How can I join two or more small cables (e.g. bike shift or brake cables) to make a longer one? Answered

I have used chocolate block electrical connectors before. They come in various sizes and are cheap. You can cut the plastic off and just use the individual brass connectors

I used a non insulated wire butt connector to connect my cables and it works amazing

Use a steel cable splicer. They're available in a variety of sizes work very well and they are relatively chea.

Proper splicing of ropes is a useful art to learn.

i have solved this problem 2 ways. the first was soldering the 2 cables together. this looks cleaner, but bike cables don't like to solder very well and it's kind of a pain. the second, and easier way, is copper tubing. go to the store and buy the smallest diamater copper tubing you can find. insert both ends of the cable into the copper tube, and smash the hole thing with a pair of pliers. then add extra crimps at regular intervals with a pair of sidecutter pliers.

Make a loop in the endsto be joined, and loop one through the other or use a small turnbuckle to join and tension them. Close the loops with a cable clamp, or swage.

+1 what ork says

I'd hook the ends of each into a screw tensioner, looping the ends back and clamping them to the cable somehow to form a loop. That would also let you adjust the tension, of course.