Coupe GT Hood release cable *snap*

[Jim Haseltine]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Hall" <badcomrade at gmail.com>

> Finally happened.  Pulled the hood release lever either a little too
> hard or a little to fast, and the ball end poped off the cable.  The
> broken end looks pretty easy to remove, and when I pulled on the
> sleeve of the cable, I seem to have plenty of slack... so I was just
> wondering is there an easy way to attach a new end on to the cable?  I
> imagine there are tools out there for attaching those things to
> cable... bike shops probably use them daily for handbrake levers, etc.

Not anymore they don't, not in the UK anyway. Can't remember the last time 
that I custom-made a cable - 10 years ago maybe. Most bike shops don't have 
the parts or the tools for this task anymore and few of their staff would 
know how to use them.

The bonnet release cable is actually a single strand wire whereas bike 
cables are multi-strand Bowden cable. Soldering a nipple that will survive 
use to Bowden cable is difficult enough - to single-strand it's almost 
impossible unless the cable is _very_ clean and the person doing the 
soldering has the skill to get everything at the correct temperature, too 
hot or too cold and the solder won't stick.

Much easier and much cheaper to buy a new release cable.

Regards,

Jim Haseltine