Disc/V-Brake handles

[Andy in Germany]

Possibly a daft question, but unfortunately I have limited experience of disk brakes so it's unlikely to be the last.

A customer has brought in a BSO with cable operated disk brakes. The front brake and shifter are smashed beyond repair.

I remember reading that V-Brake levers and disk brake levers were interchangeable. Is this the case or is my memory playing tricks again?

If not, are there any features of doisk brake levers that would help identification?

 

[bonzobanana]

Yes that is true. If its Shimano brake levers for flat handlebars you may have a setting option for v/disc and then caliper/roller/canti as the other option so will need to make sure its on the right setting but most cable brake levers nowadays are just straight V/mechanical disc in my experience.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Yes that is true. If its Shimano brake levers for flat handlebars you may have a setting option for v/disc and then caliper/roller/canti as the other option so will need to make sure its on the right setting but most cable brake levers nowadays are just straight V/mechanical disc in my experience.

Thanks @bonzobanana : I didn't know that Canti levers work for roller/caliper brakes as well, so that will come in useful too...

 

[DCBassman]

Hmmm. As I've understood it, there's V-brakes, then there's everything else. However, as I type, I remember a 2011 Norco I stripped, and that used the adjustable Shimano levers, set to V, on Tektro mechanical discs.

 

[figbat]

On TRP Spyres there are road and MTB versions, so presumably one or t’other will work with whatever lever you want.

 

[C R]

I am fairly sure there are two types of mechanical disc calipers, mtb type have longer pull and work wit v brake levers, road type have shorter pull and work with road/canti levers.

 

[T4tomo]

If its flat bar bike, then yes cable operate discs will 99% be a direct pull V brake lever.

There are now "drop bar" version cable discs which work off a "normal" drop bar lever, which as pointed out above, work with road callipers. and Canti brakes.

and also the joker in the pack worth remembering, especially for converting flat bars to drops are tektro RL520 levers, which are drop bar levers that are direct pull for V brakes (then you need appropriate bar end gear shifters. - popular setup on some touring bikes with such a 9 speed deore gears to give a wide range at the back and a front triple.

 

[bonzobanana]

There are also Tektro levers like Shimano that have 2 positions so you can tailor them to exactly what you want and they work with anything. I think they are BRL47 but not sure, there may be other models. Maybe they have different fittings to separate the two. Might have the mountain bike barrel fitting for mountain bike brake cables and the other slot might be for mushroom/pear type heads of road bike brake cables and simply by fitting the correct cable you get the correct pull ratio.

I've got an old Carrera Subway 8 with roller brakes that I want to turn into a gravel bike which will take standard road brake levers.

 

[bonzobanana]

I am fairly sure there are two types of mechanical disc calipers, mtb type have longer pull and work wit v brake levers, road type have shorter pull and work with road/canti levers.

That's actually useful info. I didn't know that. So pretty much again if you have the Shimano/Tektro 2 mode flat bar brake levers that worth with pretty much all cable operated brake types they will also still work for road bike disc brakes on the canti/caliper/roller setting. You wonder what brakes they won't work with. Can anyone think of any brake types they won't work with excluding hydraulic of course although they will work with cable activated hydraulic disc brakes.

I will have to find out more about road bike disc mechanisms. Also road vs gravel disc brakes is there a difference. Just looking around many models and shops don't make it clear which models are suitable for road brake levers and which are for mountain bikes. It's actually really vague.

 

[T4tomo]

Also road vs gravel disc brakes is there a difference.

no, drop bars is drop bars is drop bars. (but see RL520 above)

Just looking around many models and shops don't make it clear which models are suitable for road brake levers and which are for mountain bikes.

well a lot do.... e.g.

you also need to watch out for flat mount and post mount and with the rotors centre lock vs 6 bolt

However you can also check out the technical specs on the manufacturer (rather than retailer) website and then just check the detailed model number.

 

[bonzobanana]

no, drop bars is drop bars is drop bars. (but see RL520 above)



well a lot do.... e.g.
View attachment 641211


you also need to watch out for flat mount and post mount and with the rotors centre lock vs 6 bolt

However you can also check out the technical specs on the manufacturer (rather than retailer) website and then just check the detailed model number.

Certainly not all are as clear as that Merlin site. I think there are clones of that Tektro lever on the aliexpress site and I think at the bottom end of the market many low end bikes are using standard mountain bike disc brake mechanisms on road/gravel bikes. Amazon, ebay etc and brands like Eurobike, D-Stat and a few others. This sort of thing;

Then you have halfords with their entry level Claris based road bike with what looks like proper road disc mechanisms.

A quick look at Amazon's best selling road bikes it seems to be dominated by Eurobike models, despite GCN doing a series of videos ridiculing the model in order to make cheaper bikes look bad for their high price brand channel sponsors. They selected the worst possible cheap bike but if anything it seems to have increased sales of these models. These Eurobike models seem to mainly have MTB disc brakes. The average price of a bike sold in the UK is about £380 and that includes ebikes. Most bike sales are entry level. Just making the point there could well be more actual road bikes out there with mtb disc mechanisms although the people buying them are more likely to be either occasional cyclists or perhaps commuters who just want cheap basic transport that won't be the end of the world if stolen rather than bike enthusiasts.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Sellers-Road-Bikes/zgbs/sports/550029011

 

[C R]

There are lots of Chinese cable disc brake calipers on the bay which say for mtb and road, my bet is that they are probably mtb ones, not safe to use with shorter pull road levers.