Cable Ties on frames – who smooths theirs after cutting?

Haven’t you heard, Cobra ties are what all the cool kids are using. Low profile.

Three_Fish – Member
I use a small piece of 5mm tubing to hold onto cables/hoses. Much neater and more secure. Excess cable tie cut flush with a sharp blade.

Great tip. You can also use make DIY cable guides using cable ties and a section of plastic ferrules.

I Use a dedicated tie wrap tool i get from work,works like a ratchet too first tighten tie in place, the rotate tool and it snips excess off, so it sits below the main part of tie wrap no sharp bits!!

I’ve been in the garage experimenting and have found:

Cable cutters: leave a sharp edge, which is what this is all about.

Nail clippers: couldn’t get low enough so they still left a sharp edge, not as bad as cable cutters, but you still cut yourself. Finished off with a needle file and the finish was perfect.

Side cutters: not bad. I couldn’t get them into the end of the tie so there was a still a small sharp edge. Finished off with a needle file.

Twisting: the best initial results but it leaves a raised bobble which could slice a finger. Finished off with a needle file.

Toenail clippers: found these in the bathroom cabinet, the ones that look like small pliers. Got nicely into the end of the cable tie and left a smooth finish. The quickest out of the lot as no finishing with a file needed. I’ve just been round all the bikes and trimmed the cable ties with them.

I generally thread them so that the block will be least visable, spin them to mount, cut with the first cutting device that comes to hand then rotate the block to the other side / least visable location of the stay/tube/fork/crown/stem or whatever.

I use cable cutters.

*looks at scar on inner thigh….*