Bicycle Mechanics - Brake Levers Touching Bars

On both my flatbar commuter and dropbar bike, the brake levers can be pulled all the way back to the bar tape, and have to be in order to engage the brakes. What is the adjustment to fix this? The commuter has cantis and the dropbar has calipers.

Tighten up the adjustment, so there is scant clearance between pad and rim,
when you let go of the lever.

this will put a premium on your wheels being kept, in true..

this being done with the cable fixing bolts rather than the adjustment barrels..
(screw those all the way in , first.)

Yep, sounds like the brake cable just needs to hve some slack taken out - there is too much room between the pads and the rims.

The only other possible situation that might cause this is if you have direct pull 'v' brakes on your commuter, but the levers are designed for centre-pull cantilevers. THat will cause the exact situation you are describing.

Yep, sounds like the brake cable just needs to hve some slack taken out - there is too much room between the pads and the rims.

The only other possible situation that might cause this is if you have direct pull 'v' brakes on your commuter, but the levers are designed for centre-pull cantilevers. THat will cause the exact situation you are describing.

I have canti levers and canti brakes, so I'm going to try and take some slack out and see what that helps. Thanks!

The brakes will also require less lever travel with lined cable housing and removal of any excess cable length. Online tutorials will tell you how to best adjust.