5 Best Bike Cable Cutter For The Money

Swapping and replacing your bike’s cables is one of the simplest works that you can easily do at home and even by yourself. We do it often as it is a part of regular bike conservation and very much needed to keep the bike in the most excellent state. If you notice that there is a frayed and worn-out cable beside the anchor of the cable, it needs to be replaced ASAP.

The job can be pretty easy by utilizing the equipment you need. When the wire gets frayed, worn out, and sticky, cutting and replacing it loose is the best thing you can do. The tools you need are ferrules, new cables, and a cable cutter for replacing them.

So to make the work more accessible, we are listing the top 5 best bike cable cutters for you. With these outstanding cutters, you will experience fast, clean, and pretty much effortless cuts while fixing your bike.

In a rush! check out the hotlist below for the Best Bike Cable Cutter: (Affiliate links)

• Park Tool CN-10 Pro Cable And Housing Cutter Tool (Click here to view)
• Felco Cable Cutter (F C3) (Click here to view)
• IceToolz Cable Cutters
• Knipex Tools 95 61 190 SBA Bike Brake Cable Cutters
• Crescent H.K. Porter Wire/Cable Cutter

Best Bike Cable Cutter

In my riding and driving career, I have used tons of tools in my life. But, I think the tool I used most is cable cutters. To do any mechanical tuning, you will need the perfect bike cable cutter.

Let’s analyze my top choices for the best cable cutter in this roundup wire cutters review.

Park Tool CN-10 Pro Cable And Housing Cutter Tool

This one is every biker’s preferred fixing tool these days. The reason it is top on our list is for its clean and precise cable cut.

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Furthermore, it is designed for both housing and cable, robust to cut.

1. Sharp Cutting Jaws

The cutter’s jaws provide exceptional cutting and high-precision because it is cold-forged. It is manufactured for power and showcases a higher level of durability; even bike repair stations use this cable cutter. It is long-lasting and heavy.

2. Heat Treated Steel Handles

What I liked most about this cable cutter are its steel handles that are heat treated. It will help you with improving strength and grip for accurate and precise cutting. You won’t ever get injured as they are easy to hold on to and press.

3. Built-In Crimper

It is equipped with a built-in crimper in the cutter that is used for caps and cables. You can also use this for forming holes for ferrules and housing ends.

Felco Cable Cutter (F C3)

If you are looking for a high-quality, proven, and trusted brand for a better cable cutter. In that case, nothing can be better than a Felco Cable Cutter. This brand has been manufacturing cable cutters for 70 years now and has already mastered the art and technology for making top-notch cable cutters.

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Why Is This The Top Pick?

Ergonomic Design

This cable cutter is the first on our list with an ergonomic design. It will provide comfort to your hand and give you the best convenient grip while cutting your wires and cables. The cutter is constructed with high-quality materials to provide the best cutting performance.

Design is the most important factor for the user-friendliness of a tool. In fact, the best bike brake cable cutter must be made with a perfect, easy-to-use design.

High-Grade Steel

It is incorporated with a high-grade steel component coupled with an impressive handle to make the work more accessible and comfortable. You can use it for cutting copper cable for a circuit breaker and adjusting the brake cable rope. It is versatile.

Non-Slip Handles

The design features all the easily replaceable parts. The cutter has a plastic non-slip grip for easy cutting. It can be maintained with synthetic lubricant to increase the longevity of the cutter. This cutter is sure to last for a long time.

IceToolz Cable Cutters

If you are looking for a versatile cable cutter, this one will be the right choice because you can use this for both outdoor and indoor bikes.

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Why Is This The Top Pick?

Design

The cutter is designed with simple metal and black design with the printed manufacturer logo on one side of the gripper. The thumb-lock closure ergonomic design is easy to open, and it will protect the cutter when you are not using it.

Spring Suspension

It has a spring suspension right in the middle to control force and movement while cutting the cables. You can also find a silver medal for locking purposes at the end of this cable cutter.

Versatile

It is ideal for cutting both cables and casings. You can use it for mountain, road and even racing bikes. With this cable cutter, you will never have to worry about the bike cable fraying, etc. Repairing is so much easy with it.

