Adding v brake levers to drops

father_jack

Is it possible to fit v brake levers onto bikes with drop bars, basically what cyclocross have? The brakes I have are Shimano BR-R451 57mm . Brake levers are Tektro RL340.

daniel_b

Father Jack wrote:

Is it possible to fit v brake levers onto bikes with drop bars, basically what cyclocross have? The brakes I have are Shimano BR-R451 57mm . Brake levers are Tektro RL340.

I think you need something designed to work inline, like this:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cane-creek-crosstop-brake-levers/

Hopefully I will be proved wrong.

Never used them, well my Langster had them only, but I removed and replaced with hood versions, but I gather they are not meant to be very good.

pastryboy

Yes, the link is correct for what you need. I bought a pair years ago and never bothered fitting them. Apparently (and unsurprisingly) they will make your braking less smooth.

father_jack

yeah I've had to setup a Boardman CX Comp, it has drop bars/brake levers, with disc brakes, and mini v brake type things on the hoods, it was a pain in the arse. Terrible braking performance, like no travel/power- I thought it was just me.

ugo.santalucia

Yes, you can... they are very handy in traffic if you want to ride on the tops

The Rookie

Cannondale did a single speed bike with 'crosstop' levers as the sole levers, I have them on my commuter as they are lighter than conventional brake levers.

woodyonthebeach

I have cane creek cross tops on my soon to be sold Salsa Colossal.

They are great in traffic and it gives you somewhere else to move to when you want a change of position for what ever reason you dont want to be on the drops

BNystrom

Don't any of you ever brake from the hoods? I probably do 95% of my braking from there. It's not all about the drops and tops.

The Rookie

Nope, as my commuter has flat bars......

timj2112

The problem with most road brake levers is they don't pull enough cable for v-brakes. There are some gadgets that appear to increase the amount of pull, they attach where the brake cable enters the brake. A much more elegant solution is DiaCompe 287-V brake levers. They came standard on my 1998 Trek 520 and they are still available for less than $30. Shifting needs to be handled elsewhere of course, on the down tube or bar-end. Apparently Tektro offers something similar, the RL-520 but I have no experience with it.

The Rookie

I think you misread the thread completely when resurrecting this older thread, it was talking about v-brake style levers for road brakes. So he does need road brake levers.

However much 30$ is as it depends on the $ (not much if it's Zimbabwean)

elbowloh

BNystrom wrote:

Don't any of you ever brake from the hoods? I probably do 95% of my braking from there. It's not all about the drops and tops.

Snap do most of my breaking from the hoods. Only from the drops on descents really.