goatalope

Is there any way to tell whether a brake lever is short or long pull just by looking at it?

fietsbob

You need more than a picture.

JiveTurkey

Look at the center-to-center distance between where the lever pivots and where the cable anchor pivots.

I just pulled a couple levers from the parts bin and they were approximately 40mm and 24mm for long-pull and short-pull, respectively.

fietsbob

Yup, you need at least to hold them in your hand, and work them
and measure them physically.

goatalope

Ok. Thanks.

I ask because I occasionally volunteer in a co-op-esque non-profit. We have a lot of people come in and mix and match spare parts to fix up their bikes. Most have no idea there are long and short pull. I want to be able to ensure they choose a lever with the proper pull before installing it.

Since I am able to measure the levers, having a sense of center-to-center difference between long and short is helpful. Thanks for the advice.

SweetLou

If your parts are labeled when you get them, it might not be a bad idea to put this info on the label. Something like "For Cantilever, road caliper" or "For V-brake, linear brake". Etc. Also remember, some levers can operate both.

HillRider

I just measured two sets of 10-speed Campy Ergo, a set each of 8-speed and 9-speed Shimano STIs and a Tektro R-200, all road caliper/cantilever levers and their lever pivot to cable anchor distance was ~18 mm center-to-center on all of them.

I also measured a set of Tektro RL-520 V-brake levers and the lever to cable anchor center-to-center distance was 32 mm or almost twice as much.

So, any lever that measures more than say, 25 mm is probably intended for V-brakes.

While we're asking, can anyone give me the c-c pivot distance on the new Shimano 5700/6700/7900 series of levers?

fuzz2050

If you take a close look, a lot of cheaper flat bar levers for both long and short pull are made from the same mold (cast?) and the only difference is where the cable is anchored. A lot of them will have a subtle V or C next to the cable anchor that can be a good indicator.

Chris_W

I've also measured the distance on several different levers. There was a lot of variability between different levers, but my general conclusion was that the cut-off was at about 30mm - longer than that is for V-brakes (or cable-actuated mountain disc brakes) and shorter than that is for everything else.