Wiggles_dad

Hi Everyone,

My commuter bike is a Torker Graduate, which has Sturmey Archer drum brakes (front and rear). My question is whether or not I'm stuck with only one choice in type of brake lever. I currently have Avid MTB levers but would love to somehow fit road levers on my bike so that I can run mustache bars. My instincts tell me that the leverage would not be enough to stop the bike.

reptilezs

tektro makes drop bar style levers that work with v brakes or long pull

dabac

It pays to careful with wording here. MTB levers move more cable, but at less force than road brake levers. According to the traditional definition, road levers have better/more leverage than MTB brakes, but less throw/pull/travel.

Best I can tell, the S-A website doesn't say anything about lever throw. But old Sachs drums specifically asked for short travel levers.
What type of Avids to you have? The Speed Levers have adjustable throw, in which case it'll be an easy experiment.
Turn the travel down maybe 1/3 and you'll have road brake lever throw. Adjust brake, go for a ride. See how it feels.
If you're not happy with that, and find out that you actually do need the travel of a MTB lever then there's a fix for that too.
The same Travel Agent brake adapter which allows people to use V-brakes together with canti/caliper levers can be run in reverse to let you use a long-pull brake together with a short pull lever.

clasher

Regular road levers work for drum brakes. Regular cantilever levers also work. SA drum brakes are designed for short-pull levers so you can use any old city brake levers if you want something on this page should suit your needs but any brake lever that isn't v-brake will work. I've got a drum hubset on a bike that used road levers but I switched it over to a north roads style and just used the SA branded drum brake levers which are just plain old tektro levers powdercoated grey.

fietsbob

I've been using cable out the top, type, Old Campag road levers with my SA drum brakes for quite a few years..
(mustache bars)..

but given the lever in the brake is a couple inches long, turning a cam, spreading the shoes,
the lower MA of V brake levers is no problem..

may not even need the whole cable pull length..


Avid Speed Dial MTB levers are adjustable , a bit, so that is useful, too..

speedevil 

I'm planning a build using a SA 5-speed rear hub with a drum brake and I would like to use the reverse levers on a moustache bar. The front hub will be a SA track hub, so there will be just the rear brake for this bike. I recall reading that the SA drum brake hubs needed short-travel levers, so any levers except v-brake levers should be fine.