cookiejar

I have an old steel drop bar, with a 22.2mm grip area. My impression is that new road bar standard is 23.8mm. So if I get a new pair of brake levers, would they be too big? Or would the clamps just drip as long as I screw them hard enough? Thanks.

tellyho

New levers will not fit. You will either need a new bar or old levers.

BCRider

They'll fit but may wobble a little. Wrap two to four layers of electrical tape around the area they will sit on to fill out the gap and form a non slipping surface. Then you won't need to tighten the snot out of them. Road levers use a ring that pulls the bar up to and jams against the frame housing so it's a lot more tolerant of size issues than clamp types like mountain bikes use. But the tape will help fill the gap a little better.

dscheidt

It's also quite likely that you can move the old clamp to the new levers.

cookiejar

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give it a try.

LarDasse74

I especially like any strategy that has load-bearing parts of a bicycle secured with electrical tape. For weight savings, I also recommend removing the handlebar bolt at the front of the stem and cinching it down with a small zip tie... or better yet - a green twist tie that came with a box of garbage bags!

These strategies are especially helpful for people who are tired of having teeth! Hooray electrical tape handlebar shims!

tellyho

Well, that WAS a helpful response, if you can scrape off the thick layer of sarcasm applied. I do agree that there are things you can shim and things you can't. Things you can: stem clamps and seatposts (although I would never do it). Things you can't: anything else.

And if you really want to shim anything, metal is probably a good idea, not electrical tape.

dwr1961

Some folks equate being sarcastic with being clever...

cookiejar

I will try using the clamps on the old levers (fortunately I haven't thrown them away yet). Hopefully they will fot the new levers.

relyt

Why not shim the clamps with a piece of beer can. It works for stems. Or maybe some thicker aluminum from the hardware store.

You might also be surprised at how tight the clamps on some new levers can get.

LarDasse74

Hah! They are jerks!

DannoXYZ 

Dude, the round "clamp" part on brake lever actually don't even grip the handlebar very much. All it does is pull linearly down on the brake-lever body. It's the edges of the brake-lever body digging into the handlebar that holds it in place. If you were to look inside the brake-lever body, you'll that there's a HUGE gap on the upper part of the "clamp" that doesn't even touch the handlebar; it's not squeezing and gripping the bar like a stem-clamp or a hose-clamp.

What happens when you put the bigger "clamp strap" around a smaller bar is that the nut on strap may bottom out against the inside of the lever-body before it's pulled tight enough. So by shimming it with ANY material to fill space, it will allow you to tighten the bolt enough to securely anchor the corners of the brake-lever body against the bar. Heck, I've used newspaper, PowerBar wrappers, rubber shims from Cateye light-brackets, balsa-wood from a model-airplane wing, and they've all worked just fine!

BCRider

I'm not opposed to beer can shims. I've used lots of them in the past and as long as I'm physically able to drink beer I will continue to make use of this wonder material.

However when was the last time either of you two were able to smoothly bend beer can metal around a curved handlebar? Hmmmmm.... I thought not. And I can't either. THAT is why I'm suggesting the electrical tape.

Besides, a brake lever doesn't see high torque loads like handlebar to stem joint does. All we're after here is something to fill a gap and provide a minimal amount of friction which a nice bedding of electrical tape will do nicely in this case.

LarDasse74

DannoXYZ gave a good argument why this would not be a totally terrible idea - I won't do it myself, but I concede it may be possible.

I too am a fan of beercan shims (although I generally use popcans - I drink my beer from bottles). I think it would be possible to use a beercan shim in this application too because the width does not need to be so great that you meed worry about the radius of the bar - a little wider than the clamp should suffice, not necessary to be the whole length of the brakle hood.

G piny parnas

the longer the lever the better the pressure-- leaverage--- dont most brakes these days come with shims? in the box or at the shop? just a thought-- back to my roast.