Brake levers for use with carbon TT bar..?

[redbiker]

I've just ordered a set of the Bontrager XXX Lite carbon aero bars.

What brake levers would you recommend to go with them? I like the look of the Vision Tech ones (claimed weight 75g pair). Am I right in thinking that Vision Tech bars have a narrower internal diameter than most TT bars? They make adaptors to convert to larger diameter bars. Does this seem a bit silly to anyone else?

Any other suggestions appreciated.

[big fellow]

red

i have a pair of old bullhorns that i used up until a few weeks ago with the traditional style of skinny levers, they worked with no problems

last week i got a vision tech base bar, and i also got the new levers. surprise, they actually do weight 75gr! it's my understanding, and vision tech say this repeatedly, that they are of a narrower diameter than normal

they do sell expanders for larger diameter bars

does not sound silly, after all this is WW provided the expanders are not OTT weight wise, get 'em. they look cool. my new bars are going on in a couple of weeks, can give you some feedback then on how they brake. perhaps someone else can comment on that...

cheers

[C a s r a n]

I've just ordered a set of the Bontrager XXX Lite carbon aero bars.

What brake levers would you recommend to go with them? I like the look of the Vision Tech ones (claimed weight 75g pair). Am I right in thinking that Vision Tech bars have a narrower internal diameter than most TT bars? They make adaptors to convert to larger diameter bars. Does this seem a bit silly to anyone else?

Any other suggestions appreciated.

Redbiker,


Have a look at thy What TT aerobars to choose?-topic. I also have the Bontrager aerobars. You will find a lot of comments and pictures of it in the topic.

I went for Blackwell Research brake levers; I ordered them online (www.blackwellresearch.com) and got them in 8 days. Discovery team used Blackwell brake levers, Cane Creek carbon brakes levers and a special "Bontrager" model in de TdF (not for sale). I love the brake levers very much, really good, strong, quite light and smooth.
I took a look at the Vision ones but found them to be really sharp at your fingers!! Not pleasent on long disctance rides, I thought.


Good luck choosing the one you like!

Grtz,


C a s r a n

[big fellow]

good point casran, have not seen those levers...

hypothetically your arms are on your aero bars or on the bars yeah? on the brakes only for split seconds when braking???

[C a s r a n]

good point casran, have not seen those levers...

hypothetically your arms are on your aero bars or on the bars yeah? on the brakes only for split seconds when braking???

True, but not so if you have longer climbing sections (eg. the Monaco half IM), during long rides for IM (or training), while accelerating...

Or for a longer time under certain circumstances: on the advice of Buyneel in the very rainy 2004 TTT the Postal riders rode most of the time with their hands on the base.... you will do this as well if you have to ride in these conditions:

[big fellow]

true, all good points!

i have not tried mine yet as the bars aren't mounted yet...but will keep it in mind...

cheers

[redbiker]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Casran,

Did you cut the ends off your Blackwell levers? They look shorter than the ones on the Blackwell website.

[C a s r a n]

Casran,

Did you cut the ends off your Blackwell levers? They look shorter than the ones on the Blackwell website.

No, unchanged.

[whooztheman]

Where the hell are we going to find the Bontrager aerobar that has the armrests bolted on the basebar? Anyone knows? Look at the pic... man i am in love with these!!!! pls help!

[simon]

to go back to the topic
i once had syntace levers, but i can't really say "buy them, they're good".
they are made for the syntace bullhorn bar or similar products, so their bend is kind of wrong if you have straight base bar tubes. i cut mine off and braked on the first 4 cm after the angle. as i ordered them i asked for profile brake levers, they look similar to the vision ones. but then they made a mistake and sent syntace.
this problem is over since i have my new bike with the hed bar with integrated levers.
btw:walser makes brake levers, but they're really expensive. they said on eurosport today that walser can't buy carbon at the moment because airbus has bought all the carbon for their new plane(rich wanted a new bar for the worlds, but they didn't have any material so he will ride the old bar)so maybe if you want walser brake levers, you will have to wait.

[redbiker]

Anyone got the Tektro RX5.0 levers?

They look a lot like the Blackwell ones. £44.99 from wiggle.co.uk

Claimed weight 68g (not sure if that's each or per pair>).

They look nice and are cheaper than the Vision Tech's in the UK.

[simon]

i think in the thread what tt bars to choose there was a pic of those tektro brake levers, and they talked about that these levers are the same as blackwell

[redbiker]

Thanks, I'll go and have a look!

[C a s r a n]

Anyone got the Tektro RX5.0 levers?

They look a lot like the Blackwell ones. £44.99 from wiggle.co.uk

Claimed weight 68g (not sure if that's each or per pair>).

They look nice and are cheaper than the Vision Tech's in the UK.

As Simon said, these are the Blackwell levers with another logo (or maybe the other way round ). 68gr is the weight of each lever; in fact mine (Blackwells) were 128gr for both.

I saw Ekimov riding these last week in Madrid.

[redbiker]

I saw Ekimov riding these last week in Madrid.

Probably just about good enough for me then!