such a cutter exist?
I do have a dremel, and tried using it, but it didn't cut well. Is there a specific cutting wheel that works best?

Thanks!

[Gummee]

For the two popular ones being mentioned here, knipex and felco, do either have the ability to cut brake housing without leaving a jagged burr? Does such a cutter exist?
I do have a dremel, and tried using it, but it didn't cut well. Is there a specific cutting wheel that works best?

Thanks!

The Park cutters in my van do a pretty good job on brake housing.

At home, I break out the bench grinder and flatten the end with that

M

[kiwisimon]

Shimano, I have used mine for years. They cut clean and have the built in tools to speed up the work. A good clean cut just needs a quick twist with the liner needle and the end caps crimped, all with one tool. I only use it to cut brake and gear cables and it slices through them with relatively little wrist strength required.

[Gsinill]

For the two popular ones being mentioned here, knipex and felco, do either have the ability to cut brake housing without leaving a jagged burr? Does such a cutter exist?
I do have a dremel, and tried using it, but it didn't cut well. Is there a specific cutting wheel that works best?

Thanks!

Not really sure what you mean by that but my Knipex cuts perfectly through any kind of housing and cable.
The only thing I have to do afterwards is to "unsquish" the end by inserting something like this to make it round again:

https://i.postimg.cc/V6X9Xv5n/IMG-5075.jpg

Easy breezy though...

[oldguy00]

The Park cutters in my van do a pretty good job on brake housing.

At home, I break out the bench grinder and flatten the end with that

M


Thx. I own a pair of shimano cable cutters that are literally 25+ years old, and a pair of park cable cutters that are probably about 15 years old. Neither has the ability to cut cable housing cleanly.
I don't own a bench grinder. :( But might order a set of the Felco C7's as an upgrade...

[oldguy00]

Not really sure what you mean by that but my Knipex cuts perfectly through any kind of housing and cable.
The only thing I have to do afterwards is to "unsquish" the end by inserting something like this to make it round again:

https://i.postimg.cc/V6X9Xv5n/IMG-5075.jpg

Easy breezy though...

Grabbed this pic off google, but often when I cut the brake cable housing, I get a result similar to the second one in from left, a jagged piece of the wrapped housing wire.

[oldguy00]

So has anyone tried both the knipex and felco? Either better than the other? Price looks similar.

[kppolich]

I need some new cutters and there are many at around the same price point: Park, Jagwire, Hosan, Shimano, etc. Just looking for some feedback before I grab a pair. Park is my front runner right now as I've always had great longevity with their stuff.

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

Will you be cutting hydraulic lines in the future? Might not be a bad 1 time investment to look at a newer tool that has the cutter and barb install tool all in one.

[oldguy00]

The Park cutters in my van do a pretty good job on brake housing.

At home, I break out the bench grinder and flatten the end with that

M

I just looked online for fun, bench grinders are pretty cheap. Only issue I think I would have is that I am often needing to cut the housing after it is already routed through the bike, like on a tri bike with integrated bars, where you spend 30 minutes fighting to get the housing through the tri bar, then snip it down to size near the bull horns. Hard to use a bench grinder in that scenario. :(

[weisan]

I have several. But the cheapo Nashbar house brand gets the most use and it works perfectly fine.

[Black Dog]

I just looked online for fun, bench grinders are pretty cheap. Only issue I think I would have is that I am often needing to cut the housing after it is already routed through the bike, like on a tri bike with integrated bars, where you spend 30 minutes fighting to get the housing through the tri bar, then snip it down to size near the bull horns. Hard to use a bench grinder in that scenario. :(

Use a file. Simple and effective when you need to do the work on the bike.

[davidb]

Park will last about 1 to 1 1/2 in haevy shop use. It does have the jaws to round out derailleur housing after the cut. They need a strong clip to cut housing clean. The pictures of poorly cut housing is as much the result of technique as tool(s) used. Felco/Knipex are nice in that they stay sharp a long time. Are they worth the extra cost? My opinion only if you are in a shop, tool nut or cost is not an issue.

[Clancy]

Thx. I own a pair of shimano cable cutters that are literally 25+ years old, and a pair of park cable cutters that are probably about 15 years old. Neither has the ability to cut cable housing cleanly.
I don't own a bench grinder. :( But might order a set of the Felco C7's as an upgrade...


Brake cable housing, because of the wound wire construction, should always be filed smooth so as not to abrade the brake cable, no matter how it’s cut. I’m not talking Dremel tool/grinding wheel method which I’ve never tried. Go to in every shop I know of is to snip the brake housing, walk over to the bench grinder and lightly grind the cut flat and smooth.

