Adding extra brake levers to drops
 

I have noticed on many touring and other road bikes that they will sometimes come with an additional set of brake levers on the flats of the bars, not just the brakes on the drops.

Are these a good or bad idea? Do they compromise the brakes at all? I do a lot of just cruising on my bike with my girlfriend, and find myself using the flats to just be more relaxed. I was wondering how easily these brake levers could be added to my bike.

Thanks.

They used to be standard equipment on the old Raleighs and Schwinn Varsitites. They were called by some "suicide levers" because they did not really generate much braking power which is not a good thing. I have seen a few of the new ones and they seem to give a good braking performance. Now I don't ride with my hands in a place where I could use that kind of lever so they would be just extra weight.

What you are talking about are called inline levers, or sometimes cross levers.

Here`s a guide to installing them.

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=146

They work really well if set up properly. Not to be confused with the old-type of under the bar levers that were integral parts of older brake sets called "suicide levers".

I put them on my Surly LHT because I found it useful to be able to brake easily in a heads-up postion for commuting.

Those levers came on my Specialized Sequoia and I really like them. They're very useful when riding around town, when I'm more likely to be riding upright on the tops.

By the way, not to hijack this thread or anything, but my observation is that I don't get nearly as much braking power using the brifter levers when I'm riding on the hoods. There's just not much leverage on the portion of the lever that I can grab from there. If I'm down in the drops then I can get full leverage on the brakes, but not from up on the hoods. Is this the way it's expected to be?

I just had these added to my road bike, and they've been a godsend for some of the super-steep hills by my house. My hands just aren't strong enough to brake hard from the hoods, and riding from the drops in that position is too intense for me.

I installed a set of in-line brake levers on the bar tops of my cross bike. Wow - what a great upgrade! It's nice for just cruzing around with my hands on the tops. However, where I find them the most useful is when descending on a slope steep enough for me to get behind the saddle. I can easily now stay on the tops of the bars, and still be able to brake very well.

... Brad

The 'cross-type additional brake levers are also ideal for kids when they get their first road bike. We're gradually fitting them to all our 24" and 650c wheel road bikes and they give kids the confidence, when they try them out for the first time, as the position mimics the one they're used to on their mtbs of bmxs

I had them installed on my Felt and I love them. The stopping power is fine (no suicide lever problems here). I like to ride on the tops to relax sometimes and having a brake lever near my hands wherever my hands are is comforting. The total cost including installation was $25.00. They will be on any bike I own.

Thank you for the link you posted.

The safety levers on 1970s hi-ten bike boom bikes have about as much relation to modern cross top levers as the hite rite has to modern dropper posts.

I remember the 10-speed I rode as a teenager had extra brake levers for the top part of the handlebars. I'm guessing the bike was a 70's model Schwinn or something, but I really don't remember. That bike is long gone. But I did like having the extra levers for riding upright. Squeezing the levers pulled the regular brake levers down so I think they were pretty effective.

My 1976 Motobecane Mirage came with those turkey leg safety levers. They worked just fine. Any braking problems were due to that bike's original steel rims, not the brake levers.

I removed the "safety" levers a couple of times over the years: once when I was racing crits and time trials, mostly because it looked dorky but I couldn't afford a proper racing bike; another time to provide clearance for a handlebar bag.

But I commuted in traffic a lot and those turkey leg levers were handy for riding the tops where I could sit upright and see traffic better.

Nowadays if I used a drop bar bike for commuting I'd install those inline "interrupter" levers for better mechanical advantage.

Also called interrupters or interrupt levers.

That is incorrect. The old "suicide" brake levers were a completely different design than the current inline brake levers.

They are a good idea if you do a fair amount of riding in traffic. They do have a very small effect on braking performance, but it is negligible. I have them on two of my bikes. I wouldn't ride on drop bars in the city without them. They are just safer to have than not.

In some ways it's not such a bad thing, I've been looking at these as an option but the more recent comments dispel a myth that's obviously outdated since the 1st post .... I'll follow this zombie post and buy what's current, maybe some people that might of subscribed years ago may see it from a different perspective and people doing more recent searches might find this and see that more recent technology has bought "ZOMBIE" technology back to life but maybe with the brains slightly more intact :)

PS: AND there are so many forum police that complain bitterly when you post something that someone else asked at least a century ago and because thy're stuck in a time warp have absolutely no idea that technologies moved on so hopefully an update might help them chill rather than saying .... what you didn't search the thread ... when a lot of the replies are pre the round wheel :-)

Oh no. Run and hide.
BRAINS!!!!


Previous jobs had me work from 6am to 8pm daily except Sunday.
so unfortunately i need to catch up. But im older so dont really worry. Its relevant to me now.