Hello! I am attaching a pair of tektro RL340 brake levers to a nitto B135AA randonneur handlebar. I cannot figure out the fit for the life of me. I feel as if it is primarily due to the position of the hoods. Can anyone provide me some feedback as to why? I suspect the hoods are too high on the bar.
by 5Aki1
3 Comments
I should probably add what I have done. I’ve spun the bar towards and away from me. Towards me, there is too much hand pressure. Away, the reach feels weird. Ive raised the stem to bring it closer, but the issues persist, which is why I believe the hood position might be to blame
On classic bars like that you have two choices.
The “traditional” way is to take a ruler or some other straight object and hold it to the bottom of the bar. The brake lever should be at or just above this line.
That makes your drops more usable and maintains a reasonable distance from bar to lever.
A second school of thought prefers a very flat transit from bar to lever, which means rotating the bars back a lot to then slide the lever down. You end up with nearly unusable drops since they will be angled up while your hoods will be somewhat level.
FWIW, your current setup is pretty “normal”. Classic bend bars are not for everyone, they have a long reach and huge drop, plus you can’t get that level transition that most people want without seriously compromising access to the drops.
I generally prefer my levers a little farther down to get a flatter transition to the hoods. It’s a pretty personal thing, and as others say, classic drops might not be your jam. I went to a bike shop and got a professional fitting to dial these things in: they were able to swap out handlebars and stem as needed from their parts supplies to get me comfortable.