Had a customer show me a trick with electrical tape on shift cables last Thursday

Some guy rolled in with a 90s Bianchi he'd restored himself, and while I was routing new shift cables he just reached over and wrapped a tiny piece of electrical tape around the end before threading it through the housing. Said it keeps the strands from fraying and snagging on the liner. Blew my mind because I've been fighting frayed cables for like 7 years at this shop in Durham. Anyone else do something simple like that that most people overlook?

2 comments

2 Comments

evan_jenkins3d ago

Wait, you seriously never tried the tape trick before? That's wild, I've been doing that since I was a kid building bikes in my dad's garage. It's one of those stupid simple hacks that saves you twenty minutes of cussing and re-cutting cables. I use a little dab of super glue on the cut end sometimes too but the tape is way cleaner.

wade_perez3d ago

My dad used waxed dental floss on his cables back in the day... said it held the end tight and didn't leave any sticky residue behind like tape does. Kinda genius if you think about it since you just snip it flush and you're done.

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