Home Depot substitute for brake cable end crimps?
 

If I want a few end crimps for brake/shifter cables, what's a good hardware store-available substitute rather than having to get a package of proper bicycle cable crimp ends off ebay etc?

Thanks.

You could solder the end of the cable to keep it from fraying.

Or just get some on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$7

My friends at my LBS often gave me a few before I bought my own bottle.

I purchased that exact product several years ago and am about to need to re-order. They've worked fine and are cheap enough to generally not tempt me to reuse one after removing from the bike. I can't swear that I've never reused one...but these are cheap and work good.

Heat shrink tubing?

there is no good substitute and I have had no luck with soldering stainless even with flux

some things are not worth mucking around with

It can be done but requires that the cable be clean of oil/grease and the iron is a good one (I use an industrial one from my R/C days).
But personally I use crimp ends. Too much bother

I am worse at soldering than I am at bar taping.

100 of those thingies for $7 is a lifetime supply for me (especially since the primary ride is Di2).

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass...t-shot-weights
1/50oz is about the smallest I've seen at a local sports store.

Or, if that's too expensive, here is a pack of 100 for only $5: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CMJG5PF...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

I've been using heat shrink tubing for years.

I've gotten crimp ends from every bike shop in my area at one time or another. Some gave me a couple free since I was buying other things at the time. Another charged me a dollar for four. Probably not worth the time or cost of the paper to print the receipt. But it sure beat having a container of them lost somewhere in my shop and having to go to the bike shop to get some till I can find my seldom used and lost container of them.

I used to ride with a guy who crimped old spoke nipples to the end of his cables.

Having said that, a drop of super glue can also hold the cut end together well.

However, I use the right part for the job - cable end caps crimped on. Why mess around with anything else when the simplest solution is right at the LBS?

I welded a cable end once just to see how easy it was. My welder is lift-arc and it was annoying difficult to get my arc started because, you know, it's a flexible cable. I think I used the lowest possible amperage for the shortest possible time and it worked a treat. Obviously not in any way worth the trouble.

In the past I've used either heat shrink tubing or butt splice wire connectors. Either one should be available at any hardware store.

"Duck" Tape...works great

Not available at a hardware store, but these $18 Cable Cherries sure look purty:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b7023cacd9.png

I use 3/32” heat shrink tubing for cable ends.

Dan

Yea, I often use shrink tubing that is available most places that sell hardware, and electrical supply stores. You can add a little color to the end of the cable if so inclined as well.

If you happen to be installing a cable at a time when the LBS isn't open or it's not worth the drive to get there. That said, I always try to keep a bunch of them and rarely dont have one. I also re-use them if possible, just because, and also have a bunch of shrink tubing for if I happen to run out. If none of the above, and the LBS wasn't an option or inconvenient. I'd just cut it a little long, fold a little tape over the end until a better solution came up, and trim it down to a clean end at that time if necessary.

Pop rivets
 

Since I have a supply of these in aluminum, I’ve used them. The solid actuating pin slides off. IIRC 3/32 but measure, my memory is fading fast.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...57499e764b.png

Wire butt connectors.

I'm in the heat shrink camp. I've even been able to keep the heat shrink on the cable after pulling it through the housing. A Bic lighter to shrink it.

Maybe just go down to your local shop and they might just give you a couple. No need to faff about trying to find alternatives to something that does not need it and wouldn't benefit from something different.