primo123

I am looking for a replacement set of hoods for Shimano 600 Bl-6207 Road Bike Brake Levers. Where is the best place to find them? thanks

cs1

Good luck that's a question many of us have tried to solve.

TimmyT 

Hen's teeth. These aren't readily available.

Slash5

Lots of luck on finding them.
If you want something not bad while you are looking, I used a set of cheap hoods from the LBS. I think they are intended for Weinmann levers. They are cheap though, hard plastic. Local guy charges me $6 for them.
The Shimano levers are surprisingly square, I pushed a piece of cork handlebar tape up the back to fill in the square shape. I think if I was to do it again I would try taping the handlebar tape in place before putting the hood on.

3speedslow

On another set of 600 brake levers?

Not trying to be funny but if you want the hoods, that is the easiest way to find them.

The Golden Boy 

Not that this is that, but I used a set of the Cane Creek hoods on a set of Arabesque levers- they're fine to me...

Slash5

I think I tried the Cane Creek hoods and they didn't fit well - maybe the handlebar tape up the back would have worked with them too.

noglider 

Someone once wrote that you can make them with PlastiDip, but I haven't tried it. I'm close to trying it and will let y'all know how it goes.

Lazyass

Cane Creek/Dia Compe's work but leave a gap between the hood and the bar. If you put an extra wrap of bar tape around the clamp it isn't too bad but still noticeable. If you want Shimano you have to score an NOS set on ebay, and they probably won't be cheap. Besides that, there are no other options.

plonz 

Are 6207 levers 600EX or 600 tri-color? No matter, Shimano 600EX hoods are made from pure unobtanium. I ended up using Dia Compe 204 hoods sold cheap on Velo Orange. They don't work at all right out of the box but end up fitting pretty well with some trimming. Not perfect but decide for yourself with the pic below.

BTW, these same hoods work on 600 Arabesque levers without modification.

hilltowner

Anyone done business with Reciclone? I'm probably going to order a pair of hoods for both a Mafac and Weinmann set of levers from them. I notice unfortunately the Shimano 600 hoods are out of stock so I can't help the OP there.

Vintage Raleigh

Bought a pair of Weinmann's last year for the International. The mould quality is average to say the least. Bubbles and part of the circular enclosure is missing on the logo but the material is soft and seems durable. A little loose on the handles. Expensive too but how many options have you got. I bought a pair of nos 1970s aftermarket Taiwanese for another Weinmann setup. $25 AU all up.

Lazyass

Those look different than my Cane Creeks. I thought Dia Compe's were the same. I don't mind a little trimming as long as there's no gap. I think I'll order a pair.

This is how short the CC's are. Those are Dia Compe levers but it looks the same on my Shimano's.



"edit" On Shimano levers:

plonz 

From what I can tell, there is one model of Dia Compe hoods that are identical to the Cane Creeks. The Dia Compe hoods on Velo Orange are model 204 and are different than the Cane Creek hood. For $12, give them a try. I think you'll like them better than the Cane Creek hoods.

Lazyass

I got the 204 hoods from VO and they're perfect. I didn't have to trim them at all. They even follow the lines on the side of the levers like factory ones. 100x better than the Cane Creeks.

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bulldog1935

call Yellow Jersey - they have more old stock around than they can possibly present on their website.
For anyone who likes Modolo 919 anatomic hoods, they have them in stock.

johnnyace 

Are you feeling lucky? Here's some in Singapore:

Vintage- NEW OTHER Shimano BL-6207, 600EX Brake levers with Gum Hoods | eBay

merziac

So a little thread drift since the experts are present. Any one have definitive advice on preserving gum hoods that are nos including cleaning off the white coating that is sometimes present?

Lazyass

I wish they would build a new website where you could actually order online. Theirs is stuck in 1993.

bulldog1935

they're really good on the phone, though
I got an OS Raleigh CP rear brake adjuster from them

verktyg 

Shimano was/is a marketing driven company. They've introduced new products like a French high fashion house's spring couture, fall couture.... Unfortunately many of their "new" products were not backward compatible!

