Absolute1

I have a bike with flat bar. Recently I put on Origin 8 drop bar ends. Very comfortable for longer rides, but need more control when speeding or riding down the hill. I know brake levers can be added to these bar ends. What I do not understand how to connect these brake levers to the ones I already have.
Can anyone advise on this?

pacificaslim

I suspect the instructions will be included in the packaging of "interupter" levers, such as those made by cane creek and sometimes used by cyclocrossers and commuters. You can also see the instructions on the website, here: https://www.canecreek.com/images/stor...stop_instr.pdf

Absolute1

One of WWW reteiler suggests Tektro RL520, but there are no instructions.

joejack951

Tektro RL520's are road-style brake levers designed to work with v-brakes. All of the interupter (cyclocross) levers that I am aware of are designed to work with road caliper or cantilever brakes (both long pull designs). So, you have a few options.

1. If you are not concerned about keeping your current brake levers, just get the RL520s and remove your current levers (assuming they aren't built into your shifters).

2. If you want brake levers on the flat bar section still, I think the only option you have is going with standard road brake levers plus cyclocross interupters plus a travel agent to work with your v-brakes.

3. If you didn't want to use a travel agent, you could always switch to cantilever brakes from your v-brakes and have a cleaner brake setup.

Panthers007

The link pacificaslim posted to cane creek crashed my computer. Unknown cause. Be aware.

Absolute1

Yes I do want two sets of brakes: one on flat bar and one set on drop bar ends. Actually many road bikes have this option. E.g. All Fuji Newest bikes have two sets of brakes.
I am not very technical. Can I do this myself or I need to go to LBS for this kinda work.

pacificaslim

sorry if the link crashed some computers. i don't know why since it's just a pdf file. you can navigate to it by going to the cane creek website and then going to the support section and looking for owner's manuals.

joejack951

Have you ever installed any bicycle brakes before? It's not rocket science but you can find ways to screw up the install. Either do some reading and count on having to fix a mistake or two when doing it yourself, or take it somewhere to have them installed.

I am aware that many road bikes come with two sets of brake levers. As I stated earlier, the difference is that those bikes either use road calipers or canitlevers which are long pull brakes. Your v-brakes are linear pull brakes (hence why they require special road-style levers like the RL520) and as far as I know, no cyclocross interupter levers will work with those brakes. You will either need a travel agent to correct the pull of long pull levers or switch to cantilever brakes (a direct bolt-on in place of your v-brakes).

Note that all of this discussion is moot if your current levers are integrated into your shifters (unless you happen to have the Shimano shifters/brakes that are capable of long or linear pull). If they are integrated, you're stuck not only buying new brake levers but also new shifter pods and the accompanying install (no problems doing it but it's starting to get pricey).