I am replacing the brake cables on my daughters bike. They are Shimano cables. One side of the cable is like the left picture and the other is like the right picture.
Do I just clip off the end that I don’t need?
by hol01003
I am replacing the brake cables on my daughters bike. They are Shimano cables. One side of the cable is like the left picture and the other is like the right picture.
Do I just clip off the end that I don’t need?
by hol01003
9 Comments
Yes, that cable is designed to work with either mtb or road levers
Yep, just clip the end that you don’t need. Make sure you use a good set of cable cutters or it can be difficult to thread through the housing.
Yeah that’s exactly it. They make them this way so you don’t have to choose between “mountain” and “road”. You can just buy brake cables and use them for either.
Yes, as simple as that. Keep the one that matches what you had and get rid of the other one.
The rounded one is for road bike (drop bar) levers.
Universal cable; barrel is for flat bar levers, pear is for drops. Snip off the one you don’t need.
As others have pointed out, each end is for different types of brakes.
And as others have pointed out, this requires you to cut off the end you don’t need. Which if you don’t have the right cable cutters can be problematic.
I prefer to buy specific cables for the brakes I have so that the other end of the cable is welded to prevent fraying and threads through housings nicely.
If one can afford, buy Knipex
https://www.knipex.com/products/cable-and-wire-rope-shears/wire-rope-cutters-also-for-high-strength-wire-rope/wire-rope-cutters-also-high-strength-wire-rope/9562160TC
Does anyone use google anymore?
You can also dot some super glue on the cut end during installation. I kind of hate these because they always end up fraying when shoving through cable housing