Brake Levers
 

Guys

I looked through pages and pages of "brake" posts and never found what I was looking for.
I have a classic Bianchi road bike and part of why I don't ride it, is because I seldom want to ride the "in" the drop handlebars ... I always ride on top of the bar anyway. It is annoying and probably unsafe to ride on top and have to reach to the drops to access the brake levers.

So...I'd like to add the top bar brake levers to my aero modolo brakes that I see on new bikes. I haven't had any luck finding them online partially because I don't know what to call them. I suspect that since you have to splice into the brake cable/housing to install these...that they're not simply flat bar levers????

Any help and advice from you all would be greatly appreciated.

What you want is a pair of cyclocross brake levers:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...s+brake+levers

They're made to "splice" into the brake cable, mounting on the flat part of road bars.

Here is a photo of a typical installation:

http://commutebybike.com/wp-content/...pradbrakes.jpg

A few things to keep in mind, whether you mount the levers or not:

Few riders ride on the drops very often. Most everybody rides with their hands on or near the top of the brake hoods except when doing hard pedaling or into the wind. If that position is also uncomfortable for you then you may need a shorter stem so you can reach more easily. Keep in mind that you should try to get your seat to a good position fore and aft first and DO NOT move the seat forward just to reach the bars better.

Although a very rough measures it would also help to know both the distance from nose of saddle to back of handlebars and the distance from your elbow to fingertips. The other rough measure is where the front hub is in relationship to the handlebars when you look down toward the hub with your hands on the brake hoods and your elbows slightly bent. Finally, have someone hold up the bike while you try to touch your nose to the handlebar or stem and let us know where it touches.

It's also possible that your brake levers are place wrong or the handlebars are not rotated to the proper position. A photo of you bike would help.

The top of the bars position will give you less steering leverage and control, especially in an emergency stop or manuever.

They're also referred to as interruptor levers. If you want a set with a polished finish (rather than the more common black finish) with a particularly smooth feel, consider Salsa's Halter Top levers.

Unsafe? How so? Most riders spend very little time in the drops.

+1 Add interrupters/in line brake levers. Nashbar usually has them cheap (not sure if theirs are any good).


http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...1_10000_200467

And most of us don't go into the drops to put on the brakes. With your hands over the brake hoods you can reach down with your fingers and pull the levers back. The mechanical advantage is not as good but with dual pivot calipers and good pads there's more than enough braking force.

Another option, if you don't mind making it a trifle less "classic" looking, is to swap out the drop bars for a set of bullhorn bars and TT style bar end levers. Like you I am not comfy using drop bars but I found that bullhorn bars are superb. Because I have to reach forward instead of down when crouching to be more aerodynamic I found that my chest stays more "open" due to my back being arched back instead of down and and I can breath far easier and my neck isn't bent uncomfortably. I actually enjoy riding crouched over that way where with drops I was just not comfy at all even for a short time.

Thanks all for the reply's. Those levers are exactly what I was looking for and I do think I fancy the polished look on the Bianchi.