Berylbite

Hey folks,

I need some opinions,

I'm planning on buying some cross levers for my commuter so that I don't have to ride around on my hoods all day. Have you any suggestions for what brand or model to buy? Any great levers for cheap I should know about?

I hate blundering around the internet without knowing what to lookout for.

Thanks for the knowledge.

jfmckenna

I've had expensive Salsa levers and cheap Tecktro levers. They all work the same. I'd say go cheap for the commuter. Just make sure they fit your bars or come with shims to get the size right.

marqueemoon

I am not a fan of interrupter levers. To me they make the brakes feel sloppier, and they add weight and cost.

Having access to braking from the tops could be nice for commuting, but the real braking power and control is in the drops.

If the bike is not set up to where the drops are a viable position I would remedy that first.

flargle

The standard Tektro crosstops are great. I recommend mounting them right next to the stem, so get them in the right clamp size. When you install them be sure to leave enough slack in the exiting cable housing so they work correctly.

shadoman

I've used Tektros on several bikes and found that I prefer them to the Salsas.

If setup correctly, they make NO CHANGE in the feel or stopping power of your original levers.

fietsbob

Only Paul's let you use V brake road levers, and V brake Calipers.
They made it so you move the pivot pin, to change the cable pull ratio.

I have Empellas. Non Brifter Shimano levers , Spooky Cantilevers.

Berylbite

I have standard drop bars from the 80's, will a standard cross-lever clamp on properly? I'm unfamiliar with the specs for cyclocross components.

furthermore, I'm probably going to run a single cross-lever to my front caliper, while keeping the rear break standard. It's only a special occasion's break after all.

fietsbob

There is a more common tendency to size the clamp for the center of the bars ,
stem clamp area..

Danger Will Robinson !!
NB there are different brake levers to Go on the end of the cable
I strongly advise against using interruptor, a brake lever designed to spread the housing ,
and having the cable run uninterrupted thru the lever.. alone..

there is a probability of repeatedly flexing the stiffer soldered end
and having the brake cable fail..

Buy a different brake lever if you are not using it in the manner intended.

shadoman

I think he means that he'll have the standard brake on both wheels, but the 2nd lever on only the front.

fietsbob

they usually come in pairs.. exceptions are sought by Fixie types.

that assume they only need 1 brake.

flargle

Agreed. Unless you have a fixed-gear, get two crosstops. The whole idea is to have an oh-***** go-to when you're cruising on the tops, right? You want only a single brake for that scenario?

fietsbob

one function, steep drop off on the course, and people, used
to riding their MTB in those situations.
wont feel like going over on your head, so much.


then dragging the back wheel may be better... [another place to need 2]

a tight corner might be quicker as a skid-turn, another rear brake function.

ColonelJLloyd 

Why are you guys getting your panties in a wad? The OP wants to add an interrupter lever to his existing brake levers on his commuting bike. Take the time to read posts before posting asinine comments.

And if you think that you need a rear brake on a fixed gear then you haven't spent much time on a fixed gear.

flargle

Irony.

ColonelJLloyd 

How so, flargle?

I just don't get why you're offering warnings where they don't apply. Either I missed something, your reading comprehension isn't good or you just ignored all of Berylbite's posts.

flargle

So what gave you the idea that the OP's bike was fixed gear?

ColonelJLloyd 

I've never been under the impression the OP's bike was fixed. See post #10.

Sorry for the threat derailment, OP. With a classic road bar it's probably best to choose an interrupter with a 24mm clamp and butt it up to the clamp sleeve. I may have a single. I'll take a look tomorrow.

Kopsis

I added Tektro interrupter levers to my SS CX bike with cantilever brakes and didn't notice any degradation in brake feel or performance. Note, however, that most interrupter levers are designed for short pull (cantis and calipers) and using them with linear pull v-brakes is not "plug and play" and may very well lead to undesirable results. Few 80's bikes are going to have v-brakes (unless retrofitted by the owner), so cross lever's are likely to work fine for the OP.

Berylbite

I'm opting for installing for the front break since that's where the stopping power is. I've very stable on a bike and would prefer to deal with an endo rather than gliding on the pavement with the rear break.

I'm running some typical calipers so I don't expect compatibility to be a problem.

However, my drop levers route the cable housing out of the hoods and I'm worried that I'll encounter some routing issues since this type of setup tends to route cables out of the bottom of the hoods, along the bars. Any thoughts on this?

fietsbob

well since it was not posted in Commuting, then Its talking about Cyclocross here..

by the way , kid, its break, if you want to destroy things,
Brake if you only want to slow them down.
yea, you are way off the mark , so drop the whole Idea,
unless you want to change to Brake levers that run the brake cable Under the Tape. Aka ''Aero Levers"

Maybe you should rethink the Drop Bars, then fit a straight bar
plan for the MTB type lever..
Those will lay right under your hands..

Berylbite

so standard levers are no good then, gotcha.

fietsbob

They are OK on their own.. I have old style Brake levers on a couple bikes.

just wont work in combination with interruptor levers.