Any idea why my vintage brake levers are loose like that? They still work. I was biking back home last night and when braking (possibly hard) they suddenly went loose and wiggly.
Loose vintage road bike brake levers
byu/ReelHummusCritic inbikewrench
by ReelHummusCritic
3 Comments
That’s pretty normal. Those parts wear out over time. I mean that lever is easily 40-50 years old. Just live with it.
In some instances new cables and housin can help fix the issue. But that’s only true if “sticky” cables cause the lever not to go all the way back to the “zero position”.
If they went loose the two most likely causes are:
* your cable housing deformed or left its end points.
* your braking cable slipped a bit through its fixing point at the cable straddle.
Remedies:
* Check if your cable housing sits firm and straight in its ‘stopping’ points, For example the seating of your cable stop on top of the brake lever does not look overly trustworthy.
* Reposition your braking cable at your rear straddle an fix it into a properly tight position.
You have a kink in the cable housing where it exits the brake lever. It’s causing the cable to bind and not allowing the brake caliper to keep tension on the lever. Looks like the ferrule at the brake lever is bent too.