M8 has asked me to fix up his old road bike, but mentioned he wasn’t really happy with the drops (& brake levers on the drops).
I mentioned sissy lever which he thought sounded good.. my mistake is that though I’m aware of sissy levers, I don’t know where to find them (scanned though crc quickly) or how to fit them. Any links & hints you can give?

Not really interested in hearing how rubbish they are, just want to know how to fit them, because he’s 60+ and said he doesn’t like hoods (don’t argue with your elders!).

Alternatively I’m wondering about throwing some flat bars on it for him, are road bike bars thinner? (so the mtb bars I have won’t fit?)
I’ll go and check in second but thought I’d ask…

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cane-creek-crosstop-brake-levers/

Not quite sure how they work, but its cyclocross levers you want.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=554

although I would be more tempted to go down the flatbar route.

You basicly cut the outer and install the lever, but instead of the stop on the end of the cable it’s just the cable dissapearing into more outer.

Flats might work, but he’d either be very upright (which might not be a problem if he never uses the drops anyway) or need a much longer stem to put the bars roughly in line with where the hoods used to be.

cheers guys

Looking at woody link road bars are 26mm, and the flats I have are 25.4 mtb ones… can you get a shim or would it be safe to use a coke can shim?

The only ‘tricky’ bit of installing secondary levers is cutting the cable outer between the secondary and primary lever accurately and even that isn’t really tricky so long as your not in a rush. I’ve fitted some salsa ones and some cane creek ones in the past and both work very well, the only difference being the salsa ones look lovely but could be accused of being slightly over engineered.

[edit]
I did consider flats on one of the bikes but the crosstop levers were under £20 and replacing the drop bars with flat bars would have meant replacing the levers (& shifters in this instance) the bars, grips and stem (to get the position right). Lot more work and expense unless you have a lot of spares in your parts bin.

If you’re using flat bars, why not just use some v-brake levers or similar? Or am I missing something here? 🙂

He’s not using flat bars it fitted with hoods classic shaped road bars… I’m just considering changing the road bars for some mtb (flat) bars I have lying around & so yes, using v-brakes with them instead.
I have spare mtb parts – flat bar, v-brake lever and grips (gears are on the downtube – it is an old bike)

Trouble is the quill stem, as it’s quite short and the maximum height is pretty poor (for his back)…

Like most non-sissy riders here, I have a couple of pairs in the garage that came with new cx bikes. You’re welcome to them if you want to see if they suit / fit etc.

cheer for the offer Gary, TBH I’m gunna get the gears working (& fit some mud guards) and let him try it out properly, before commiting further.
I just wanted to be armed with the knowledge before suggesting the next step to him.

I’m just considering changing the road bars for some mtb (flat) bars I have lying around & so yes, using v-brakes with them instead.

Assuming the existing bike has side pull brakes you might want to check the cable pull on the v-brake levers matches that required for the brakes, I’m not sure if it’ll be right or not but it is one thing that you should probably check before heading off down that route.

Personally I’d take up Garry_Lager’s offer of free levers and be done with it. Seems the simplest solution by far to me.

An look on on-one as they had a heap of quill stems when I was last on there – might be something taller.

MW – may well be the case, but I’ll hold off Gary very kind & generous offer until he definitely says he doesn’t like it.

cheers jonba, will have a trawl though them.

Adjustable Quill Stem

Don’t worry about the bar size at the clamp….they are all 22.2mm where you fix the levers/shifters on Road and MTB.

I have a pair of these extra Cross levers and am very impressed…much better for check braking in traffic than having to use the main levers.

PaulD

cheers Paul for the confirmation, I’d seen on the on-one site, it mentions levering out the stem to fit either size.

I don’t get cross top levers at all – you have much more leverage and therefore control of the bike when on the hoods or drops for that matter. The bike’s handling gets relatively unstable when on the tops so why would you want your hands there in braking situations? Much better IMO to get comfortable braking from the hoods/drops…

ahem… from the OP:

Not really interested in hearing how rubbish they are, just want to know how to fit them, because he’s 60+ and said he doesn’t like hoods (don’t argue with your elders!).

😉

you have much more leverage and therefore control of the bike when on the hoods or drops for that matter. The bike’s handling gets relatively unstable when on the tops so why would you want your hands there in braking situations?

The ones I fitted were for two women that both had difficulty getting enough leverage on the brake levers from the hoods and although they could both operate the brakes from the drops (just in one case due to small hands) this position felt too committed for a lot of riding. For them the additional brakes meant that they had greater confidence in their ability to stop the bike, which in turn meant that they both rode the bikes more and eventually became more confident riding on the drops.

For crosstop levers, I recommend the Tektro RL720/RL721/RL726.
They are available in 3 sizes – 24mm (for away from the stem) 26mm (for next to the stem, on standard bars) or 31.8mm (for next to the stem on oversized bars).
Chain Reaction have them.

z,

Mine (and all the ones at CRC) have a hinged mount so you do not have to remove the bars to install them….just trim back the bar tape if necessary.

Simples.

PaulD

In my experience, they are great. I find them very useful, especially when sat up in traffic, looking over the top of stuff (or whilst out and looking over hedges). I normally ride on the hoods too, so can appreciate the differences twixt the main levers and these.

😉

Not just for [monster]crossers either, I’ve got a set on my Condor road bike too (but only rubbish pictures). I find them equally as useful there …