jambon

Hi there,

Have a few questions i'd like to run by the more experienced before I start on upgrade on my 10 speed peugeot .

1 Is it possible to get those very comfortable hooded brake levers to set up on a peugot 10 speed ? I would like to be able to rest my hands on them and have anpother position on the bars . The original levers I have at present are small and plastic and I have to go down into the drops to use them . The brakes are the original side pull caliper brakes by weinmann .Please suggest if you know some that would work well .

2 Will I be able to find bar end shifters that will work with 2 at the front and 5 at the back ?Would I be able to use any bar end shifters as long as they aren't indexed ?

3 to get the handlebars out and up I have considered a nitto technomic stem , but now I think a better idea would be a quill stem to threadless stem converter like this bbb one , sanded down to fit the french steerer .This would allow me more choice of angle and stem lenght and more room for error but granted wont look as vintage or as stylish as the rest of the bike .

BHP-21 - Headset parts - BBB

Thanks if you have any comments or ideas

big chainring 

1. A lot of people use the Tektro levers.

2. Vintage SunTour bar cons are plentiful and are reasonably priced, work great too.

3.there is a guy on ebay that sells the 22.0 dia. stem adapters. You will need to change handlebars as the french used an undersized 25.0 bar clamp.

Bianchigirll 

That should be easy.

Tektro makes a nice aero lever that is almost the same size a CampI Ergo lever so it is a nice handful.

Any barend shifter should have a friction option, but look for the older Suntour retro/ratchet friction ones.

I have a few few quill adaptors and the work out nice just be sure you get one with some height adjustment on the quill. A Kalloy hybrid style stem is also a good option.

Bianchigirll 

OH good point! I don't mess with Peugeots so I would have never thought of a 22.2 steerer

dddd

Hmmmm, if a bike isn't going to have integrated brake/shift levers, I recommend setting the cockpit up so as to make primary use of the bar tops and drops.

I use downtube shifters on most of my bikes, but also use stem shifters. I sometimes keep or add auxiliary brake levers (Weinmann-style with hoods), and I just don't find riding on the hoods to be one of the best positions in terms of comfort and control.

>>>>A handlebar with sloping ramps is key to exploiting the tremendous reach/height variation between the tops and the hoods and drops of the bars, which allows both an aggressive charge as well as a most comfortable cruising stance where you can also center your weight, one-handed, near to the stem while eating/drinking or while signaling turns.

I just don't buy into setting up vintage bike's road handlebars/levers in the style that may best suit some rider's use with integrated shifters.

I think that the integrated shifter stance somewhat ruins the vintage bike riding experience, same goes for super-shallow-reach bars.

Go vintage style and set things up to comfortably use those drops! Use the hoods mainly for out-of saddle charges up steep inclines, and don't be afraid to add auxiliary brake levers for greatly-expanded use of the bar tops.

Just my opinionated rant here, time for me to go out into the fog and ride.

jambon

Thanks for these inputs ,lots to think about here

jambon

Hi DDD and thanks for your advice , could you expand on "Handlebar with sloping ramps " , what exactly should I be looking out for when choosing bars ?

big chainring 

The brake hoods have long been a common hand position. Access to brakes, gives you the long stretch out, just feels good. I lke the old Weinmann and Universal brake levers. Hoods are pricey for Universals though. And the original Campy levers are really nice. But thats what I grew up with and have always used. The Tektro is what is common now, I find them too big.

dddd

There are bars where the top portion curves out to the brake levers at a continuous steady height, and there are bars where the upper curves of the bar position the levers lower down from the top.
Some vendors and riders are recommending and preferring the more touring-oriented level-top bars these days, which effectively give a higher lever position, with the hoods at the same height as the top of the bars. This is understandable for comfortably cruising with hands resting on the hoods where shifters are mounted.
But I see the traditional use of having hands on the hoods mainly for hard charges when leaning far forward while off of the saddle, since the drops can be too low and not forward enough to support the rider's extreme forward lean when very high pedaling torque is needed, as when sprinting or when climbing with a barely-low-enough low gear, or when getting caught perhaps a gear low when something momentarily disturbs the pace of riders ahead.

Having an aggressively low and forward grip at the hoods means that you also want a large step up and back to the top of the bars where the rider can place their hands while recovering from intense efforts, so I say it's best to have the bigger drop to the hoods unless very hard pedaling efforts are not anticipated.

I rest my hands on the bar tops perhaps most of the time while riding seated and often while riding off of the saddle. I use the drops almost exclusively for seated riding, since they are not nearly as far forward from the saddle as are the hoods, and because the angle of my arms is more vertically oriented to support weight shifts over road undulations. The bike is more stable with the rider's hands at a lower position than at the hoods, the grip seems better, and there is less stress on the thumb joint where bumpy surfaces and possibly hidden potholes can make the hoods a dangerous place to rest one's hands.

For me it all starts with getting the bars positioned so that the hoods will be in the best position to support sprinting and hard climbing while off of the saddle, and with the saddle then positioned fore-aft to make for a most-comfortable reach to the bar tops and drops at the times that the rider is seated.
I'll still use the hoods for occasional light braking while still seated, but as the road descends I'll quickly go for the drops, and as the pace settles on level ground and on gentler climbing I use the bar tops mainly.

I think that a long-forward-reaching handlebar with horizontal "ramp" leading to a full 180-degree curl is called a Brompton-bend handlebar, while the racerly sloping-ramp style (with smaller radius bend lower down) might be considered an MAES bend. Perhaps some historian can better chime in on these naming conventions?? Even better if someone can correlate such differences to the best C&V bars available today!