Writenride 

Hi, here's a scan from the 1986 Dia Compe catalog. On the top left they had a product called "Lever Sleeves," which I guess are for road brake levers, like the ones pictured here:


I don't know of any company which makes brake lever sleeves for road aero and non-aero levers. Do you know of any? Thanks.

jdawginsc 

Are you wanting the hoods or the sleeves which go over the lever itself? I assume that is what they are?


On the other hand, look at all those cool colored cable housings...

SurferRosa

OP is very clear about the "sleeves."

Plasti Dip?

sloar

eBay has silicone covers.

ollo_ollo

Don't think lever covers are made any more, but Mafac made a lot of them over the years. See levers with them on the bay frequently, like these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/25601118293....c100667.m2042
Less frequently there are used sleeves for sale:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/29512463099....c100667.m2042

Writenride 

I remember there used to be a product called “Plastisol” which was a dip one could use for plier and screwdriver handles.

As for actual road brake lever sleeves or covers for the lever blades themselves (I think that’s what you call them), I never seen an actual product first hand.

SurferRosa

Obviously, it's time someone here plasti dip a whole gruppo.

​​​​​​Ofmega had the look down, perfetto:

https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site...glia_rosa.html

Trakhak

The shop where I worked back then brought in a few of those in assorted colors, along with the matching down tube shift levers. The levers were nicely curved backward for the last 1/4 or 1/5 of the length. Smart design, making them less likely to snap than if they'd been straight all the way to the top of the lever.

I don't remember there being matching front derailleurs. Took a while to sell through them, I think.

tiger1964 

I've looked before, I wish there was a source. I'm sure that many of us have old levers with road rash to cover up!

I've seen those or some like them, but they certainly looked shaped to fit upright-bar levers to me. If anyone has mounted them on drop bars, I'd love to see a photo.

Charles Wahl

To me, those look like they're shaped to fit MTB brake levers, rather than road levers -- but they might work, depending on how elastic/flexible they are. If one could deal with what happens at the lever end, then there's heat-shrink material in lots of different colors, composition and "shrink ratios" -- check out McMaster-Carr on that front. If the shrink ratio were high enough, then the termination at the end of the lever might be "barely visible".

Writenride 

A long time ago, when my high school had shop classes (those were fun, man!), we had some cans of Plastisol. I had some pliers which had plastic handles at one time. As I recall, it was a dip, and if you dip the handles into the can, the Plastisol layers on when the product dries. You could have multiple layers and thicknesses of the product.

Recently, I purchased some adjustable wrenches from Harbor Freight, and the wrench handles had two different textures gripping the metal; a gold smooth texture and a black grippy texture.

As for road levers, I just think the added texture of a product like that would make them more comfortable to use.

oneclick 

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/122693510193

I got a pair; they are hard-ish poly or some similar plastic, haven't put them on anything yet but I thing they'll go on without too much trouble.

Cheap enough to try, even with postage.

tiger1964 

I think I'll try a pair. Perhaps immersion in hot water for a while will make them pliable for insertion.

PhilFo 

You could always go a little cheaper and get a length of latex tubing. I used to put that on brake levers, and come to think of it, I've been meaning to get some to stick on the levers of my bikes.

tiger1964 

Are you sure? Possibly online but the last time I check at Home Depot the per-foot cost shocked me. But it IS an option, certainly will flex/stretch well, and the 'gum' color compliments some brake hoods.

Steel Charlie

Whoa ! ! Have you thought about how much extra weight that's going to put on the front of the bike ? ? I mean, what's going to happen to the balance ? KWIM ?
​

tiger1964 

I just ordered a pair, checking the seller's other items I found some in "Marrone" with a translation tells me is "brown" but the color looks close enough to the same seller's gum hoods. We'll see. I am working on a project, a nice bike given to me by an old friend and he had 1 or more crashes and the levers are scraped up. And they are Campagnolo Record. Even with machine polishing, you can see the scrapes -- but they are shiny . Rather than $70 for new levers, I'll try these first!

I'll take the risk. Perhaps they'll balance out the fruit bar kept in the under-seat bag?

RB1-luvr

this would be hot:

SurferRosa

Ribbed, for his pleasure.

Vintage_Cyclist

Still existent, box of crap items from the 1970s that ended up on the errand hoopty. Probably Schwinn or Reg brand.

Robvolz 

shrink electrical tubing? Comes in different colors. kinda slick when shrunk though.

Lattz

That Ofmega is almost NSFW I totally dig it, and not because it looks like.... anyhow..
Would have looked cool on the Torpado a friend built to his GF just to learn she won't be a CV gal.

OP, get a cheap pair of pliers, emphasis on cheap as quality ones won't easily release the material.

Since these were common in the MTB, Vespa and Motocross world as well, you might be able to find some generic stuff which does the job and has the look.

montclairbobbyb 

Been thinking of cutting a leftover roll of Newbaum's cloth tape down the center (into half-wide strips) and wrapping a pair of oversized MTB levers. Add some fine twine whipping and a few coats of shellac... THAT could be pretty awesome...or not... Anybody ever see this?

RustyJames 

Plastidip is functionally the same and was widely available at hardware stores a few years ago. I haven’t looked for it recently so I’m not sure if environmental regulations or supply shortages have effected availability.

RustyJames 

I found some stuff on Amazon that might be fabulous.



It comes in various lengths, ODs, colors, etc.

Sorry, no link but I googled “textured heat shrink wrap” and ^^ popped up.