Do not overtighten the controls on the handlebar!!

BikingBob

Some of you may already know of this, but alas I didn't and had to learn the hard way............. :roll:

When assembling the various levers on your bars be careful not to put them on fully tight. doing this prevents them spinning when you have the inevitable crash & makes the damage much, much worse.

See below evidence....







A few rides after i had a similar "over the bar" incident with the levers not so tightly done up and true to my lesson (from my bro) they just spun around !!!

GENIUS !!!

bennett_346

Don't fall off

The Northern Monkey

Ha! ^

02gf74

indeed - if the levers/controls do not clear the top tube, then as you say, keep the bolts tight enough but not too tight,

you may wish to fit aluminium alloy bolts - you will not be able to overtighten them and have some weight saving - I use them on my weight weenie bike and have not had any problems with levers/controls moving.

BikingBob

bennett_346 wrote:

Don't fall off

Indeed that is another possibility

02GF74 wrote:

indeed - if the levers/controls do not clear the top tube, then as you say, keep the bolts tight enough but not too tight,
you may wish to fit aluminium alloy bolts - you will not be able to overtighten them and have some weight saving - I use them on my weight weenie bike and have not had any problems with levers/controls moving.

I will look into that, thanks!!

bluechair84

Yup, I learnt the hardway after a twisted the bars around my leg. The brake lever dug into my thigh and didn't budge. Whilst I got away with bruising, it was the worst frickin' bruise of my life - My entire thigh went black and yellow with weird black pencil scribble all over it. Scared the crap out of me for a while.

BikingBob

bluechair84 wrote:

Yup, I learnt the hardway after a twisted the bars around my leg. The brake lever dug into my thigh and didn't budge. Whilst I got away with bruising, it was the worst frickin' bruise of my life - My entire thigh went black and yellow with weird black pencil scribble all over it. Scared the crap out of me for a while.

Yeah same here, although my thighs broke my bike somehow

allthegearnoidea

there is such a thing as 'Bump tight' tight enough to not move, not So tight that in the event of crash they break!

bluechair84

Finally found a picture of it!



You can see towards the top of my thigh where the brake lever dug in. It developed a little deeper than this for a few more days but I didn't get another photo.