Friday, September 17, 2010

New Levers

I ordered some new Tektro brake levers and some red brake cable housing from Velo Orange. The Tektro levers are for my Trek 500, the red brake cable housing is for the Kuwahara I picked up last fall.

This is the start of a complex series of component switches from one bike to the next. I'm in the process of slowly upgrading the Trek and using some of those parts to upgrade the Kuwahara. I plan to transfer the brake levers and the bottom bracket from the Trek to the Kuwahara. The Kuwahara's handlebars and levers (gum rubber-covered Dia Compe levers) will be transferred to Alex's old Raleigh Mixte. This whole switch is my cleverly-hatched plan to turn her old mixte into a road bike so she can ride a little faster and a little farther.

The fact I have to sacrifice by installing new stuff on the Trek is something I'm willing to endure.

I put the new levers on the Trek tonight and took it out for a spin.


The aero profile looks pretty sweet, n'est pas?


I'm not sure yet if I like the angle of the levers. I like the ramp angle, but when I put my hands on the levers, I feel really stretched-out. It's not uncomfortable, but it is much different than using my other Shimano levers that originally came with the bike.


La Rueda Tropical has an informative post about handlebars, handlebar angle, and brake lever placement.

I'll take the bike on a long ride on Sunday and see how I feel about it then. As for now, got to get to bed so I can get up early in the morning. We're headed to Purdue University for Parent's Day. This will be the first time in a month Alex and I get to see our darling daughter since we dropped her off there.

Happy riding!

7 comments:

Steve A said...

Do you know how the velo orange cable housing compares to Jagwire housing? I see Jagwire at $1/foot in bulk. Of course, how long would it take me to use up 25 feet of red brake cable housing?

Steve A said...

Almost forgot. Those Tektro levers look almost exactly like my Cane Creek ones except for the cute salamanders on the housing hoods. The quick release is slick.

Big Oak said...

Steve - I think I paid $10 for "one bike's worth of cable", but I didn't measure how many feet came in the package.

I've looked at the Cane Creek levers also. The Tektro's were $17 less. The quick release mechanism is simple and easy!

Rat Trap Press said...

The Tektro levers are nice and they look pretty comfortable as well.

It sounds like you've got some interesting projects in the works. I'm looking forward to reading about them.

John Romeo Alpha said...

Steve I had the same thought, they do resemble closely my CC SCR5 levers. I believe they are manufactured in the same place, and have the same insides, with only cosmetic differences. They are affordable, solid levers.

jeff said...

Looks like a nice ride.

Apertome said...

Yeah, I think the Cane Creeks and the Tektros may be identical. I have the Tektros on my LHT and they have been quite good. I'm not satisfied with the braking power on that bike, but I think it's because of the cheap cantis.