There seems to be 2 options:
Cable ties
Little plastic clips

But if I was being really, really choosy building a bike up I wouldn’t use either because the clips are crap and fall off and cable ties look cheap and tacky.

Does anyone know of anything as neat as the plastic clips but more secure?

There are metal ones available. In cool ano colours too.

Where? You’ll have to find ’em, I’ve no idea!

APF

SRAM make these. The cable tie end is hidden in the clip when in use

You my friend need some of this 😉

Look no cables 😉

Not on a flat barred tourer I don’t!

Timba, thanks, they look just the thing. 🙂

Edit, no, they don’t. They look like they are substitutes for braze ons. Bugger

I’ve seen the anodized clips but opted not to get any as they are expensive in the colour I wanted (purple) and since they need to flex a lot to get on I could see me breaking them.

I do agree the plastic ones are a bit pants. I lost one when my derailleur hanger snapped and another when I caught the a cable on a bush.

But to cover this I went on ebay and bought a pack of 25 for 2.80.

I’d have thought the anodized clips are more likely to chip the paintwork as they will flex less when fitting.

Do zip ties really look that bad?

Double post

It’s an example of the Princess and the PeterPoddy syndrome.

Maybe something at http://www.paragonmachineworks.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&searchstart=18&category=0003

I use the mowa c clips, they are the aluminium ones, they can chip the paint on the framewhen you put them on, but never had one snap,
Last for ages.
Buy them off ebay for less than a fiver.
mowa c clips

I’ve used the aluminium ones before (Mowa I believe as linked above).
I’m not sure I would again. Only changed cables once but got the distinct feeling they wouldn’t fit again as they stretch in fitting and seemed very brittle. Did look nice though.

How about ribbons from presents tied in little bows?