Handlebar tape problem

pomtarr
pomtarr Posts: 318
edited August 2009 in Workshop
I want to re-tape but can't pull back the hoods. The brake levers are in the way and I can't work out how to get them off! Can anyone shed any light?

DSC06151.jpg

Cheers,
Tom
"Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult"

Comments

  • bill57
    bill57 Posts: 454
    The dreaded old suicide levers - I didn't think there were any left outside of a skip. They're very simple, a single pivot which I suspect is under that round black cap. Try prising them off to see if there's a fixing screw underneath.
    Once you get the levers off you should consider leaving them off - they didn't get called that for nothing.
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    When I had these on a gas pipe Falcon there was a large phillips head screw holding them to the brake hood. I did re-tape my bars with them in place but I used cheap non adhesive tape so I could just thread it around the bars.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • pomtarr
    pomtarr Posts: 318
    Suicide levers! :!: old skool I know..... These are well and truly outside of a skip I'm afraid.

    If you prise off the black cap the pivot is there - the brass washer you can see spins around but doesn't come out on a thread.

    DSC06153.jpg

    The other side of the pivot looks like this - again no way of releasing it that I can work out...

    DSC06152.jpg

    Think I'll run the "shameful LBS shame gauntlet of shame" unless anyone has any spectacular last minute insights to kindly offer?
    "Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult"
  • pomtarr
    pomtarr Posts: 318
    thanks redvee I'll give that a whirl.

    This is also a gas pipe wonder (well, Reynolds 531 anyway....). An Edinburgh Bicycle Continental. It's got problems but I love it to bits!
    "Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult"
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    My Falcon wasn't that far up the evolutionary scale it came from ToysRus :oops: when I say gas pipe I mean gas pipe. Friction DT shifters that I learned to move the right amount to shift spot-on. You might be better off buying a set of proper brake levers if you can live without the suicide levers, should improve the braking.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • Smokin Joe
    Smokin Joe Posts: 2,706
    It's easier to live without suicide levers than to die using them. They didn't get their name for nothing.
  • pomtarr
    pomtarr Posts: 318
    Forgive me - what is the issue with suicide levers? I assume they cause crashes! :roll:

    Is it just that you're inherently less stable on the crossbar in the palms-down position? Or is it the mechanism which tends to be unreliable (especially when hurtling towards something)? Bit of both?

    I'm definitely not suicidal so it would be good to know! :wink:
    "Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult"
  • pomtarr
    pomtarr Posts: 318
    Ah, Sheldon Brown has the answers, see 'Extension Levers':

    http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_e-f.html

    Love the other nicknames - "death grips" and particularly "turkey wings". I've also learnt about interrupters, so a productive morning all in all....

    Still interested in people's viewpoints on suicide levers.....
    "Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult"
  • bill57
    bill57 Posts: 454
    It's just that they are inefficient. The lever is shorter than the "real" brake lever and there's usually lot's of loose play. In terms of mechanical efficiency, the direction of the applied force is all wrong anyway, makes engineers shake their heads in dismay. In an emergency they can't provide enough leverage to produce the necessary braking force. So you end up ploughing into the back of a car with the levers squeezed tightly against the bars (hence "death grip") and the bike still thundering on.
    If you ever experience it, rest assured parts of you will be squeezed just as tightly.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,871
    Unscrew them from the clamp that attaches them to the bars, leave the clamp on the h'bars in position with some tape, put the new h'bar tape on and then re-attach the levers back on.

    OR: If these levers are preventing you from getting cushty gel Cinelli handlebar tape (or similar)which is worth more than the levers themselves and you can't extract the suicide levers, hack them of with a hacksaw, file off the remnants/sharp bits and away ye go.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • mattsccm
    mattsccm Posts: 409
    For a fiver or tenner max you will find some replacement levers, probably aero ones with concealed cables.

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