Cross bike – extra brake levers on the bar tops: yes or no?

For general road/xc and a bit of mucking about in the woods.

Canti brakes, btw…

No

Marianne Vos says yes

Yes, but it can get tricky the next time you ride a road bike without them.

i found they made the braking worse overall and because my hands were so close to the stem gave even less control, handy for riding along the seafront one-handed eating an ice-cream though

in the drops for better braking and firmer control

No.

They just get in the way and you’re better off riding in the drops, from where braking works well anyway.

Are you still riding a MTB with 440mm flat bars?

Never felt the need for them. Heros descend in the drops 😉

I have them on mine, but the next time i change brake cables they are coming off.
Mainly due to the space they waste on the bars, makes it tricky to fit lights etc.

Flared drops

have them on my non cx racing gravel adventure drop bar hybrid – deeply unfashionable for road use but very functional for long hills when looking at the view as in touring style mentality versus strava and a big plus when sat up in traffic

I had a bike with them and took them off. Hands too close together for control. I prefer to descend in the drops. Good bar position should mean you can use any position comfortably. If you’ve got them then keep them if you like them but I wouldn’t recommend buying them.

Not it is then, thanks all 🙂

Can’t brake on the drops as causes pain in my elbow so I have to have them

😀

No, too close together and makes the braking mushy – far better to have hands wide-apart for better control and push back over the saddle if needed.

No. get in the drops and do it properly – especially the mucking about in the woods bit.

Yes, but only because they were already there. And now I like them because I also commute on it and it enables me to sit right up in traffic in town and still brake

My CX bike came with them. Tbh they were quite useful to start with while I got used to the very low position (it’s a moderately racey CX) but after that they just got in the way. I took them off when it was time to replace the brake cable outers.

So I would say if you are happy riding drop bar bikes don’t bother, otherwise they might help.

For commuting I find them very useful. Wouldn’t have them on one used properly for cross though

And that’ll be while she was suffering with an uncorrected back issue (surgery to remove a cyst in October 13 IIRC). Her current CX bike doesn’t have them on, neither did her 13/14 or 14/15 bike.

Definite no from me. They just making everything worse IMO – they increase drag making the brakes feel weak and mushy, they are positioned such that you don’t have much leverage on the bars so whilst you can brake whilst sat up, you don’t have as much control doing so.

Braking on the hoods gives more control and equal braking effect to the chicken levers, and braking on the drops gives the best brake lever leverage whilst keep the front wheel weighted for maximum traction and also maximum leverage on the steering.

It was a no from me untill I saw a pic of Nick Craig with some on his bike. I still don’t use them myself but if you fancy the idea give it a go. You can always take them of again.

Most of the top riders use them in 3 Peaks CX.

I’ve got mine on from doing it last year, never got round to taking them off and don’t find them an issue

I’d have them for commuting but not mucking about in the woods.

I’d be interested in how the hope hydro interrupters work, but I’d have thought canti’s were bad enough without making them worse by choice.

I guess there might be benefits on something like the 3 peaks to give an alternative hand position that can be used even when you might want to brake.

Unless you’re likely to do any rides like where it may become too uncomfortable to use the hoods/drops, I wouldn’t bother with them.

ive never had this “makes the brakes worse” issue. But having seen some of the horrors cabled on photos of home builds on here i can understand how people would get it to make the brakes worse.

I have a set on my rove – mainly because they are no detriment to the brakes and serve a purpose in traffic. – and the bars are 46cm wide so the phenomenon of losing control when my hands are on the tops doesnt happen either.

The key to a good cable brake set up is keeping the cable as tight and the tension as ‘rigid’ as possible. Adding extra brake levers along the cable path just introduces potential for a loss of cable tension, and is a compromise ‘solution’ that I’ve never found to work as well as a simple lever to calliper/canti set up.

Put some on my kid’s bike recently, as her hands are too small to brake strongly in the drops, but they’ve no place on a grown-up’s bike.

They serve no purpose commuting in traffic – that’s just post sissy-lever rationalisation. Braking on the hoods is fine and effective.

They serve no purpose commuting in traffic – that’s just post sissy-lever rationalisation. Braking on the hoods is fine and effective.

For me it’s not about braking, it’s about being able to sit more upright and see over surrounding traffic while still being able to brake if needed.

it’s about being able to sit more upright and see over surrounding traffic while still being able to brake if needed

Surely this can be achieved by just riding on the hoods?

how close are your hoods ?

If my hoods were close enough to put me in the upright position that the crosstop position puts me in – then they are too close for me to be in a comfy position on the bike when on the drops.

I think they are a good idea. Nice to have more choice of hand positions, especially for longer rides. And nice for descending on fixed, as you can sit upright more.

Though yes, it can be tricky to setup the cables etc, and get them working reliably. I think cantilever brakes are too much faff anyway.
Plus they need more space on the bars, annoying if you want to fit lights, GPS, bell, barbag etc.

The key to a good cable brake set up is keeping the cable as tight and the tension as ‘rigid’ as possible. Adding extra brake levers along the cable path just introduces potential for a loss of cable tension,

are your crosstops made of plastic ? pretty sure mines are LESS compresable than the outer fed into each side …. id probably go as far as to say the 2 bits of alu they are made of was pretty imcompressable in real terms – no more so than say a cable oiler – which the STW massive seem to love – now thats an unnecessary item.

I was seriously considering some when I had canti brakes. Since swapping to mini vees I am much happier (some down to me not being able to set up cantis and some down to the brake judder thing on tricrosses with cantis).
I had to haul on the cantis hard and they didn’t do much meaning I got horrible arm pump on the downs on the Downs, and I didn’t feel comfortable doing all that on the drops.

I like them ,I put them on for the 3 peaks cx and have 46cm bars

I like ’em, I have 46cm bar too on my Kinesis evo

Surely this can be achieved by just riding on the hoods?

I’m more upright but still not upright on the hoods.

I don’t have my bike with me, but i reckon in a braking position on the hoods my hands are 5-6″ further forward than on the tops, and then on the hoods because of the hand position the wrist is further rotated forward – would putting an extra 150mm on your stem make you any less upright.

ghostlymachine – Member
kilo » Marianne Vos says yes
And that’ll be while she was suffering with an uncorrected back issue (surgery to remove a cyst in October 13 IIRC). Her current CX bike doesn’t have them on, neither did her 13/14 or 14/15 bike.

I hadn’t heard that but it looks like she was using them in 2010 2010 image

Yes. I find they allow much better control on technical riding without having to set the bars up too high and close for faster, less technical stuff.

I’m either a riding god or my chicken levers are a big benefit compared to other people I ride with, several of whom would be comfortably faster than me when we’re mtbing. I’d like to think the former but suspect the latter 😉