Finally, it the is best road bike cables and housing cutter at medium range price.

Knipex Tools 95 61 190 SBA Bike Brake Cable Cutters

This is another cable cutter that can be relied on, sleek, slim, and kind of simple when it comes to design.

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Why Is This The Top Pick?

Rubber Handles

The handle is built of rubber to provide you with a comfortable grip. Both sides of the gripper feature a slightly bent design to promote a simpler and better grip while you are cutting cable house or regular cable.

Design

The cable cutter comes in a red shade. It can be easily recognized along with the other bike repairing equipment. The overall shape, structure, and design will provide a clean cut. The round edge of the tool is meant for the cable incising tool.

Versatile

When you use this tool, you will notice that it gives you a proper and accurate cut. It can cut a lot of types of cable as it is versatile. It can cut cold, round, and even square cords with a proper cut.

Crescent H.K. Porter Wire/Cable Cutter

This is highly dependable and affordable cable cutter from H.K. Porter is perfect for your bike. At a lower price, you will get both durability and quality.

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Why Is This The Top Pick?

Materials

This cutter is durable as the cable end caps are made of premium aluminium alloy. The end caps are solid and stable so that you can use them for a long time. The cutter is very lightweight and easy to carry as well as cut.

Liner Needle

The cable cutter is equipped with a liner needle.  The built-in crimper and needle are used for reshaping and polishing your regular cables and cable housing after the cut. Thus, it comes out clean.

Superior Cutting

It is constructed to give you a superior cutting experience along with its sharp and powerful blades. The liner needle and blades feature a chrome-plated carbon steel material.

The handle is made of rubber to hold it together even if you are disintegrating a very hard cable.

How To Pick The Best Bike Cable Cutter?

When it comes to buying the best cable cutter for a bike, there are things you always need to consider. We are going to discuss all the features you need in a cable cutter.

Materials: 

It should be the number one consideration when you buy anything. The cable cutter must have high-quality materials to provide you with an ideal and precise cut. It would help if you looked for metals that do not rust and handle hard and complex cables. The material you should look for most is stainless steel.

Sharpness: 

The best cable cutters always have an outstanding edge. You would not want to buy something that wouldn’t do its job properly. And cable cutters are required to be sharp to perform their job precisely. So you must consider the sharpness while you are buying a cable cutter.

Handle:

This is another essential feature that you should look out for in a cable cutter. Because the handle can provide you with a comfortable grip, you are sure to mess up without it. You should search for handles with rubberized or cushioned designs to add a layer of comfort to your hands.

You can also look out for a non-slip feature. Also, they are manufacturers who manufacture cable cutters with heat treat technology and ergonomic design.

How To Cut Bike Cable Without Cable Cutters?

A bike cable cutter is a special kind of tool needed when you are replacing your bike or cable housing cables. It provides you with a clean and precise cutting that your bike needs for regular maintenance. Most amateur bikers directly rely on reliable MTB cable cutters, but an experienced one doesn’t need any cutter.

That is to say, you don’t need a cable cutter to cut your bike’s cables. If you lack the cutter, you can easily cut your bike cables. All you need is a good pair of lineman pliers. Or a regular wire cutter can also do the job. After getting a plier, place the bike cables inside the plier’s cutting surface. Now give it a purposeful and robust cut (please use a hammer too) to get the clean cut.

However, we recommend you do the job with a cable cutter if you are not experienced enough. Using pliers can lead to an unsmooth cut and may fray even more. This technique is for people with a lot of experience.

Why Do You Need A Quality Cable Cutter?

A cable (even a small diameter wire) usually consists of strands of tiny individual wires. They are put together in an overlapping fashion to make the lengths of mechanical cables. The typical construction is the 7 x 19 style (7 bundles of 19 individual wires are put together). It is well known because it is flexible and robust.

Cables are used in many things, starting from all electronic equipment to your bikes and all. You can’t imagine a life without wires.

Sometimes the cable gets frayed, and they need to be repaired; however, in most cases where the fitting is used with wires, you need to replace them. You need to be careful that the individual wires of the cable do not spread out or fray after cutting. Frayed or spread-out cable ends are nearly impossible to fit onto the minimal diameter of the cable fittings. They can lead to further damage if not fit properly.

