Topeak Cable & Housing Cutter

The Topeak Cable & Housing Cutter is a solid tool with some good features for making cable work a breeze. It's strong, smooth in use and gives reliable cuts, though it doesn't have the greatest leverage available and the handle shaping is basic.

The Topeak Cable & Housing Cutter is a good answer for the home mechanic. The build quality is high, and the coiled spring feels pretty smooth. The catch that holds the cutter closed is also a handy way to hang them on a toolboard.

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There are two crimpers on the inside of the tool: one for inner cable caps, and one for outer ferrules. These are not that common these days, but it's useful for squashing outers back to perfectly-round, ready to accept the ferrule.

The tool needs a fairly hefty squeeze to snip through housings – slightly more than either my go-to vintage Japanese HIT cutters, or my Pedro's cutters. They're strong, however, and thickness of the jaw and pivot is such that even brake housing doesn't skew the blades: so as a pure cutting tool, it does the job.

The notable feature here is the 'Housing reformer'. This is a recessed spike, designed to open up the inner sheath to allow free movement of the inner cable. It works most of the time, but occasionally it simply pushed the PVC inner over to one side – you still need to make sure the inner sheath is more or less central.

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A new set of cables is the easiest, cheapest way to refresh your bike, and properly-cut cable outers are vital. If the cut isn't square, the outer will slowly dig into the ferrule and from the first ride you'll be tweaking the tension. So a good set of cable cutters are a great investment, and value-wise, the Topeak's £27.99 looks good against other quality brands.

Pedro's Cable Cutter is £35.99 and Park Tool's Professional Cable and Housing Cutters are £35 – the Park one comes with a lifetime warranty as opposed to Topeak or Pedro's two years, though. Shimano's TL-CT12s top them both at £49.99, though there's a far cheaper (if non bike-specific) option in the decent Draper Expert range for around £15.

If you're after a more compact, lighter tool with the housing inner reformer, and aren't fussed about lifetime warranty, save yourself £7 over the Park Tool and go for the Topeak – you won't be disappointed.

Verdict

Well-built and nicely featured tool for simplifying cable replacements