Demand for a Hydraulic Drop-Bar Brake Lever?

I'm starting to plan a build for the missus, and the Pompetamine looks like it'll fit the bill nicely.

However, I've never really been one for taking the simple/easy/obvious options, (some might recall the Turboferret battery packs) so I'm thinking Afine/belt drive, drop bars and hydraulic brakes.

However, I don't see any hydraulic brake levers designed for use with drop bars. Clearly what I want for a very niche bike isn't necessarily what everyone else wants, but would there be a market for such a lever?

I'm thinking that I could make a lever without too much difficulty, probably using some Hope internals and fittings.

Couple of very quick rough and ready SolidWorks screenshots of a preliminary idea.

Any thoughts?

The packaging is going to be pretty tight if the hose is to exit as per a normal lever under the tape, but it's doable I reckon.

The main body will be relatively straightforward, although the rubber hood may prove to be a bit of a challenge.

Clearly if I did get round to making more than a pair for the Pompetamine, would anyone be interested in a pair?

This wouldn't be a complete brakeset, just a lever compatible with Minis, and maybe a few others using the same fluid and volume of fluid movement.

Feedback gratefully received.

Cheers, Rich

Folk do ask about them. Avid cable brakes do it for me.

How much?

Well if the recent news that the UCI have lifted the ban on discs in cyclo cross doesnt speed upo the development of hydro drop bar disc levers then it will be when they lift it on the road world.

I reckon a simpler (and therefore cheaper) solution would be to design a cable actuator for a trimmed down lever body, mounted say on the fork leg/seat stay.

You could butcher a shimano deore/lx/xt lever and mount a small cam & lever to take the cable from existing drop bars.

I'd sorta be interested – but for road type use, STIs are the way forward.

The technical barrier would seem not to be adapting the lever shape to the bar – but how you design the reservoir/system so it works with the body in that position? Interesting…

I can see the point for CX – or a tandem – but for road bikes on non MTB/CX tyres wouldn't you be just transferring a huge amount of braking force to a limited area of high pressure tyre where it would lead to loss of grip and skidding/crashing? Easy enough to lock up/do a superman as it is?

ive heard a rumour sram are working on a hydro compatible sram red road lever. might be rubbish mind lol

Stoner – Member

I reckon a simpler (and therefore cheaper) solution would be to design a cable actuator for a trimmed down lever body, mounted say on the fork leg/seat stay.

already available I believe

I think the easiest way to do this would be to take some master cyclinders /levers like shimano 525s (??) that can be mounted in any orientation and just get a new lever blade made to suit

count on hope to hit it with the ugly stick first.

Bin dun.

Magura HS66. Swap the braking end for last year's Julie calipers and away you go.

There really is no need for hydraulics on the road. Cable discs will stop you dead in seconds anyway

Someone at SSEC2010 was running a set of home bodgified levers on a singular with drop bars, they looked pretty good but didn't have a lot of area on the hoods so only really worked when in the drops.

TJ,

I wasn't aware of the remote master cylinder system, but I had envisaged something almost identical in my mind before contemplating a fully integrated hydraulic lever.

Clearly my levers wouldn't be STI, so not suited to normal gears.

The lever is the simple bit, but the orientation of the reservoir and the internal plumbing is slightly more complex than a typical MTB brake.

Didn't know that the Shimano's could be mounted any way, might need to get hold of some to experiment with. I do like the idea of concealed brake hoses, which some adapted 525's might not manage…

Cheers, Rich

Go for it, we need more people making stuff in their sheds, making stuff is fun

Midlifecrashes,

That looks like the simplest option by far!

Anywhere selling HS66's?

Might continue with the SolidWorks for a bit longer to keep me amused, need to finish my work assignment in India before I can get the CNC mill in action anyway 😆

Cheers, Rich

bodgetastic

I don't know for sure that they can be mounted vertically but they can be swapped right and left. some others can as well – magura???? all you have to be sure of is that the inlet into the master cylinder from the reservoir is covered in fluid in the position the maser cylinder is mounted in.

Those Magura HS66s have been discontinued for years, and are now very rare and sought ever. They occasionally come up on ebay, but they're not cheap.

