Dropped bar brake lever effort

[petzl]

My wife is having difficulty applying sufficient brake lever pressure on her dropped handle bar tourer due to twinges of arthritus weakening her reach and grip. My wife very much wants to continue with dropped bars on her custom built tourer rather than flat bars. The present system is V brakes with short reach V brake Aero Levers, previously it was Cantilever Brakes and Aero Brake Levers.

Does anyone know if there is a hydraulic set up for rim brakes and dropped bars, I have looked at the Magura website and only found reference to flat bars. Can I fit a disc brake operated by an Aero lever on dropped handlebars to a standard touring steel front fork ?
Does anyone know if Cycle Cross Levers are an alternative.
Any other information will be welcome.
Thanks.

..........................................................................

I am expanding my original submission. Thankyou all for the positive contribution, in addition, thanks for the telephone conversation and PM, disc brakes look like a new front fork and shallow drop handlebars are in with a chance.
This is going to be a far harder nut to crack than I first thought, no matter, onward and upward and if there is anyone out there who can help on rim hydraulic brakes please contribute.

I need to identify Dia Compe Aero V Brake levers, I tried to include a photo with this thread but cannot press the correct buttons. Can anyone confirm what I believe to be an Dia Compe Aero V brake lever from the following description.
The lever has two obvious pivot pins. The bottom pin is the pivot for lever to housing. The upper pin is the pivot for a ramp arrangement over which the brake inner cable runs and for the brake cable nipple to locate in a stop, the nipple is held secure in the stop by a hard plastic cover. The cover is held tight against the nipple by an allen key headed screw that threads into the ramp.
Thanks.

[willem jongman]

V brakes with drop bar levers do not work together properly as the cable pull is different. The special Tektro drop bar levers for v brakes are much better, but I am not sure if they work well for small hands. With short reach levers, good cantilever brakes may work better. My persoanl favourites are Magura rim brakes for drop bars: model HS66. Unfortunately these are no longer made, so you will have to search on ebay. I like them a lot, as they brake very well with good modulation. What I do not know if these will also work for people with small hands.
Willem

[petzl]

V brakes with drop bar levers do not work together properly as the cable pull is different. The special Tektro drop bar levers for v brakes are much better, but I am not sure if they work well for small hands. With short reach levers, good cantilever brakes may work better. My persoanl favourites are Magura rim brakes for drop bars: model HS66. Unfortunately these are no longer made, so you will have to search on ebay. I like them a lot, as they brake very well with good modulation. What I do not know if these will also work for people with small hands.
Willem

You have got me thinking. I thought the short reach brake levers already fitted were for V brakes but having failed to identify the model number of the levers I have my doubts. The first step is now to find and fit some known short reach V brake Aero levers for dropped handlebars then take it from there. Depending upon the response to this thread I may have to submit a seperate posting for such levers.

I await with interest to see if anyone can advise on Hydraulic brakes or Cyclo Cross levers.
Thanks.e .

[willem jongman]

The Tektro drop bar levers for v brakes are apparently the best (the Dia Compe 287v are the only alternative). I am not sure you can adjust the reach enough. Alternatively, there are special drop bars for people with short hands, precisely to get the fingers closer to the brakes. The Magura HS 66 are hydraulic brakes. The problem with disc brakes would be that the existing fork is unlikely to be strong enough and lacks attachments.
willem

[cjchambers]

I await with interest to see if anyone can advise on Hydraulic brakes or Cyclo Cross levers.
Thanks.e .

I use 'cross' levers - with cantilever brakes - I find they give much better braking than the drop levers. Great for in traffic or for signalling where you want to keep an upright position while braking - I couldn't live without them now. On fast descents I tend to have my left hand on the left drop and my right hand covering the right cross lever. I'm not sure whether they can be used with V brakes - I suspect not, due to the differences in cable pull.

[gilesjuk]

There's no hydraulic system for drop bars that I know of and they wouldn't reduce the amount of force required.

You need longer levers to get more leverage? simple mechanical advantage.

Would interrupter brake levers help? While the levers aren't longer than the drop levers, the position of your hands is at least better (on the top of the bars).

[petzl]

There's no hydraulic system for drop bars that I know of and they wouldn't reduce the amount of force required.

You need longer levers to get more leverage? simple mechanical advantage.

Would interrupter brake levers help? While the levers aren't longer than the drop levers, the position of your hands is at least better (on the top of the bars).

Thankyou, but, not wishing to start a discussion, may I agree to disagree. Hydraulics being what it is, the applied pressure at one end can be greatly increased at the other, a car jack being an example.

When you say interrupter brake levers, are these the same a Cyclo Cross brake levers and fitted in series with the brake cable to the Aero brake lever.
Regards

[gilesjuk]

Thankyou, but, not wishing to start a discussion, may I agree to disagree. Hydraulics being what it is, the applied pressure at one end can be greatly increased at the other, a car jack being an example.

True, but then all brakes do that as the levers are usually longer than the calliper arms. Hydraulics are the "perfect cable", but the key to getting more power is often just about getting a longer lever.

When you say interrupter brake levers, are these the same a Cyclo Cross brake levers and fitted in series with the brake cable to the Aero brake lever.
Regards

Yes, when applied they expand a gap between two sections of the brake outer and therefore apply the brakes. Much better than the old suicide levers of old.

[CREPELLO]

I can't see how interrupter levers could work with V brakes. I haven't used them, but it seems pretty clear that they "pull" the appropriate amount of cable for canti's - they can't pull correctly for both V and canti.

[willem jongman]

The statement that there are no hydraulic rim brakes for drops is simply untrue. The Magura HS 66 is just that, and I have them on my loaded tourer. They are great brakes, but unfortunately no longer made.
Willem

[andrewjoseph]

I have put Ultegra 6703 (model for small hands), with shims, to get the lever reach right when in the drops, for my wife's tourer. Combined with Bontrager FITT compact bars (shallow drop), and Avid BB7 disk brakes.

She does not have arthritis, but does have small hands.

[andrewjoseph]

Petzl, my wife is offering your wife a try on her bike if you want. Can you get to South Wales easily?

[hufty]

Something I've thought about doing: the latest version of the HS33 lever and master cylinder has a two-bolt clamp. I wonder if they would fit side on with some rubber hood covers from somewhere. There may or may not be enough room for your hand to be comfortable, however. I did a quick survey of all the mtb brake levers in the house and with some there would be enough room and with some there wouldn't. A 2009 HS33 lever looked promising.

Alternatively, I'm "+1" for tektro CR520s (or the identical but cheaper Colorado brand ones) which work really well if you swap the brake pads as per Chris Juden's glowing review. As I understood it the science boiled down to having the straddle cable as low as possible. Then although they might feel a bit spongey compared to a hydraulic setup that's the best mechanical advantage for a cable brake.

[531colin]

Petzl
That's a good description of a Dia Compe V brake drop bar lever. These levers pull the right amount of cable for a full-size V brake, like say Deore. Here is a picture of one (hopefully)
......

These are the top levers http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s103p1654, they pull enough cable for cantis, not V brakes....there may be one that would work with V brakes, but I don't know it.

Cable discs are going to be an expensive job, I wouldn't go that route unless she can try a bike with cable discs, I tried some cheap ones and was disappointed, they were no better than V brakes.

[PH]

As I understood it the science boiled down to having the straddle cable as low as possible.

I think you misunderstand the science. For wide cantis, the height of the yoke is irrelevant, well CJ went as far as to say higher would be better, though I think the argument for that was marginal.