biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
So, this might have happened... NBD - 2016 Fuji Touring workhorse
- Thread starter wafter
- Start date
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Obviously I've been left unsupervised; as also evidenced by the three bicycles in the kitchen and table covered by various mechanical items in differing states of disassembly
Following December's riveting submersion in the murky depths of brake cable pull ratios, brain has been occasionally poked with a view towards achieving a better solution to the currently-fitted TRP RRLs..
Transpires that there's very little out there in the form of drop-bar levers with pull ratios that suit V-brakes. This is somewhat unsurprising since vees have long-since died a death within their natural MTB habitat, while even back in the day you'd rarely find V-brakes on a bike with drops.
STIs would have been nice, however Shimano have never made these with appropriate pull ratios for Vs and the only solution I could find at all were Tektro RL-520s; another standalone brake lever that's a bit more down-market than the current TRPs (which is Tekro's posh brand).
It seems that even the popular and well-regarded RL-520s are on their way out - no longer listed on Tekro's website and increasingly scarce on the new market.
Domestically I could only find the preferable black variants from SJS cycles (thankfully at a decent price for what's already considered to be a good-value budget option); my FOMO and the fact I needed other stuff from them sealing the deal.
Upon arrival they were found to have a lever ratio of around 2:1, meaning a cable pull around 30% "shorter" than the fitted RRLs.
Broadly speaking they're similar to the RRLs; like construction and format but more chunky, basic and visually cleaner:
Construction and quality appear very similar; the RRL has an insert in the back, the purpose of which eludes me. Perhaps to adjust attitude on the bar / aid confirmity...?
Cable entry angle is apparently a bit different, but the cable stop appears to be in approximately the same place..
Fast forward to last night when I finally bothered to try and fit them; starting with the front / RHS lever since this had the shortest and least complex cable run. The inner cable was unclamped at the brake arms, drawn through the lever and removed. Next the bar tape was unwound from the stem to just below the lever..
The lever was then removed completely by fully unscrewing the single bolt that holds it to its retaining band on the bars.
Usually these are slid onto the bars en-bloc; however doing so would have required removal of the tape fully as well as the gear shifters; with all the ballache that involves. Conveniently the RRL and RL520 share the same band so the new lever could just be bolted on to the existing band
The RL-520 was bolted on approximately, cable outer fitted and everything aligned visually with the remaining opposite RRL, the flat of the tops of the bar and laterally using the mold shut line of the hood with the centre of the bar end shifter.
Once everything was nipped up and the cable inner refitted operation was sluggish with the cable / brake arms failing to fully reset when the lever was released. Due to the different angle of cable exit from the lever there was found to be an additional bend where it rode over the gear lever; so the position of these on the bars was swapped (brake cable moved to bottom).
While this had to help it still didn't resolve the problem so half or maybe a turn of preload was added to each of the brake arm springs (which had barely any preload to start with). Thankfully this worked perfectly.. except they then began to squeak. This was quickly traced to the interface between the springs and arms - and arrested with a drop of oil because I was too lazy to add wax (which would better-resist contamination).
Finally the bar tape was re-wrapped; requiring a bit of thought due to the different shape of the lever and the fact that it had barely any adhesive remaining..
Buoyed by the relatively positive outcome with the RH lever I moved on to the left; which predictably turned out to be a shoot.
Changing the cable order about on the bars as per the other lever suggested that a slightly longer outer might be preferable for ideal routing. Different lengths were tried for both the section between the lever and barrel adjustor, and adjustor and frame.
While an ideal solution wasn't found I settled for a c. 18mm longer section between the lever and adjustor; cut down from a piece of previously-removed-but all good outer with the rotary tool and cutting disc.
A new inner brake cable was fitted as the original was chewed and starting to fray at the brake arm end, making it impossible to refit through the cable outers and barrel adjustor. Lever position was set as with the other side; with the addition of using spirit levels across the stem clamp and tops of the hoods to try and get height right.
Currently I'm on the fence. Ergonomics are good but I think the new levers have about 6mm more reach; not ideal with my already short fingers although usable and the levers themselves and comfortable and well-shaped. Reach adjustement would be welcome, but probably an unreasonable demand at this price.
In use the lever pull is far more positive and lacks the mushy feel of the RRLs. The downside is that more force is required - which is manageable if conspicuous at the moment. I suspect I'll get used to it.
Finally while I don't mind the aesthetic of the RL-520s they do lose points for looking markedly less goth..
It's perhaps interesting to note that until 2013 this bike came with cantilever brakes and road bike levers (which would have worked well together). In 2014 the cantis were replaced with V-brakes but the lever spec remained the same; only changing in 2017 (the year after mine) when someone finally noticed and they started coming with the RL-520s.. so had one been a year later it would have been a non-issue.
Time will tell whether this was an enormous exercise in futility; hopefully I don't hate them..
Transpires that there's very little out there in the form of drop-bar levers with pull ratios that suit V-brakes. This is somewhat unsurprising since vees have long-since died a death within their natural MTB habitat, while even back in the day you'd rarely find V-brakes on a bike with drops.
STIs would have been nice, however Shimano have never made these with appropriate pull ratios for Vs and the only solution I could find at all were Tektro RL-520s; another standalone brake lever that's a bit more down-market than the current TRPs (which is Tekro's posh brand).
