Park Tool CN-10: Well-Designed and Useful Cycling Tool

Park Tool CN-10 Professional Cable and Housing Cutter

If you, as do I, have several bicycles around the house and the garage and have come to the realization that you'd much rather perform your own normal maintenance out in the garage than go without your bike for a week, one of the critical tools you're going to need in your bike maintenance arsenal is a cable and housing cutter. Don’t be like me: the first few times I replaced a shift cable, I dug my ordinary wire cutters out of my toolbox. The result was a nightmare threading the cables through the housings and fitting a ferrule on the cut end. I've even tried using a dab of solder to “silver” the end of the cable.

That was before I realized that the cable housings on both shift cables were cracked and crazed and realized that the next time I changed a cable I’d need to cut the housings, too. That’s when a Park Tool CN-10 Professional Cable and Housing Cutter appeared on my repair stand. Yeah, it seems pricey; but you can make back the investment with the savings from just a couple of repair trips to your LBS to replace a cable, especially if you also need to replace the housing. That stuff’s harder to cut than cable (though some say you can use a Dremel®, which costs more than this tool for whatever that's worth). You can also, supposedly, cut cables with bolt cutters but – again – it’s still another tool to buy.

The biggest difference for me is in cutting the cable. Unlike the frayed ends I’d gotten with ordinary wire cutters, the end cut is clean (see the picture). The cables are also cleanly cut with square ends, which is important for indexed shifters. I like that the cutter has a handy feature for re-forming the cable ends – making them round again – and also has a crimper for the end caps that keep cut cable ends from scratching your ankles or fraying. Although mine probably won’t ever need this feature, the jaws are adjustable to correct for wear.

After replacing both shift cables and cable housings on my road bike (note -- I haven't replaced brake cables), I’m convinced I made a good purchase. With two other road bikes and an assortment of hybrids in the house, I expect I’ll need it again (I’ve already needed it twice this summer). This is one tool that belongs right next to the chain tool, chain cleaner, and three-way hex wrench.

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