Originally Posted by
mihlbach
Just so we are clear...there is no rear brake...thats why the lever is sawed off. So I don't know what you mean by the brake being rendered useless.
The proximal 1/3 of the lever is left to allow one to hold the hood properly and comfortably. With the distal 2/3 removed it doesn't have nearly enough mass or leverage to move when going over bumps and potholes. I didn't test to see if the return spring is strong enough to hold it in place without cutting the lever, but it definately has no chance of flopping around when it is sawed off. Also, and possibly more importantly, the annoying temptation to play with the lever isn't there. Its a much better solution to completely removing the lever, as in post 37, which will render the hood uncomfortable and its also no less harmless than letting a useless and annoying lever hang out there. Its also better than wasting money on non-matching pairs of brake levers and stoker hoods and only using one of each. By sawing the lever, you end up with a matching right and left hood with a right hood that is functionally identical to and very similar looking to the stoker hood seen in post 8.
A pair of Tektro hood/levers cost $25. Its not as if I mutilated a $500 pair of Campy Record shifters.
The OP asked for a way to have hoods without a useless right brake lever. This is the simplest, cheapest, cleanest solution that I can think of. If you want to leave the useless lever on there, then go ahead, its harmless, but that wasn't what the OP asked about.
If the absence of symmetry happens to bother you to the point that you can't bear to only have one brake lever, than why would having a non-functional brake lever not bother you also? Perhaps you should consider installing a rear brake.
Sorry for not being clear. By rendering useless, I was implying the brake lever since it's what the subject is about.
I am coming from the point of view where if you ever want switch up your bike setup and make it a freewheel again, you would have to buy a new lever and bar tape assuming your going to keep the same bars. This is where the sawing/taking off/buying a stoker lever kinda limits your options if you decide you want to switch up and both would still involve buying new levers. By just leaving the regular brake lever you avoid all the hassle and still have your hoods and $25 (this is assuming you would put rear brake back on at a later time). I can understand how annoying it would be to have rattling levers, but there are very simple ways to stop it. Also, as it was said, Tekro levers don't have this problem.
I'm not looking at it from a symmetrical POV (although it's subjective to the owner whether uneven lever look great. IMO even levers have a better look aesthetically). The reason a non-funtioning brake lever never bothered me was because I was riding the bike fixed and as you know your legs are the rear brakes. Since you get used to slowing down using only 1 lever, it's something that you can forget about.
I applaud your creativity and think it's a cool little project to make out of your lever although, at the end of the day it's all subjective and up to the rider to decide what works best for them. I was just throwing out a POV the OP may have overlooked.