It seems that even the popular and well-regarded RL-520s are on their way out - no longer listed on Tekro's website and increasingly scarce on the new market.
Domestically I could only find the preferable black variants from SJS cycles (thankfully at a decent price for what's already considered to be a good-value budget option); my FOMO and the fact I needed other stuff from them sealing the deal.
Upon arrival they were found to have a lever ratio of around 2:1, meaning a cable pull around 30% "shorter" than the fitted RRLs.
Broadly speaking they're similar to the RRLs; like construction and format but more chunky, basic and visually cleaner:
Construction and quality appear very similar; the RRL has an insert in the back, the purpose of which eludes me. Perhaps to adjust attitude on the bar / aid confirmity...?
Cable entry angle is apparently a bit different, but the cable stop appears to be in approximately the same place..
Fast forward to last night when I finally bothered to try and fit them; starting with the front / RHS lever since this had the shortest and least complex cable run. The inner cable was unclamped at the brake arms, drawn through the lever and removed. Next the bar tape was unwound from the stem to just below the lever..
The lever was then removed completely by fully unscrewing the single bolt that holds it to its retaining band on the bars.
Usually these are slid onto the bars en-bloc; however doing so would have required removal of the tape fully as well as the gear shifters; with all the ballache that involves. Conveniently the RRL and RL520 share the same band so the new lever could just be bolted on to the existing band
The RL-520 was bolted on approximately, cable outer fitted and everything aligned visually with the remaining opposite RRL, the flat of the tops of the bar and laterally using the mold shut line of the hood with the centre of the bar end shifter.
Once everything was nipped up and the cable inner refitted operation was sluggish with the cable / brake arms failing to fully reset when the lever was released. Due to the different angle of cable exit from the lever there was found to be an additional bend where it rode over the gear lever; so the position of these on the bars was swapped (brake cable moved to bottom).
While this had to help it still didn't resolve the problem so half or maybe a turn of preload was added to each of the brake arm springs (which had barely any preload to start with). Thankfully this worked perfectly.. except they then began to squeak. This was quickly traced to the interface between the springs and arms - and arrested with a drop of oil because I was too lazy to add wax (which would better-resist contamination).
Finally the bar tape was re-wrapped; requiring a bit of thought due to the different shape of the lever and the fact that it had barely any adhesive remaining..
Buoyed by the relatively positive outcome with the RH lever I moved on to the left; which predictably turned out to be a shoot.
Changing the cable order about on the bars as per the other lever suggested that a slightly longer outer might be preferable for ideal routing. Different lengths were tried for both the section between the lever and barrel adjustor, and adjustor and frame.
While an ideal solution wasn't found I settled for a c. 18mm longer section between the lever and adjustor; cut down from a piece of previously-removed-but all good outer with the rotary tool and cutting disc.
A new inner brake cable was fitted as the original was chewed and starting to fray at the brake arm end, making it impossible to refit through the cable outers and barrel adjustor. Lever position was set as with the other side; with the addition of using spirit levels across the stem clamp and tops of the hoods to try and get height right.
Currently I'm on the fence. Ergonomics are good but I think the new levers have about 6mm more reach; not ideal with my already short fingers although usable and the levers themselves and comfortable and well-shaped. Reach adjustement would be welcome, but probably an unreasonable demand at this price.
In use the lever pull is far more positive and lacks the mushy feel of the RRLs. The downside is that more force is required - which is manageable if conspicuous at the moment. I suspect I'll get used to it.
Finally while I don't mind the aesthetic of the RL-520s they do lose points for looking markedly less goth..
It's perhaps interesting to note that until 2013 this bike came with cantilever brakes and road bike levers (which would have worked well together). In 2014 the cantis were replaced with V-brakes but the lever spec remained the same; only changing in 2017 (the year after mine) when someone finally noticed and they started coming with the RL-520s.. so had one been a year later it would have been a non-issue.
Time will tell whether this was an enormous exercise in futility; hopefully I don't hate them..
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Ended up doing a 35 miler on the Fuji earlier which afforded ample opportunity to test the brake levers.
Generally they acquitted themselves well and performed as initially suspected - much more positive with plenty of control and by the end of the ride I'd adjusted to the greater pull force required.
Reach is definitely further than I'd like (ideally 10-15mm shorter would be nice) but usable (especially thanks to the angled edges of the levers) and maybe I'll get more used to that in time too.
Shifting the levers down a bit on the bars might help with the reach, but I like the current position when on the hoods and tbh can't be arsed with any more faffing.
Ultimately pretty happy with how they've turned out
Generally they acquitted themselves well and performed as initially suspected - much more positive with plenty of control and by the end of the ride I'd adjusted to the greater pull force required.
Reach is definitely further than I'd like (ideally 10-15mm shorter would be nice) but usable (especially thanks to the angled edges of the levers) and maybe I'll get more used to that in time too.
Shifting the levers down a bit on the bars might help with the reach, but I like the current position when on the hoods and tbh can't be arsed with any more faffing.
Ultimately pretty happy with how they've turned out
Wouldn't surprise me if they were a copy of an old design (give or take - I'd expect Campags to have a different pull to suit calipers) - evidently that goes on quite a lot in the cycling world.
Certainly can't complain for the £25 they set me back
