Can you use flat bar break leavers with roadie breaks?

ollietrex · 31-07-2008 8:27am #1

So last night I became the proud owner of a fixie but I am very tempted to put flat bars on it and cut them shorter. But can I use flat bar brake leavers with roadie brakes?

TinyExplosions · 31-07-2008 8:42am

ollietrex wrote: »

So last night I became the proud owner of a fixie but I am very tempted to flat bars on it and cut them shorter. But can I use flat bar break leavers with roadie breaks?

I do

I use these, and they work pretty well -they're designed to work with standard levers, but I use them on their own and they are fine

niceonetom · 31-07-2008 8:43am

yes. i've used a variety of levers with callipers. congrats on the new bike. what is it?

it's spelled brakes.

ollietrex · 31-07-2008 8:45am

Don't know the make of the bike but it looks cool

and it only has one gear...

fish-head · 31-07-2008 9:23am

is it a track bike or a converted road bike? Let's see the pictures, man!

ollietrex · 31-07-2008 9:27am

Its a converted bike, Got it of my boss for a €50 donation to the RNLI.

It needs a bit of work doing so once I have it finished I will post some pictures.

Should I stay with drops or move to flat bars? I have always liked the look of fixie's with the flat bars...

beans · 31-07-2008 9:29am

You could hacksaw your drops just beyond the bend and invert them, to be basically bull-horn type flats...

Gavin · 31-07-2008 9:43am

The chop 'n flops are good alright. Chuck up a picture ! As Tiny says, the Cane Creek Crosstops are probably the best out there, from looking around a month or so ago.

fish-head · 31-07-2008 9:55am

I was using track drops for a good while before I got my road bike because I used to go out for spins on it but now I've got some riser bars on it which I find is much better for heavy traffic and commuting.

blorg · 31-07-2008 10:47am

ollietrex wrote: »

Its a converted bike, Got it of my boss for a €50 donation to the RNLI.

It needs a bit of work doing so once I have it finished I will post some pictures.

Should I stay with drops or move to flat bars? I have always liked the look of fixie's with the flat bars...

Personally I am very fond of drops- I find the vertical hand position more natural than a horizontal one and you have a bigger range of hand positions. Bull-horns would be next best but I would feel that is basically drops with the hand positions down in the drops removed.

blorg · 31-07-2008 12:49pm

On the brake front bear in mind that while you can use standard MTB levers with caliper brakes braking may not be optimal as the cable pull on the levers is different to road levers. Shimano BL-R440 levers are cheap and I believe designed specifically to work with calipers.

Can you use flat bar break leavers with roadie breaks?

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