The Cable Cherries are a reusable, ergonomic and multi-colored bicycle cable end.

An aluminum sphere with a 1.5mm cup point set screw to pinch shift and brake cables, never letting go. A response to the ubiquitous crimp-on cable end that is hard to grab, often falls off, and guilty of poking unassuming fingers for decades.

Bicycle shops and direct retail customers with an affinity for mechanically driven, easily serviceable parts have been great customers: Over the past few years, Forager has made and sold over 10,000 pairs. The Cable Cherries are what led me to start Forager - sparking my interest in production machining, and design for manufacturing. They remain the bedrock of the company.

After years of doing my own bicycle maintenance I grew frustrated with the way a frayed cable end would complicate otherwise routine cable & component changes. Having not touched a mill or lathe since college, designing this small part felt within reach. I got to work. I made the first prototype without machine tools, tapping the M3 thread by hand to create a functional prototype. I bought a manual mill, and made enough to realize I needed to outsource the work for scaled production. It was a hard decision, I love to be intimately involved with the production process. The shop floor, where craft pushes and pulls with the broader process & supply chain is an exciting place to be.

Drawing for design patent application, 2020.