Cutting the cables with a very sharp-featured cable is important when you have to do clean and precise cuts. That’s where a quality cable cutter comes in handy. It is much easier to fit a cut cable that tends to have no spread-out or frayed edge. We can use any of the bike cable cutters we have recommended before.

Are Brake And Shifter Cables The Same?

First of all, no, they both are not the same. Brake cables and shifter cables come in many different types. They are often too overlooked when you are setting up a drivetrain. Here I will be discussing the main differences between these two.

1. Brake Cables:

Brake cables are usually the thicker ones and are 1.5/1.6 mm in diameter. Brake cables are built around a wire that coils down through the length of the wire. This type of structure provides a good strength which is very much needed for the power generated by the brake lever.

The cables come with a choice of three different heads. One for flat/mountain bar brake levers, one for Campagnolo drop/road bar brake levers, and another for Shimano drop/road bar brake levers (these are compatible with non-Shimano levers). A Shimano cable is a bit bigger than a crampy head. However, they can be divided into three categories.

• Mountain Brake Cable.
• Campagnolo Brake Cable.
• Shimano Brake Cable.

2. Shifter Cables:

Shifter cables may look the same as brake cables from the outside. Shifter cables are built in many different lengths and size-wise running cables, making the cables’ compression less’. It aids in the feeling of shifting. It is also very much needed on today’s 8, 9, 10, and 11-speed cassettes.

Shifter sets and new bikes always tend to have 4mm shifter cables. These cables also come in two different outside diameters, which are 4mm and 5mm. Most 4mm cables have plastic ferrules, and you will notice them at the ends. On the other hand, 5mm cables have metal ferrules.

Other variations of shifter cables consist of cables made from a lot of aluminium segments. Aluminium cables are reusable, lightweight and stiff.

How Do I Clean My Bike Cable Housing?

If you mostly ride in dirt and mud, you will need to clean your cables to brake and shift smoothly. Worn-out and messy cables can create many problems while braking and turning your bike. Or else it can lead to accidents too. So in this section, we are going to discuss how you should clean them.

• First, you should dial the cable-tension adjuster down right at the handlebar. This will put the cable in the starting position. Please do it clockwise when it is viewed from the cable. Then you should turn it back in only one turn

• At the far end, you should undo the cable at the derailleur or the brake by slowly loosening the bolt on the retaining clip.

• Then it would be best if you took out the cap. By using needle-nose pliers, you need to grasp the shaft of the lid on the sides of the crimp marks. Then we need you to squeeze until the shaft of the cap rounds up and can rotate freely on the wire.

• If you find a rubber boot, please slide it off. You also should check for tears and holes. Because a damaged boot lets the mud in and holds it there, get a replacement if it is damaged.

• You should slide the cable housing caps away from the housing. Then we need you to slide the housing and caps from the cable.

• Please make sure to keep all the pieces organized. If you lose any, you will need to get a replacement. Do not mix up all of them.

• Degrease the cable.
• Then you have to lube the cables with a wax-based lube.
• Clean the cable, and wash the boots with soap and water.
• Then put the parts back together.

There you go. You have cleaned your bike cables.

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How Often Should You Replace Your Bike Cables?

First of all, you should inspect your bike regularly to check the fray. For riding every 1500 to 2500 kilometres, you should pay close attention to your bike’s cables. Do this, especially if you are running at a speed of 11 or 10.

You will feel the need to change your cables when you notice that the shifting feels much softer. The chain is starting to jump between the cogs when you are adjusting continuously.

You will know that it is pretty easy to recognize when you need to change the cable as you can notice shifting problems and cable fraying while you are biking. If we are talking about normal circumstances, brake cables need to be replaced every 2 to 3 years.

Conclusion

Fraying and spreading out cables of the bike is a typical problem of bikes. And fixing them is pretty tricky without the proper equipment around you. We discussed the best bike cable cutters out in the market to help you replace your cables easily.

These products are ranked the best by users and customers. I hope you enjoy your work while using them.