Hi. Ive got a fixed gear track bike with FSA compact dropbars. I want to replace the brakes and brake levers. It currently has 2 cross levers mounted in the middle of the bars and I want to get the vertical type of levers attached to the front of the bars with hoods. Will regular old hoods designed for full size drop bars fit on the compact drops? Also, since its a fixed gear I obviously don't shifters. Are there special kinds of hoods for just brake levers and no shifters or are they all the same? Thanks for helping with my dumb questions.

BTW I'm trying to decide between a set of SRAM Rival 22 calipers or Shimano 105-5800. Any opinions on which is the better set of brakes? Thanks again!!

I have these on my SSCX. They are exactly what you want.

Any drop bar brake lever should work fine with your bars. The expected cable pull is slightly different between SRAM brake calipers and Shimano. I'm not aware of a drop bar brake lever without integrated shifting that matches the 105-5800 calipers.

Thanks for the replies. I don't think Shimano makes single non-integrated dropbar brake levers, but SRAM does. I'd like the levers to match the brakes. How about these? SRAM S500 Drop Bar Black Bicycle Brake Levers Right and Left | eBay

There are the Brake levers like Brifters but without the shifter mech in them ..
Compact Road bars got shorter ramps as the Lever body Got Longer.

Shimano does make an aero lever for drop bars without the STI stuff in It.

For over 10 years, I have used two bikes with them.

There are millions from before the time of STI if you're ok with used/old. If you're ok with non-aero cable routing you can probably find some for free... Otherwise there are new choices available from Tektro, Cane Creek, etc.

You're just looking for "drop bar brake levers." Very common and nothing special or unusual about it.


Those will work fine but no way would I drop $60 on a set of brake levers. It's your money though. Here's a set for $24: SRAM S500 Drop Bar Black Bicycle Brake Levers Right and Left | eBay

A lot of fixed gear and single speed riders use the SRAM S500 (aluminum) and S800 (carbon) brake levers. SRAM hoods are level with the bars and are super comfortable.
I have the S500 levers on my Bianchi Pista fixed gear bike. I painted over the SRAM logos.

They do, but according to the info on Shimano's website, I don't think they are well-matched to the 5800-series calipers (or even the 5700-series for that matter). They use the old Super SLR cable pull from the 5600/6600 era.

I'm using Spooky Cyclocross cantilevers (with Empella Top Mounts) and classic Campagnolo Record single pivot side-pulls .

So, limit your self if you choose ..

Beautiful bike! Wow.

A friend uses a set of Cane Creek levers that look very nice. I could not tell you the model, but you can check.

Brake Levers

Yep, those black/black ones are on my SSCX. I need to get a set of the gum/chrome for my fixified Gazelle. Great looking.

There are quite a few different levers available.

TRP makes a nice looking set. It looks like the cable pull is less than I had expected.
TRP RRL SR Retro Brake Lever Set Silver | eBay

Tektro makes both a short pull lever, and a long pull lever.
RL340 - Short Pull
RL520 - Long Pull

The Origin8 Classique seems to also have a fairly long pull.
Origin8 Brake Lever Road Clasiq SPT Silver Black BR | eBay
I've been using a set. They are working well, although I keep thinking the hinge pin is about to fall out (not that it ever has).

Some of the older levers such as the Dia Compe Blaze are pretty small with short pull. I might use the on a kid's bike, but not on a regular bike.

Tektro is also the manufacturer of the Cane Creek levers at a fraction of the price
wiggle.com | Tektro RL340 Drop Bar Brake Levers (Pair) | Brake Levers

Dia Compe are nice. These are on our Ironman. I have the Cane Creek on my commuter and a pair of Shimano BL600 on my Sachs.

Tektro and TRP are the same. Make most of the clones for other MFGs at different price points and quality.

TEKTRO
688 West Amidan Dr
Bldg 4x Bay 1
Ogden, UT 84404
Toll Free: 1-877-807-4162
Direct: 1-801-648-7079 and 1-801-648-7086
Email: Info@trpbrakes.com

Cane Creek is a different company ThatT ^^ the US Rep , Tektro is actually on Taiwan, like so much of the Bike Biz ..

whole bikes parts all come to an assembly point then onto a Boat .. the parts get palletized and trucked around

lots of packaging is not needed so a pretty low waste situation on that end [shops have plenty of packaging to dispose of ]

Yep.

Just pointing out Tektro and TRP are the same, except for the logos.

TRP aims at upper range, Tektro sell in volume to the bike assembly companies.

Yep. TRP is the High End stuff.

I just set up my fixed gear bike with Ultegra 6800 brakes (the new SLR-EV) and the Cane Creek V brake levers.

The feel of the brakes is the same as my geared bike with the ST-6800 levers.

I measured the pull of a "full squeeze" on the following levers and found the following:

ST-6800 SLR-EV (5800, 6800, 9000) = 15.5mm
Dura Ace 7402 Brake lever (SLR) = 13mm
Can Creek V Brake lever = 16mm


I originally tried the 7402 levers but was not satisfied with the feel or pull with the 6800 brakes which led me to try the Cane Creeks.

That's awesome information. Thanks for sharing! I'm honestly surprised that the SLR-EV is so close to the pull of the Cane Creek V.

Now we just need someone to measure the same thing for Super SLR and New Super SLR. Was your measurement as simple as putting a marker on the cable and seeing how far it moved? Was the "full squeeze" determined by hitting the bars or some limitation in the lever itself? I ask because I've got some of each Super SLR variety as well as the Tektro version of the drop V lever in my garage, so I'm thinking maybe I'll try to reproduce your experiment.