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My bike is only 7 months old, but the front derailleur cable fibres are becoming loose i.e. the individual thin metal fibres twised together to form the cable are loosing out. I think I have lost the metal cap which was holding the twisted end of the cable so that those fibres stay twisted. How can I fix this? Could anyone suggest?
TA
You can buy cable caps separately, they're actually meant to be crimped on so you can fix them with a crimper or pliers.
I know Park tools do something which is basically a really sharp wire cutter, should prevent fraying in the first place. This tool is showing on their site now but I have one (bought many years ago) which looks a bit different.
You shouldn't need to resort to duct tape!
A lot of bike shops will give you a few if you ask and buy something else on your way out. You They are soft aluminum and are a dime a dozen. You could bite them on or you can use pliers.
Just twist your cable strands back in place and then crimp away.
You can use JB Weld to prevent further unraveling. Work it into the fibers, and wrap with duct tape to hold tight while it cures.
I think I found the solution. I lost my cable crimps and need to fix it probably by duct taping it and also using anti-fray caps.
I ran out of cable ends on day and used superglue. Worked surprisingly well.
Heat shrink tubing is my favorite when I can't find any metal aglets, or end caps. Twist the cable 'fibres' back into position if you can, cut the cable end cleanly with the proper tool, and slip on the tubing. A quick zap with a butane lighter and it seals right up clean. Even if the cable end is partially disarrayed, a slightly larger tube can seal up the ragged ends, too.
Back in the day, cable ends were soldered. You could easily do the same thing with standard pipe solder. But the easiest solution is to roll past your LBS and ask them for a cable end which they will likely install for free.
