Originally Posted by
ramzilla
Drop bar brake levers will not work on upright bars. When you convert from drop bars to upright bars you always have to install new stem, handlebar, levers, shifters, grips & cables. It's really not that big of a deal. The only special tools you need are for the cable work. And, if you've got some old electrical wiring pliers & cutters they will work fine. The cost of all the parts usually puts people off. I'm doing a conversion right now for a customer & it's gonna cost him $190. ($110 in parts & $80 labor). I highly recommend the conversion. It will turn an old bike back into a good friend. All of the bikes shown below were originally drop bar bikes..
It's hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like a common mistake has been made on at least one of them, using long-pull linear brake levers where a short pull lever is needed. The long pull levers supply roughly half the mechanical advantage needed for the road and canti brakes. It nominally works, but a very strong grip is needed.
I started volunteering at a non-profit where all the brake levers were tossed into the same bin. Nobody there knew the difference. Now the levers are separated and all the volunteers are schooled in the difference.