Question on vintage campy brake levers

[VeloAblotto]

Hello again! I'm building up a 1980s road bike with campy parts. Its my first effort at doing so, so coming across some "quirky" issues. The levers pictured below are (I think) late 80s Chorus - it seems it can support both aero and non-aero brake cabling. I want to do non-aero (ie: cables coming out from the top of the hoods).

I'm having issues with the internal cable guide thing. I assume the cable is threaded through this (one side has a larger hole where cable end presumably sits). For aero, this works well as the cable guide is pulled back and held in place. However, when the brake cable is thread vertically (coming out of the top), it means the cable has no tension as the cable guide rocks back and forth. The only way I can make it work is to bypass the cable guide thing altogether and have the cable end sitting underneath the brake lever, which doesn't feel like its correct way. And the cable guide thing still gets in the way and rattles around a bit.

Hope this makes sense! Any guidance much appreciated - hopefully its just a case of me being a clueless newbie.

 

[iandg]

You need a 'ferrule' at the end of the outer cable/top of the lever.

Something like this

 

[biggs682]

My local bike shop are a lot cheaper than the e bay link one's

 

[iandg]

Yes, a decent lbs will probably sell them a lot cheeper - the link was just a quick google to demonstrate the item.

 

[Specialeyes]

The issue isn't with the cable+outer entry into the lever housing, it's that the <cable end bit> (insert correct name here) is sliding back and forth in the slot in the lever. In aero mode and under tension it sits at the back of the slot, while in non-aero mode, as the lever rotates, so the <cable end bit> slides back and forth in the slots in the lever sides.

There's a little plate missing in the pics, (like a sort of very stumpy cross shape) which retains the <cable end bit> and holds it at the front of the slots, passing all the movement of the lever into the cable.

I think I've got some in a box in the shed somewhere - I'll have a look when I get home from work if you need @VeloAblotto


Edit: found a pic online (and increased my confidence that I've got a pair of these knocking around at home somewhere)

View attachment 476928

 

[VeloAblotto]

The issue isn't with the cable+outer entry into the lever housing, it's that the <cable end bit> (insert correct name here) is sliding back and forth in the slot in the lever. In aero mode and under tension it sits at the back of the slot, while in non-aero mode, as the lever rotates, so the <cable end bit> slides back and forth in the slots in the lever sides.

There's a little plate missing in the pics, (like a sort of very stumpy cross shape) which retains the <cable end bit> and holds it at the front of the slots, passing all the movement of the lever into the cable.

I think I've got some in a box in the shed somewhere - I'll have a look when I get home from work if you need @VeloAblotto


Edit: found a pic online (and increased my confidence that I've got a pair of these knocking around at home somewhere)

View attachment 476928

Many thanks @Specialeyes - that definitely seems to be the solution to my problem (missing small but important bits as per)

Would this be what i'm looking for: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAMPAGNOLO-C-RECORD-CHORUS-AERO-BRAKE-LEVER-KIT-NOS-NIP/202701581765?hash=item2f31f4adc5:g:SiQAAOSwBD9ZlI6b

 

[Specialeyes]

That's the bunny! Further googling this morning reveals that the slight 'v' shape of those plates is to act as a cable guide in aero mode - pushing the cable stop to the front of the slot and letting the cable run through the soft v to the back of the lever, but the key part is that they fix the cable stop in position.

Here's some more on eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Campagno...519511?hash=item1a7cb70797:g:HVQAAOSw1qtc6bHR where the seller correctly points out "annoyingly they used this little widget which often gets lost"!