From the early 70's when they first started making brake levers with rubber hoods until the 90's Shimano must have offered at least 25 different styles!

Dia-Compe wasn't quite as bad... First they copied Weinmann then developed business relationships to the point that throughout the 1970's the parts for most models were completely interchangeable.

Weinmann offered rubber brake lever hoods at least as far back as the 1960's - see picture of my 1965 Swiss built Tigra.

The original style Dia-Compe hoods were identical to Weinmann hoods except for the logos. The later versions of the Weinmann style Dia-Compe levers had longer noses and a little circle through the Dia-Compe logos in the sides. The circles were punch outs for use with "idiot sticks" "suicide levers"... See pictures.

Cane Creek is a US offshoot of Dia-Compe USA which went out of business in the 1990's??? Cane Creeks still makes hoods like the 2nd generation Dia-Compes to fit the original style Weinmann-Dia-Compe levers. They come in tan or black (note: there is still a company named Dia-Compe in Taiwan).


Now back to Shimano...

The first generation Shimano Tourney/DuraAce/600 brake levers look just like Weinmann/Dia-Compe levers. Close but no cigar - see picture.

Weinmann, Dia-Compe and Cane Creek hoods fit pretty well on those early Shimano levers.

Those hoods fit a number of other makes too but NOT MAFAC, Universal, Campy and Campy knockoff levers. When they are forced onto the wrong levers.... they look completely FRED!

Pet peeve... brake lever hoods have to look and feel right since besides the front wheel, bars and stem they are the only other thing I see on a bike while riding!

By 1975 Shimano embarked on their "spring colors-fall colors" misadventure... In a consumer based economy the life cycle for fast changing products is 2-3 years at most... Then it's time to discard the old item and buy the latest craze!


I had an NOS set of Shimano 600EX-BL6207 levers that I couldn't find hoods for. See pictures.

I used a set of cheap Argentinian or Italian no-name Campy style hoods that I had to modify slightly with a Dremel abrasive wheel. The BL6207 levers have a very narrow body. The original Shimano hood have a thick rubber section where your hands fit the hoods.

I packed high density foam pieces into the gaps between the Campy style hoods and the Shimano bodies - see picture.

It worked out well.

verktyg

Chas.

verktyg 

The white coating is mold release compound, usually some kind of silicon based material. It should wear off???

There were a number of kinds of materials used for brake lever hoods:

natural gum rubber, synthetic rubber, plastic as in the Carlton hoods Raleigh used on Weinmann levers and urethane which a company called AME used for a lot of different styles of replacement hoods some time back.

Urethane can be produced in a rainbow of colors. I suspect that many of the repop classic replacement hoods sold today are made of this material since it is very easy to cast into plaster of paris molds.

To answer your question, natural gum rubber can be preserved to some extent with glycerine. I used Armor All on tires and brake hoods back in the 1970's and some of those still look good.

Synthetic rubber is more resistant to chemical and UV exposure but a product like Armor All could help in preservation.

Not much is going to help plastic or urethane as they are much more inert than many kinds of rubber.

One suggestion, don't keep your bike where it will be exposed to UV from sunlight! Ultra Violet light increases decomposition.

Another thing, don't store your bike near any sources of ozone such as electric motors from forced air furnaces and appliances in a basement or garage. Also gas hot water heaters.

verktyg

Chas.

cinco

A while ago I made a joke about using sunscreen on car dashboards to reduce UV damage, but then I got to thinking about it. Still haven't bothered to try it on anything, but is there any reason it wouldn't work for brake hoods? Other than the tendency to wipe off, that is....

CoRide59

If you wander into your local auto parts store and peruse the cleaning and detailing section you should be able to find a number of things made to protect rubber from UV rays. I think I used to use a product from Mothers that worked well.

The boat crowd seems to love this stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/303-30306-Pro...0004ELKC4?th=1

2cam16

303 Aerospace Protectant is my go to for my cars for years. Even used it on my Miata top. One of the best UV protectants,IMO.