bmx/mtb brake levers for road bars

[emilmh]

Hi,

What do i need to look for if i want to fit bmx style brake levers to a set of road 'drop' bars (or even bullhorns)? Are most standard bmx levers big enough to slide on teh drop bars and through the curves? or do i need something special (like levers with bar clamps that open up or something)?

Cheers,
Emil

[familyguy]

BMX and MTB levers are usually 22.2mm. Roadie bars are usually 23.8mm at the narrowest. Ask me how I know...and why I have 3 brake levers sitting idle. You'll need to make sure anything you buy fits road bar diameter.

Jim

[emilmh]

BMX and MTB levers are usually 22.2mm. Roadie bars are usually 23.8mm at the narrowest. Ask me how I know...and why I have 3 brake levers sitting idle. You'll need to make sure anything you buy fits road bar diameter.

Jim

thanks for the advise, sorry to hear about your bad luck.

I see so many fixies with bmx style brakes, do they buy them specifically for them?

[Nobody]

BMX and MTB levers are usually 22.2mm. Roadie bars are usually 23.8mm at the narrowest. Ask me how I know...and why I have 3 brake levers sitting idle. You'll need to make sure anything you buy fits road bar diameter.

Jim

thanks for the advise, sorry to hear about your bad luck.

I see so many fixies with bmx style brakes, do they buy them specifically for them?

http://www.paulcomp.com/elever.html

[.isaac.]

http://www.paulcomp.com/elever.html

Do these work well if you need to change from drops to top bar to get to them?

[Nobody]

Sorry, but I haven't used them.

If you want drop bar levers for linear pull (V) brakes then I do use the ones below and like them for both hoods and drops braking. (I actually have the Cane Creek re-badged ones at twice the price. From what I've read, they are the same. The CC ones even have the Tektro model number stamped on inside of the lever handle.)


http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=34840

[.isaac.]

Yeah, I am looking at these and I like them alot but I also like the clean brake look. I dont know which ones to use but I am thinking them^^.

[boyracer]

BMX and MTB levers are usually 22.2mm. Roadie bars are usually 23.8mm at the narrowest. Ask me how I know...and why I have 3 brake levers sitting idle. You'll need to make sure anything you buy fits road bar diameter.

Jim

I have milled out the clamp on plenty of these. or just patience and a rat tail file.

[surfin' addiction]

I have found that a lot of BMX and MTB were too big for road style bars and that they generally just didn't look 'the part'. I have found most bike stores that stock single finger levers and the like usually only have them in bright annodised colours or all black, which for my wasn't what I was looking for.

I run one of these http://tektro.com/02products/11ql.php on my bullhorns. It was a touch too big for the bars so I had to use a thin piece of rubber that actually came with on my Cateye computers for the same purpose to fill out the clamp. These actually have a hinged clamp too which is handy if you need to remove it for anything but don't wanna remove bar tap.

I had originally wanted them in just silver as I saw them on a Masi fixed gear as an OEM part but no one stocked them and those that had the black and silver ones told me I would not be able to source all silver. But after some asking around on eBay I found a group in the states that can supply all silver from Tektro as a special order, but the lead time was 45 days. So in the end I just bought black and silver through my LBS.

[Uncle Grumpy]

I have found most bike stores that stock single finger levers and the like usually only have them in bright annodised colours or all black, which for my wasn't what I was looking for.

Silver levers = Pretty anno levers + oven cleaner + polishing + time.

Sometimes you just gotta get your hands dirty to get what you really want.

And then after investing all that time and effort, you find what you were looking for on eBay after all.

Grumps

[surfin' addiction]

I have found most bike stores that stock single finger levers and the like usually only have them in bright annodised colours or all black, which for my wasn't what I was looking for.

Silver levers = Pretty anno levers + oven cleaner + polishing + time.

Sometimes you just gotta get your hands dirty to get what you really want.

And then after investing all that time and effort, you find what you were looking for on eBay after all.

Grumps

I have been down this street before with car parts and some bike parts. It was ok when I was still at Uni and had nothing better to do except sit around, drink beer and polish parts. And you could always find someone that was willing to help when paid in beers too. But now I have become part of the corporate machine free time is a bit more golden. So things like riding bikes, surfing and snowboarding take priority over polishing parts that can, as you said, be found on eBay.

[rustychisel]

Evil genius and others, the single best reason for using proper levers on drop bars, as shown by Nobody, is that they give you good hand positioning on the bars. A centremounted BMX lever or finger lever is great, especially for traffic jamming, but takes away that hand support that 2 brake levers give you. If you can ride in the drops (like track racing) or just with your hands on the tops, fine, but trust me, you'll find you want the alternate hand position if you do any kind of real riding.

If you have to keep it clean, then chopped and flopped drop bars with a centre finger lever works well, but there are other things to take into account with bar positioning, namely stem length and height of the bars.

[brauluver]

Evil genius and others, the single best reason for using proper levers on drop bars, as shown by Nobody, is that they give you good hand positioning on the bars. A centremounted BMX lever or finger lever is great, especially for traffic jamming, but takes away that hand support that 2 brake levers give you. If you can ride in the drops (like track racing) or just with your hands on the tops, fine, but trust me, you'll find you want the alternate hand position if you do any kind of real riding.

Testify!

Amen brother.

Drop style bars(on road) without hoods is like chips without salt!
Different scenario on a track specific bike though.
Go risers or bullhorns if riding the flats is your preference.

[j-ho]

I have found most bike stores that stock single finger levers and the like usually only have them in bright annodised colours or all black, which for my wasn't what I was looking for.

Silver levers = Pretty anno levers + oven cleaner + polishing + time.

Sometimes you just gotta get your hands dirty to get what you really want.

And then after investing all that time and effort, you find what you were looking for on eBay after all.

Grumps

I have been down this street before with car parts and some bike parts. It was ok when I was still at Uni and had nothing better to do except sit around, drink beer and polish parts. And you could always find someone that was willing to help when paid in beers too. But now I have become part of the corporate machine free time is a bit more golden. So things like riding bikes, surfing and snowboarding take priority over polishing parts that can, as you said, be found on eBay.

Go and see sasha at pony bikes in west melb. She has the smaller typr brsakes you are after, and will strip and polish a black one for a very minimal fee.

[surfin' addiction]

Hmm this intrigues me. I already have the black and silver Tektro's and have since bought them found them in all silver on eBay. But where about's in West Melb. is Pony bikes? I work just near Festival Hall so it may be close to me. I may drop the one I have off to be cleaned and polished to save myself some time and energy.

[.isaac.]

I have tried the normal drop bar brakes and want to try some track bike bars with some of these sort of brakes:

Does anyone know if I can buy those specialized brake separately to the bike? If I can't where can I find some in Melb that are good quality?
EDIT- I found the brakes on the Specialized site. Sadly they don't sell in Aus.

[Mulger bill]

Plenty of different brands EG. Search for cyclocross levers.

Shaun

[.isaac.]

yeah, I know that I can get some Soma levers for 30.

[jimsheedy]

If your using rounded track drop bars you might have trouble finding a comfortable position to fit standard road levers. A great solution is Dia compe shotgun levers. Have a look on chain reaction or wiggle. They come with a shim for different diameter bars.