I'm liking that Hope set up

Hope actually demo'd what stoner suggested a bike 95, apparently at the request of Mig Indurain's team as a way around tubulars loosening when slowing down on Alpine descents from 60ish mph. Don't think it was actually used though.

ah magura hs66 = rocking horse poo 😉

i think its the king of sweden / jase on here that has some modified hydros on his singular

.

count on hope to hit it with the ugly stick first.

Personally love the look of them. But then I prefer function over feminine sweepy curves when it comes to bike parts.

No need for hydros on a road bike (my normal cable brakes out-perform the tyres even in the dry) but it would be nice to have hydro lever feel. If you have a mill/lathe handy it'd be fun to make some up. If you don't it would be too much expense and faffing.

I had much the same idea.

Was going to use a KB carbon fibre brake lever and cut out a new lever for it. Just for the sake of it. (I think BB7s are the way to go)

Actually it was my singular at ssec as for not being able to use the hoods tosh i use that bike nearly every day it's perfect for cruising on the hoods and braking in the hoods

Three years and still going strong I think being a bodge is a little unfair 😉 unconventional certainly

We had a courier who use to run Hope C2 Pro levers on his drop bars years ago, I ordered him a new clamp so he could file a radius on it so it would seat better. If anybody wants one,it's still in the spares drawer because he never collected it.

Thanks for the input.

My intention would be to try and make something as factory as possible, not just a bodged on MTB lever (no offence intended Swedish King 😀 ) as this is for the missus.

I'm hoping that the Shimano spares catalogue will be of use, the clamp and hood cover from something like the 105 looks like it should do the job pretty nicely.

Cheers, Rich

None taken 😀

Can't see much of a demand without gear shifting being integrated.

I'm with FuzzyWuzzy on this one. Unless it's integated with the shifting then it'll get nowhere and would be restricted to SS CX/road bikes.

Having run both hydro and cable discs on road tyres the hydro discs can very easily over power the tyre even on the driest, stickiest tarmac so locking up the front in an emergency would be a real possibility

It's certainly doable from and engineering perspective but I would suggest a piston assembly that you pull rather than push to fit inside a modified STI shifter that way you could use the standard shimano shifting bit on the front

IF they were too powerful then you just fit smaller discs and save weight…

I'm surprised Shimano hasn't got going with the hydro thing

Then they'd have the disc-brake and electronic shifting side of things cornered. Campag and SRAM would be in the sh!t then.

We'll let the market decide whether they want better brakes….

If the forks and brakes were available I'd go to discs tomorrow

or change the leverage.
dia-compe and tektro, to name two, seem to think there's enough market for brake only drop levers to make specific cable versions…

From the stories about the UCI cross rule changes, it sounds like shimano were one of the main people pushing to get disc brakes allowed. I suspect it won't be long before they have something.

with disks now approved for use in UCI cyclo-cross races I can see some more work being done int his area by the big boys fairly soon.

Shimano already have Dual Control hydraulic brake/gear mtb levers so a road version wouldn;t be that big a leap.

[Edit: what he said]

I've been after this for years. Finally I track down some NOS Hope remote reservoirs. They are the pro/sport reservoir which runs inline of the brake line from a conventional lever. Much nicer looking that that thing from the Swiss Hope importer above. Still, all this effort and then I find out that both the big S brands are looking into it!

As above, the ability to keep the shifters will make or break the idea.

Fitting a pull-type piston assembly and reservoir inside a modified STI unit is another challenge entirely 😯

Would certainly require bespoke seals, and tiny ones at that which would need to be very effective as you would be sealing the pressurised end of the cylinder, and have a fluid outlet as the same end.

Nice idea, but slightly beyond my resources at the moment unfortunately.

Plan is to be able to re-use the seals and piston from a standard mini-lever, so a combination of these bits

and these bits

although there may be a kit which includes everything.

Cheers, Rich

Disk brakes have never been about power unless you're some crazy downhiller rad extreme dude.

Disk brakes provide you with consistency no matter what the conditions and much more refined modulation in those conditions. They also give you a massive leverage benefit, ride all day (especially on rocky downhills on the drops) with rim brakes and your arms and hands will soon see a need for a disk brake.

You can lock a wheel up using something as bad as a canti, it's not about the power.

wot samuri sed.

even Lance Armstrong is tweeting about hoping that they get approved for road events soon.

Santana/ Formula
EDCO IGP