Cycling UK Forum

I've just discovered "Secondary Cross Top Brake Levers"
Could be the answer to my hand prob (arthritis etc) - I can't easily grip from down on the drops.
Are they a good idea?
Any probs fitting to a conventional old style drop bar set up i.e. normal brake levers with bar-end gear levers?

Yep - they are pretty good for your purpose/reason and for anyone that rides with their hand predominantly on the top of the bars.

Simple to fit - remove the inner cables, cut the outers and fit the "pass-through" levers, connect the outer to the brake side and then put the inner cable back and connect the brake.

I have them on my main touring bike that has ordinary aero levers and bar-ends

Rob

I have them on both my tourer and commuter & love them.

I started with them on my tourer (it came with them), and liked them so much I added them to my commuter.

I'm not sure what brakes they are compatible with. The type of brakes you have will make more difference to whether you can fit them than the type levers.

Mine work with tiagra / 105 sti levers so the pull must be ok.
Tektro I believe without going to the garage!

Tektro RL72x are for regular "road" brakes.
Tektro RL74x are for V-brakes or MTB disc brakes
"x" varies depending on the clamp diameter - 721=31.8, 726=26.0 (by stem clamp), or 720=24.0 (away from stem clamp)

They are good, provided they match the brake.

andrew_s wrote:Tektro RL72x are for regular "road" brakes.
Tektro RL74x are for V-brakes or MTB disc brakes
"x" varies depending on the clamp diameter - 721=31.8, 726=26.0 (by stem clamp), or 720=24.0 (away from stem clamp)

They are good, provided they match the brake.

Yes I'm using both types with different cable pull BB7 calipers they're simply fantastic for braking from the tops

Keep the cables tight, no slack. They do drop an extra joint into the system which has potential to reduce effectiveness if poorly set up. If done properly fine.

I've got them on a couple of bikes, a set of Spesh, not sure what brand the others are - anyway I have them with discs and dual pivots and they are brill. Keep the outer cables tight at the lever end especially and they IME, boost the brake power by several percent!

They can be a faf to get right but once done they are like overdrive for your braking!

Has anyone got a schematic of how they are set up?

One thing to remember is that on small bars the cross-top levers may interfere each other.
Because the whole cable outer moves out when the cross-top lever is used, you can get unwanted friction then slow brake return.
This can be exacerbated by handlebars with a short oversize central section, that's where the levers are fitted, which makes the cross-top levers too close each other, so the only remedy will be to have them on a slight different angle.

By the way, if drop bars become a real problem to use, why not switch to flat bars?

Bonefishblues wrote:Has anyone got a schematic of how they are set up?

They're pretty straightforward, just fit on the bars and the cable outer is cut accordingly.

Btw, this is what I mean when the levers are too close (ignore the red arrow)

Eyebrox wrote:IMG_20181119_005123200.jpg

That's not entirely correct, in fact most of the levers I know are for 26.0mm (or 31.8mm) so to clamp more central to the bars

Gattonero wrote:

Eyebrox wrote:IMG_20181119_005123200.jpg

That's not entirely correct, in fact most of the levers I know are for 26.0mm (or 31.8mm) so to clamp more central to the bars

It illustrates the cabling positions. The levers come in a wide range of sizes that will fit all bars whether near the stem or near the bend.

Gattonero wrote:This can be exacerbated by handlebars with a short oversize central section, that's where the levers are fitted,...

Not on mine, they're fitted to the narrower part of the bars, which makes more sense to me