[Closed] Bending a lever back to normal?

Lever blade for a Juicy shouldn't be expensive. You might even get a trashed brake for spares or repair off here if you ask.
The last brake lever I tried to straighten snapped. It was a Tektro Auriga and a lever cost about a fiver.

an old enduro motorbike trick we used is cover the area thats bent with soap and heat on a gas stove untill the soap turns black then with a pair of welding gloves to protect your hands bend it back or if needed as how you said with a pipe..it does work 😮

Don't have a gas stove at home either 😮

How easy is it to replace the lever blade? Only ever done it on simple v/u-brake levers before, hydraulic ones look a bit more complicated.

I've bent both my XT brake levers now 🙁 I can't work out if the pivot pin comes out or not...

I know this is a bit of horses and stable door bolting but the instructions on my Maguras suggested not fully tightening the levels on the handlebars so if you do OTB then this doesn't happen. I had never thought of that before but it seems to work quite nicely

Yeah I have them tightened so you can still move them with some force but it didn't seem to work in this instance 🙁

bit late now for you but plumbers thread tape on the bars allows levers to rotate in a big off...

Simple enough to swap just the blade, no need to touch the hydraulic side of it. Squeeze the lever and it'll uncover a small grub screw(2.5mm hex key,I think)that holds the pivot pin, loosen it and push out the pin(can't remember if it only comes out from one side), and then screw the reach adjuster in through the barrel(don't use a ball end key, and try to get it as straight as possible, the reach adjusters are a bit fragile and ive seen quite a few rounded or split).Pretty much the same story for XT levers if memory serves me right, and mr shimano hasn't altered later models.

thanks for that - I'll take a look 🙂

but, does anyone actually sell spare levers ?

Try Madison - they can order most spares for brakes.
I bent my XT lever straight again. Its been fine.

I have a knacked Avid lever - the blade itself is fine though - compression nut sheared off inside the main housing when trying to replace the hose, rendering it buggered

Yours for postage

Tim

My Deore lever bent back OK "in the field". No soap, no heat. Time will tell if it stays in one piece

My SLX lever got bent in a crash. It was only deflected about half an inch though. I battered it back straight with a mallet. Right as rain.

Tom, if you can find somewhere with heat/ stove or hob, the soap trick works a treat, its a poor man's/ welders temple stick, the soap blackens at aluminiums lower change temperature ( called the AC1 - the grain pattern in the slip planes re crystallise at this temp.. the slip planes shear when bent and if bent enough a crack or metal fatigue forms)

Weird coincidence, i did the same thing yesterday! I've had the brakes for 4 years and have had quite a few crashes in that time with no damage so was quite surprised to see the bent lever.

I am going to try bending it back straight tonight when i get home but if i snap it I would be grateful for another spare lever which might be kicking about? I started pulling on it yesterday and then thought it might be really bad if i snapped it off halfway down the Fort Bill red. 🙂

I had a hope mini lever bend at a 45 degree angle about a third of the way out. A few unceremonious whacks with the rubber hammer sorted it out. No heat, no soap. Still holding... (crosses fingers)

did exactly this and my rubber mallet was used with a high degree of skill to whack it back in

Slow and steady with an old seatpost seemed to work 🙂 Not sure whether it will hold up to hard braking now its been weakened but we'll see..

Working it, bending it, is going to 'work harden' it, without heat is risky, go for the soap trick to assure yourself it will anneal.

Nick