Get yourself an inexpensive bench grinder at any big box hardware store such as Lowes or Home Depot. Variable speed models are nice, Ryobi, Delta. They’re actually not that much more expensive than the cutters being mentioned plus you’ll have a bench grinder which is a very handy tool. I believe your cutters are fine. We have an expensive Grainger industrial grinder in the shop but my inexpensive Delta bench top grinder at home does just as good of a job, have had it for 15 years plus. Set the tool rest as close to the wheel as possible so the housing doesn’t vibrate, lightly grind as to not melt the rubber coating. Practice on a piece of scrap housing. Blindingly simple.

On the bike a file works. Best to use the old cable housing as a template, cut new to length, and grind the ends, but a file works.

Lightly coat the cable with Slick Honey, smooth as buttered silk. But that’s a different discussion.

Good luck

[Clancy]

Park will last about 1 to 1 1/2 in haevy shop use. It does have the jaws to round out derailleur housing after the cut. They need a strong clip to cut housing clean. The pictures of poorly cut housing is as much the result of technique as tool(s) used. Felco/Knipex are nice in that they stay sharp a long time. Are they worth the extra cost? My opinion only if you are in a shop, tool nut or cost is not an issue.

Heavy shop use 30-60 cuts a day.

Home use 30-60 cuts a year.

No argument nice tools are nice to have. Just pointing out there’s always a balance.

[oldguy00]

Brake cable housing, because of the wound wire construction, should always be filed smooth so as not to abrade the brake cable, no matter how it’s cut. I’m not talking Dremel tool/grinding wheel method which I’ve never tried. Go to in every shop I know of is to snip the brake housing, walk over to the bench grinder and lightly grind the cut flat and smooth.

Get yourself an inexpensive bench grinder at any big box hardware store such as Lowes or Home Depot. Variable speed models are nice, Ryobi, Delta. They’re actually not that much more expensive than the cutters being mentioned plus you’ll have a bench grinder which is a very handy tool. I believe your cutters are fine. We have an expensive Grainger industrial grinder in the shop but my inexpensive Delta bench top grinder at home does just as good of a job, have had it for 15 years plus. Set the tool rest as close to the wheel as possible so the housing doesn’t vibrate, lightly grind as to not melt the rubber coating. Practice on a piece of scrap housing. Blindingly simple.

On the bike a file works. Best to use the old cable housing as a template, cut new to length, and grind the ends, but a file works.

Lightly coat the cable with Slick Honey, smooth as buttered silk. But that’s a different discussion.

Good luck


Thx. Good point on using the old housing as a guide for length. On a new build, could always have someone hold the frame for me for a few seconds as I grind the exposed brake cable from the bars. :)
I see a decent bench grinder on sale at my local canadian tire shop for about $49....

[559Rando]

I've had my Parks for years. They're "fine". I've handled the Felco and those are "very, very nice" but for my infrequent use, I won't bother to upgrade. If you're just buying your first set and can justify the additional expense, go for the Felco!

[cmbicycles]

So has anyone tried both the knipex and felco? Either better than the other? Price looks similar.

I have both. Knipex live on my repair stand, Felco in the tool box. Both are high quality cutters, and will do the job equally well, but the Knipex has a crimper for cables and housing so I favor having that one within easy reach.

The direction you hold the cutters matter for clean cuts, but you can always nip the end off if need be as well. They should be held blades parallel to the brake cable windings for a cleaner cut, but decent wire cutters can do as good of a job on brake housing. Derailleur housing is always best with the cable cutters, I keep a sharpened spoke for opening up the inner liner if needed.

[Schredder]

My pedros work just fine.

[geeter]

Wow, thanks everyone for the tremendous feedback! I don't know if I am more unsure of what to buy now, but I appreciate all the suggestions!

[Dino Suegiù]

Wow, thanks everyone for the tremendous feedback! I don't know if I am more unsure of what to buy now, but I appreciate all the suggestions!
For home/occasional use, honestly any of the cutters listed in this thread. They are all very good and will all last a lifetime. Any of these mentioned + a reamer + a flat file, and you're good to go.

The difference between even the most "humble" cycling-specific Park/Pedros/etc cutters and basic hardware store "wire cutters" is measured in light-years, whereas Pedro's/Park/etc to Knipex/Felco/etc is very close esp for home/occasional use.

It's really a budget and aesthetic decision (or if one already owns some brand and is completely "brand-loyal") at these levels.

