I have noticed in a few sales for used bikes with Record Carbon levers, that they will state the Gel coat on the carbon has some chipping or delamination.

Generally I don't worry about such things, as I look after my stuff pretty good, however it started me thinking about the durability of the finish over time for a bicycle that is designed not to be a garage queen.

Any long term users out there that can provide some feed back on their Carbon levers?





Slighty been Crashed?

Jeez. I'd bet the clearcoat holds up pretty well if you don't biff it into concrete daily. Those look like they spent a month at the X Games!

-Paul

Yeah, all of that is from the crash. You can see that on the bottom of the levers there are grooves in it, therefore it was caused by the crash and scraping of the the ground.

My stuff is two years old and flawless. I left the bike at the office, but tomorrow I'll take some closeups and postem.

No doubt the crash is the main reason those Levers look so crappy, however I was wondering how the levers might hold up to the day to day use with odd knocks here or there or from leaning against buildings and such. Even Aluminums will start to show some minor scuffs or wear overtime. Not typical with my bikes, but I was just wodering from you users out there.

Cool thanks Mellodave!

My 9-speed record levers look a bit like that. I think I've gone down 3 times on them. Rebuilt both the left and right. My hoods look a lot worse. They still shift, though. About 4 1/2 years of extensive riding.

Stuff gets dirty and busted. At least those pics show the durability of them...
Mine are pristine [Record Carbon] - only because they don't have a single mile of use on them

-simplyred

that looks like it might be patched with fingernail clearcoat... ask a woman?

Or dipped into some Marine epoxy/resin compound


Nothing against those levers, as they probably seen a lot of real racing battles, to that they definitely have true battle scar character

If our equipment could only tell stories.

The levers break after lots of use, particularly the shift levers. They are replaceable.

If you need a replacement part, do shop around. A ride buddy broke her shift lever a week ago. She called around for prices and was quoted $30-$200 for the part alone.

Working on Record levers is a pain, because of all the tiny springs. You can do it if you're patient, or you can find a local shop that knows what they're doing. If you're on the San Francisco Peninsula, I can recommend a couple of shops.

For me there comes a point where durability < weight. I dont think I'd get those carbon Records. Not that there's anything wrong with them, derailluers and brifters are the first points of impact in most crashes. If I was someone who was a competitive racer I can definately see the benefits.

What's the price difference in standard Records grouppos vs. Carbons? $600? and what's the weight diffence?

Mine are perfect after 3000 plus miles. I wouldn't trade my Record gear for anything. To my knowledge the Record shifters only come in carbon.

The Record shifters DO only come in Carbon. You can get the levers for ALOT less than 200.00.

I have crashed on my bike twice, both times the rubber portion of the hoods took the brunt of the imact. I dont know how youd have to crash or how your levers would have to be positioned to let them hit the road that hard. Those levers wont ding up like that from regular use. I have Centaur on my second bike, and they are also flawless, my new Cross bike has Centaur levers, and they have been down a number of times with little more than some small scratches. (of course, the Centaur levers are alloy.)

I belive that they stopped making alloy record levers about 6-7 years ago, I have some and they look better than those ones in the OP pics. My carbon ones are ok too, a few little marks from wall chips nothing serious. The carbon ones really do die in a good crash though.

I've around 14k miles on my Record and about 7k on my Chorus carbon levers and they look like new. Then again I don't drop my bike much

I got like, 130 km on my C50, but I'll let you guys know when they break.

you guys are all doomed. now that you've said this, you'll all crash on your rides today, and scratch your carbon to hell.

sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

Thanks Terry, I'm in Canada.

I do like the Carbon look Too bad about the breakage...


Thats probably key to longevity

I wonder which shop quoted her $200?. My shift lever broke last summer (more than a year after it had been crashed and been weakened). I replaced it for $25. Yeah, working on it was a pain but a lot of that was self-induced because I didn't know that I could remove the failed piece without disassembling the entire thing.