MattP.

Hey guys,

On my SS/fixie conversion (1980 Sekai Limited), I flipped and chopped the drops, using the same brake levers, and the brakes were as good as they were gonna get. After about an hour of riding my left hand would go numb, so I decided to switch to a flatbar. My question is, what kind of brake lever do I need to keep these brakes? The brakes in the pic are similar to mine (pic from ebay)


Also, is there a difference between my the front and back brake on these brakes? I ask this cause, after I did the conversion and whatnot, the brakes basically sucked. After engaging the brake lever, the brake pads would contact the rim, but would not spring back. They would just stay rubbing the rim. And now, there was extra cable which would cause the little mushroom (lack of a better word) to come out of its holder in the brake lever. I heard this could happen if you're housing is too long. Mine was quite long, so I hop by switching to flats, I can shorten the cable length and get my front brake to work

Thanks for reading,
Matt

dccool879

shoot i thought this was going to be about doing drops to flats

MattP.

dang, should have thought about that, sorry about that

Matt

dccool879

sweet! just notice you have my frame check my ride out
https://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3193/dsc013913ij.jpg

MattP.

Nice, I assume its for urban/dj'ing?

TallRider

Classic mountain-bike levers designed to work with cantilever brakes will work with caliper brakes as well. Modern mountain-bike levers are mostly designed for v-brakes, which require more cable pull and won't work (well) with cantilever brakes or caliper brakes.

Deanster04

You need to look at the cable run to see if anything is binding. That is the only reason why the brakes wouldn't release as before. The brake calipers should operate exactly as before. There is no reason why your levers shouldn't work unless you are trying to use them like flat bar shifters. As for your hands going to sleep you need to look at your change in position. You may be leaning further forward hence putting too much weight on your hands.

I just completed such a setup on one of my road bikes. Went to a flat bar and used the same calipers, campy Chorus. I found that Performance Forte levers worked fine because they have an option for setting the cable on either a "Vee" or "C" cantilever routing for attaching the cables. The cables have a fairlead and are as efficiently setup as they were for the drop levers. Also I setup the lever handles so they were closer to the handlebar. Works very well.

ctp

Could also be that the adjusting nut on the center shaft of the caliper got tightened depending on how you installed the brakes. If that gets tight, then the brakes will also stick.

MattP.

Is that the bolt that bolts it onto the fork? I thought about that, about how tight should it be?

Little Darwin

The nuts on both sides of the brakes shaft are independent, think of it as a lower case letter t, with the bottom going through the fork or brake bridge, and the other going through the caliper arms. The nut on the side with the calipers should only be tightened enough to remove any play from the brakes, but should not bind them. Without the cable attached, you should be able to squeeze the brakes with your hand and have the brakes return on their own, but there should be no motion or jiggle forward and backward.

While you are at it, I would suggest releasing the spring and removing the calipers to give them a good cleaning and a bit of grease on the pivots and bushings as well, it could make a world of difference...

Actually, there is another possibility, are the springs seated properly? Without the springs in the grooves they belong in, they won't move the brakes back.

I haven't looked online, but I would guess that searching Sheldon Brown's site and/or the Park Tool site will give you some diagrams and enough information to get your brakes into shape. I confirmed the process for servicing brakes myself using a book (I forget if it was Zinn's or my other).

MattP.

Awesome information! I took a Sierra lever (nice and long from my cruiser which runs canti's) and put it on my SS. I loosened the bolt on the front of the caliper, then hooked up the lever. The housing is about 5 in long, but it works awesome now It snaps right back into place! Just had to loosen that bolt!

Thanks gregory!