Bicycle Mechanics - Installing Dura Ace lever hoods

I'm doing a cosmetic overhaul on my Dura Ace 7703 brifters. I bought new hoods, and have tried to install them the only way it looks possible -- "ass first" (handlebar clamp end of shifter body through the lever blade end of the hood opening). Problem is, it's snug. Really snug. My first inclination is to soften the hoods in a cup of very hot water, then pull them on, but I want to make sure that's not going to harm anything?

Is this the correct approach?

Thanks

Pete

I just slowly work at it - stretching, stretching, swearing, stretching...maybe a bit of talcum-powder, stretching, swearing...POP!

I would think cold water would be better, since hot rubber would be stickier. That's what I used to use when installing BMX handgrips.

Dish soap works, too. I swear I'll track down the first one to claim his brand of dish soap is better than....

Dish soap works, too. I swear I'll track down the first one to claim his brand of dish soap is better than....
The problem with dish-soap (or talcum powder) IMO, is they don't evaporate away like water, and may allow the grips to shift later.

Dawn is better.

Actually I don't use anything. I just turn on the boob-tube, find something pathetic to watch, and settle in for some swearing & stretching.

i have had success with rubbing alcahol. makes the rubber slippery and evaporates fast.

i have had success with rubbing alcahol. makes the rubber slippery and evaporates fast.
But doesn't rubbing alcohol tend to cause materials like rubber to break down prematurely? It's pretty corrosive stuff compared to cold water.

Iso-Propanol - aka "rubbing alcohol" - isn't corrosive to rubber-compounds. It mimics an alkaline, which gives it it's seeming slipperiness. It shouldn't harm rubber for short-term usage. If it helps - go for it.

In chemistry we always need to build glassware-sets for reactions. This often requires getting rubber-tubing to fit glass and metal parts. For this we always use cold water. It works.

Dish soap is terrible. I read about this so-called great idea once on an internet forum. It should be struck from people's minds. Horrible. Yes, the hoods go on alot easier, but you get out on the road and the hoods slide around. They do NOT stay in place.

In this shot we have an hour's worth of my labor: NOS Campagnolo Super Record brake-levers v. Aftermarket brake-hoods. I was quite convinced they would tear - on numerous moments. But.....

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp323/nagognog/IMG_0104.jpg