Park ToolCN-10 Pro Cable and Housing Cutter Tool

Good quality tool

It's good

£30 is quite a lot for a tool that most non-professionals probably won't use more than a few times but at least you get a decent quality pair of cutters that will do the job neatly. The steel in bicycle cable guides is hard and the many tight strands are difficult to cut through with any other tool you could hold in one hand (although I reckon you could probably just saw through them without much drama).These would also be suitable for cutting other things that are just out of the comfort zone of pliers like thin chains, tough plastic-coated wire like clothesline or the cables used to install handlebar bag brackets, and maybe even shackles on very small padlocks. The shape of the jaws would also make them good for cutting though those thicker zip ties like you see on scaffolding. I tried to use them on mudguard stays but they were not quite burly enough for that.

What can I say? it's Park Tool! Pretty much the best of the best when it comes to tools. The cutters are great. Yes you are paying a premium but they are far better from other brands that destroy your cable housing instead of cutting it. The cutter did do It's job but in most cuts even at the preferred angle it did cause some bad cuts. What i would do is i'd leave a decent amount of cable maybe 15cm's extra just to practice the cutting. You would rather have it a bit long rather than having the cable too short.

I don't use cable cutters all the time currently a couple of times a year. Having previously cut the cable with and old pair of pliers and the outer using an Dremmel, which is a bit of a faff, I decided to buy atool specific to the task. They are excellent, solid and beautifully made. They feel like they’ll last forever, I think that they will see me out. On the trial cuts that I have done they cut cleanly and without crushing the outer covering.

Having decided it was time to replace a gear cable on my road bike, I had tried using the snipping part on my pliers. That was a mistake - I mangled the cable but couldn't cut it cleanly, and I mashed up the cable outer.These cable cutters are the right tool for the job, and that's it. With the right tools, any job becomes simpler and easier to accomplish.

For something which has had a several uses for 2 bikes' cabling, this has been faultless. After much research for alternatives, I can only reiterate several others' comments: would you make life difficult for yourself with something a little cheaper and a little worse?