[robertbb]

Surprised the SRAM tool hasn't got a mention. It produces very clean cuts, and has an awl built into the handle to pry open the squished liner after the cut is made. Also has two sizes of cable crimper built in.

https://www.amazon.com/SRAM-Cable-Housing-Cutter-Tool/dp/B00554362U

(I'm a Campy guy through and through. Wouldn't touch SRAM components with a 10 foot pole, but this tool is very nice.)

[Dekonick]

shifter housing is a little easier to cut, but i've tried a few cutters now, and have yet to find something that does a cleaner job than a dremel and cut-off wheel.

Totally agree. This is what I do at work for anything cable related. Sometimes just a 'slightly' larger wheel...

Don't laugh, but a dremel with a wheel will cut rope too... If you can't find the rope knife. (essentially a hot element to melt the rope)

[benb]

I had to take my Park cutters apart and relubricate and clean them... after 18 years of home use. They seem like they should last forever in home use unless you aren't really a cyclist and your hobby is fixing other people's bikes.

Most of these you can take them apart and resharpen the cutting jaws anyway! No real excuse for getting a new one.

I sometimes use the dremel to fix the ends of brake housing. But it also seems there's a little bit of technique in that and if you cut things just right you can do it without closing up the end of the housing. In my experience if you don't have a clean cut using a grinder is much superior compared to trying to open it up with a nail/awl, etc..

[dddd]

I can't over-emphasize how much that the improvement offered by new cables/housings is immediately compromised by any sort of gritty contaminant.

So, using a bench grinder or Dremel, the end of the housing is immediately flooded with 10's of thousands of grit particles that are certain to end up along the cable's otherwise-smooth path.

Now I should mention that I do sometimes use the bench grinder in this way, but only on used housing that I will always subsequently flush out with Teflon/solvent spray lube, using a bent-up cable to provide "mobilizing" or scrubbing force against already-extant contamination.

The practical approach is to first realize that gear and brake housing have very different cut requirements. Gear housing is used with ferrules (at least all of the good ferrules) having a soft cushion ring for the ends of the wires to settle/dig into during the initial pre-stressing of the installed cabling. No smoothing of the strand ends is needed here, and none is really desirable, since it prevents the wires from settling into the plastic ring and thus evening out the strand-to-strand compressive forces for a most-robust service interval that requires a minimum of adjustment.

Brake cable housing is best cut with the two-cut technique that I almost always rely on, but which can be supplemented with a few swipes of a file (not a grinding stone) if needed for a solid seating under the tension force of the cable. Note that the file doesn't put a cloud of abrasive dust into the housing, in fact one can use gravity to keep almost any of the shavings from falling into the housing.
Mastering a good 2-cut means first getting the first cut started with the cutter's edge getting between two adjacent coils, which prevents crushing any coil. I give the housing a bit of bend and/or twist until the cutter finds it's way between coils. The second cut of the 2-cut method involves rotating the housing until the burr end snags one of the cutter edges, then holding some resisting force as the cutter is then closed over the protruding burr. This quick 2-step method gives surprisingly good, square seating for the end of the housing and wastes very little time, while not contaminating the ever-so-precious cleanliness of the cable's almost frictionless path against the housing's polymer liner.

I have to say that I prefer Shimano's sealed housing ferrules over all others for their precision, effectiveness and stealth. These keep dust from literally blowing through the inside of the housing as there will be air pressure differences at the two ends of each length of housing. There is a metal version of Shimano's sealed ferrule for use at the rear derailer if some added resistance to trauma is needed, but I find the plastic ones to be durable even there if the housing is cut to the right length for a straight exit from the derailer's housing stop or adjusting barrel.
Note that cheaper cable sets (even Shimano's) don't have sealed ferrules. But often the used sealed ones still have their sealing ring in good enough condition to re-use, noting that these sealed ferrules are carefully engineered and were never a cheap item.
It's most important to use clean, new housing at the rear derailer's cable "loop" because not only is the radius there tighter, but because any friction force there acts along a much greater length of cable versus the longer housing "upstream" at the lever. And, that two-way friction force affects cable tension moving in both directions to create the greatest elastic hysteretic error in the derailer's movement vs. the shift lever's accurate movement.

Pic below showing dry ptfe/solvent spray, the bent-up cable and the SRAM silicone/ptfe cable/path lube. Shimano also sells a similar cable-specific lubricant, both are formulated for the specific requirements of the metal-to-plastic interface found along the cable's path.

https://live.staticflickr.com/5111/7211193312_650d0f2591_c.jpg