Non aero lever VS. MTB lever performance difference

[Robert]

Recently decided to change from drop bars to North Road style bars on
one of my bikes.
The previous levers were non-aero style for drops. Dia-Compe brand I
believe. Brakes themselves are also Dia compe caliper.Swapped out the
bars and put on some levers that I had which had been on a mountainbike
that was running old canti brakes. The performance improvement going
from the drop levers to the upright bar levers was like going from weak
drum brakes on a car to power 4 wheel disc. In other words a very big
improvement. I have never been really happy with the performance of
drop bar levers/brakes with the exception of those on one bike with
canti's. Braking from the hooks on this bike is very good.

I use lined housing, Kool Stops, set up without excessive housing loops
ect.

My question is why the difference? It would seem levers designed to
operate with drops should work as well as lever designed to work with
upright bars.

Thanks

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

Robert wrote:
> Recently decided to change from drop bars to North Road style bars on
> one of my bikes.
> The previous levers were non-aero style for drops. Dia-Compe brand I
> believe. Brakes themselves are also Dia compe caliper.Swapped out the
> bars and put on some levers that I had which had been on a mountainbike
> that was running old canti brakes. The performance improvement going
> from the drop levers to the upright bar levers was like going from weak
> drum brakes on a car to power 4 wheel disc. In other words a very big
> improvement. I have never been really happy with the performance of
> drop bar levers/brakes with the exception of those on one bike with
> canti's. Braking from the hooks on this bike is very good.
>
> I use lined housing, Kool Stops, set up without excessive housing loops
> ect.
>
> My question is why the difference? It would seem levers designed to
> operate with drops should work as well as lever designed to work with
> upright bars.

More leverage, more cable pull means more powerful braking.
>
> Thanks

 

[Phil, Squid-in-Training]

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
> Robert wrote:
>> Recently decided to change from drop bars to North Road style bars on
>> one of my bikes.
>> The previous levers were non-aero style for drops. Dia-Compe brand I
>> believe. Brakes themselves are also Dia compe caliper.Swapped out the
>> bars and put on some levers that I had which had been on a
>> mountainbike that was running old canti brakes. The performance
>> improvement going from the drop levers to the upright bar levers was
>> like going from weak drum brakes on a car to power 4 wheel disc. In
>> other words a very big improvement. I have never been really happy
>> with the performance of drop bar levers/brakes with the exception of
>> those on one bike with canti's. Braking from the hooks on this bike
>> is very good.
>>
>> I use lined housing, Kool Stops, set up without excessive housing
>> loops ect.
>>
>> My question is why the difference? It would seem levers designed to
>> operate with drops should work as well as lever designed to work with
>> upright bars.
>
> More leverage, more cable pull means more powerful braking.

Your statement is contradictory, and there isn't any more cable pull.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:
> Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
> > Robert wrote:
> >> Recently decided to change from drop bars to North Road style bars on
> >> one of my bikes.
> >> The previous levers were non-aero style for drops. Dia-Compe brand I
> >> believe. Brakes themselves are also Dia compe caliper.Swapped out the
> >> bars and put on some levers that I had which had been on a
> >> mountainbike that was running old canti brakes. The performance
> >> improvement going from the drop levers to the upright bar levers was
> >> like going from weak drum brakes on a car to power 4 wheel disc. In
> >> other words a very big improvement. I have never been really happy
> >> with the performance of drop bar levers/brakes with the exception of
> >> those on one bike with canti's. Braking from the hooks on this bike
> >> is very good.
> >>
> >> I use lined housing, Kool Stops, set up without excessive housing
> >> loops ect.
> >>
> >> My question is why the difference? It would seem levers designed to
> >> operate with drops should work as well as lever designed to work with
> >> upright bars.
> >
> > More leverage, more cable pull means more powerful braking.
>
> Your statement is contradictory, and there isn't any more cable pull.
>
> --
> Phil, Squid-in-Training

Thanks doctor....the MTB lever pulls more cable and the things have
more leverage, probably why they are more powerful.

 

[Phil, Squid-in-Training]

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
> Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:
>> Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
>>> Robert wrote:
>>>> Recently decided to change from drop bars to North Road style bars
>>>> on one of my bikes.
>>>> The previous levers were non-aero style for drops. Dia-Compe brand
>>>> I believe. Brakes themselves are also Dia compe caliper.Swapped
>>>> out the bars and put on some levers that I had which had been on a
>>>> mountainbike that was running old canti brakes. The performance
>>>> improvement going from the drop levers to the upright bar levers
>>>> was like going from weak drum brakes on a car to power 4 wheel
>>>> disc. In other words a very big improvement. I have never been
>>>> really happy with the performance of drop bar levers/brakes with
>>>> the exception of those on one bike with canti's. Braking from the
>>>> hooks on this bike is very good.
>>>>
>>>> I use lined housing, Kool Stops, set up without excessive housing
>>>> loops ect.
>>>>
>>>> My question is why the difference? It would seem levers designed to
>>>> operate with drops should work as well as lever designed to work
>>>> with upright bars.
>>>
>>> More leverage, more cable pull means more powerful braking.
>>
>> Your statement is contradictory, and there isn't any more cable pull.
>>
>> --
>> Phil, Squid-in-Training
>
> Thanks doctor....the MTB lever pulls more cable and the things have
> more leverage, probably why they are more powerful.

OP said canti brake levers.
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[dvt]

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
> the MTB lever pulls more cable and the things have
> more leverage...

The lever pulls more cable *and* it has more leverage? How is that possible?

Or did you mean to say that the /lever/ pulls more cable but the
/caliper/ has more leverage? That would be a true statement.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

 

[Phil, Squid-in-Training]

dvt wrote:
> Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
>> the MTB lever pulls more cable and the things have
>> more leverage...
>
> The lever pulls more cable *and* it has more leverage? How is that
> possible?

I think he meant that the finger position on the MTB levers allows more
leverage on the brake lever than on the aero levers, i.e. the fingers are
farther from the pivot point during normal use (on the hoods).

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:
> dvt wrote:
> > Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
> >> the MTB lever pulls more cable and the things have
> >> more leverage...
> >
> > The lever pulls more cable *and* it has more leverage? How is that
> > possible?
>
> I think he meant that the finger position on the MTB levers allows more
> leverage on the brake lever than on the aero levers, i.e. the fingers are
> farther from the pivot point during normal use (on the hoods).
>
> --
> Phil, Squid-in-Training

I guess that's what I meant. I have used MTB levers with road calipers
and it indeed makes for strong braking.