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Hi
I've fitted a few twin pull levers for people over the years that would pull both brake cables with one lever so they can operate both brakes with one hand. Not an ideal solution but at least you can set the cable so the rear comes on a bit less than the front.
I've got a friend with no fingers on his left hand who wants to ride offroad a bit and obviously can't use a rear brake on its own.
When looking into twin-pull levers I did see some twin-bladed levers that had two levers mounted together so you could pull either one individually or both together with one hand. I can't find them now despite having a good Google and searching old threads on here too.
Anyone?
Is this for cable or hydraulic?
I'll have to look out the details but I know of somewhere that makes dual lever hydraulic master cylinders for motorcycles specifically for amputees etc. Would maybe be too heavy and the piston size too large for a mountain bike application.
Tom Wheeler - http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Tom-Wheeler-Project-Part-25.html
Due to a freak accident, his right arm is out of action - but it hasn't stopped him riding.
He's got dual levers on the left side IIRC
If it's hydraulic this looks amazing - http://olisparrow.co.uk/work_xflow.html
some details on a Mojo rider with one hand here;
[url= http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/downhiller-tom-wheeler-on-adapting-to-life-with-one-hand-33596/ ]http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/downhiller-tom-wheeler-on-adapting-to-life-with-one-hand-33596/[/url]
I'd also look at the trp parabox and the hope equivalent - you could fit two cable brake levers to the bars (as they'd take up a lot less room than all the hydraulic gubbins) to actuate the remote hydraulic bits.
You would want to stack them at different heights so he could still use them independently, I've seen some people use bar ends to build up a separate level for mounting another lever in tandem.
Also others just stager them a bit next to each other so you can pull the end of one lever on its own or pull in the middle and pull both together.
When I had limited use of my right hand I stripped an old trigger shifter apart so it functioned as a thumb operated cable brake lever, it was a single speed bike so it didn't get in the way of other gear levers, but you could run thumbies or twist grip next to it anyway.
Tom Wheeler at Mojo suspension has a thumb brake but it's a much more elaborate hydraulic set up.
Sorry, lack of info. It's just for cable/V-Brakes. 😳
Cheers for all the info people. I like the gripshift idea....
THere is definitely a twin lever gizmo available, just can't find it.
I'd recommend switching to Hydraulics (maybe bodge up some hs11's or 33's if he doesn't want disks) if at all possible - the reduction in lever pressure required is significant.
[url= http://paulcomp.com/duplexlever.html ]Paul Components[/url] Do a lever that pulls two cables at the same time, but I would probably have advised hydraulics as well - far less force required for more braking power than cable pull brakes.
My mate just use 2 brake levers on the right & runs 1x10.
I read (possibly in MBR) that one of the Hope chaps was running 2 hydraulic brakes off a single lever, apparently out of choice. Could be worth looking into?