Can we talk about Park Tool's cable cutter that costs $60?

I finally broke down and bought the Park Tool CN-10 cable cutter after destroying three cheap ones from Amazon in six months. The $60 hurt at checkout, but after one clean cut on a Jagwire shift cable in Phoenix last week, I get it now. No fraying, no wrestling, just done. Anyone else think the price is worth it or am I just drinking the Park Tool Kool-Aid?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie1mo ago

Used to laugh at anyone spending that much on cutters. Picked one up last year after shredding a brake cable on a gravel ride and now I won't use anything else.

caseym481mo ago

Wait, did you mean you were a gravel ride or a road ride when the cable broke... I only ask cause most of us on gravel bikes have been using some fancy cutters for years now, but the guy I know who broke his brake cable on a road ride said it was a total fluke cause he was hauling ass downhill. Anyway, your point still stands though... once you drop money on a quality pair you never go back. I used to borrow my buddy's cheap ones and they'd just crush the housing instead of cutting clean. There's a big difference between a $25 pair and a $60 pair, but honestly the real trick is keeping them sharp and not using them on anything but cables.

hugo8251mo ago

A buddy of mine named Dave spent $70 on a pair of Park Tool cutters a few years back. He kept them in a little zipper pouch inside his tool box, wouldn't even let me borrow them without watching me. @caseym48, I think you're right about the difference between the cheap ones and the decent ones. Dave's old cutters just mashed the housing like a bad crimp, but the new ones snip through Shimano housing like butter. Last month he accidentally grabbed his wife's kitchen scissors to cut a zip tie and his wife still brings it up at dinner.