Another newbie

[alecstilleyedye]

if you're not fond/technically minded enough, your cheapest bet would be to procure the cross top levers and get your lbs to fit them. or just buy and fit them yourself.

i know someone who has them and he reckons that the cross top levers give superior braking capability compared to regular aero shifters.

 

[Arch]

You might need some cable cutters because the inner you've got may be too long (it's unlikely to be too short, so you're unlikely to need new inner) however you may need a new bit of outer - i'm not exactly sure how much outer drop handlebar bikes have due to it going inside the handlebars. You'll also need ferrules / finishing stops if the levers / shifters you buy don't come with them.

Might be best to check as well, that the old and new levers use the same cable end nipple - cables come with two, a pear shaped one and a drum shaped one, and you cut off the one you don't want. I think brake levers are pretty standard in which they need, but with bikes, you can guarantee the thing you don't check is the thing that stumps you when you've got the bike in bits on the floor and visitors due in half an hour and all the shops are shut...

Don't worry too much about having bought the wrong thing. It can take a while to realise what you want, and the beauty of bikes is that you CAN just get bits changed to suit you, generally.

 

[8-wheeler]

Yes Bonj, I have already gone out and bought the bike.. this is what I have got:

Issimo RSX 407

I bought it up for £250, which is as much as I was comfortable spending. I'm not going to become a seriously hardcore racer, I just wanted a nice bike that will keep me fit and enable me to get around town quickly and efficiently.

Thanks for your advice. I think I'll need to take it to a cycle shop in order to get the bullhorn bars.

Any advice on a reputable cycle shop in/around Central/South London that can help out with this? Are Evans cycles stores any good for this sort of thing?

 

[bonj2]

if you're not fond/technically minded enough, your cheapest bet would be to procure the cross top levers and get your lbs to fit them. or just buy and fit them yourself.

i know someone who has them and he reckons that the cross top levers give superior braking capability compared to regular aero shifters.

yeah but they're naff! they say "look at me i can't get the hang of drops and I can't be bothered to get flat bars!"

 

[bonj2]

Thanks for your advice. I think I'll need to take it to a cycle shop in order to get the bullhorn bars.

Check out any intricacies, such as like Arch says there may be different drum/pear shaped ends, I've only seen drum-shaped personally, but you'll have to check.
My advice is try it yourself on a day when a bike shop near you is open, then if you suddenly realise you need something you didn't anticipate before, you can go out and get it, or ask their advice. If the worst comes to the worst, you can take it into them and admit failure and ask them to sort it out! There's no shame in that, at least you'll have tried...

Any advice on a reputable cycle shop in/around Central/South London that can help out with this? Are Evans cycles stores any good for this sort of thing?

No.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

if you're not fond/technically minded enough, your cheapest bet would be to procure the cross top levers and get your lbs to fit them. or just buy and fit them yourself.

i know someone who has them and he reckons that the cross top levers give superior braking capability compared to regular aero shifters.

yeah but they're naff! they say "look at me i can't get the hang of drops and I can't be bothered to get flat bars!"[/QUOTE]
rubbish. it's called flexibility, and if you arn't snobby about it not looking "pro" enough, or conversely have some sort of aversion to dropped handlebars, they are worth looking at. i'm tempted by them for my commuter road bike.

 

[Arch]

if you're not fond/technically minded enough, your cheapest bet would be to procure the cross top levers and get your lbs to fit them. or just buy and fit them yourself.

i know someone who has them and he reckons that the cross top levers give superior braking capability compared to regular aero shifters.

yeah but they're naff! they say "look at me i can't get the hang of drops and I can't be bothered to get flat bars!"[/QUOTE]

No, bonj, they say "I have drops, which I may be perfectly happy with, but sometimes, like in traffic, I like to ride more upright and have the brakes to hand." As I said, my boyfriend had them on his drop bar tourer when he was still well enough to do it justice, and they helped a lot to make it a useful town bike for him.

Could you just once, please, not be rude about other people's choices? They may not be yours, but that doesn't make them wrong, it just makes them right for someone else. The point of a section like this is to offer constructive advice, not to sneer.

 

[paulbuckle]

Just to stick my oar in, Evans are generally a good enough bike shop to get this work done. They have built up 2 (reasonably expensive) bikes for me in the past 4 months and I haven't had any problems at all.

 

[bonj2]

rubbish. it's called flexibility, and if you arn't snobby about it not looking "pro" enough, or conversely have some sort of aversion to dropped handlebars, they are worth looking at. i'm tempted by them for my commuter road bike.

yeah, I suppose you're right. I am a bit of a highbrow snob.

 

[bonj2]

if you're not fond/technically minded enough, your cheapest bet would be to procure the cross top levers and get your lbs to fit them. or just buy and fit them yourself.

i know someone who has them and he reckons that the cross top levers give superior braking capability compared to regular aero shifters.

yeah but they're naff! they say "look at me i can't get the hang of drops and I can't be bothered to get flat bars!"[/QUOTE]

No, bonj, they say "I have drops, which I may be perfectly happy with, but sometimes, like in traffic, I like to ride more upright and have the brakes to hand." As I said, my boyfriend had them on his drop bar tourer when he was still well enough to do it justice, and they helped a lot to make it a useful town bike for him.

Could you just once, please, not be rude about other people's choices? They may not be yours, but that doesn't make them wrong, it just makes them right for someone else. The point of a section like this is to offer constructive advice, not to sneer.[/QUOTE]

hmmm..., yeah, I suppose, but, iirc the original poster was saying he is the sort of person who would prefer flat bars with bar-ends. So i was just trying to steer him in this direction because it is easily possible instead of to make a compromise to something that may not be quite right. My only reason for thinking it's better really is because your hands are much further apart when you're in the comfortable town position where you can easily brake and change gear.