Black_Blade said:
My daughter wanted me to put a different set of handlebars on her mountain bike and I am just wondering how you get the brake levers onto the new handlebars. The old bars were somewhat normal mountain bike bars that allowed me to loosen the levers and slide them off the end of the bars. The new set of handlebars have the curled up ends on them (look like ram horns...lol) with foam gripping area, so cannot slide them onto these bars.
The brake levers are made of some kind of fiberglass or heavy duty plastic and I am afraid if I try to spread them open enough to slip them straight onto the handlebar the material will crack and ruin the brake lever. How do you go about installing these plastic brake levers? Do you heat up the plastic so it won't break when spreading the clamp to slip onto the bar? Do you somehow get that foam grip off the end of the bars, to allow sliding the levers along the bar? If so, can't imagine how these grips come off...they are on the bars pretty good. Any help appreciated.
If the handlebars you are talking about which "look like ram horns" are the
SAME shape as the handlebars which are typically found on a ROAD bike, then you will need a different set of brake levers UNLESS you happen to get-and-use a STEEL handlebar ...
The diameter of an alloy-or-carbon-fibre ROAD handlebar is larger than the diameter of a MTB handlebar; therefore, the inner diameter of the MTB brake levers is smaller than the diameter of the typical ROAD handlebar so it just won't fit.
Regardless, a typical set of MTB brake levers cannot negotiate the curve on a ROAD handlebar regardless of whether the handlebar is alloy/CF or steel ...
You can by a set of TEKTRO "cyclocross" levers which have a
hinged clamp if you had been planning on mounting the old levers on the new handlebar's crossbar -- about $20US. These cannot be used on steel handlebars unless you use a shim ... the shim can be made by cutting a collar from a plastic laundry detergent bottle, or equivalent (e.g., 35mm platic film cannister).
Some BMX levers have a
hinged clamp, too.
Now, with regard to the "foam" or any other grips on any handlebar, it must be removed before installing a non-hinged brake lever.
To remove them, "squirt" some water under the edge of the "grip" ... wiggle ... squirt some more water under the grip until you can wiggle the ENTIRE grip at which point it should simply slide off.
There is a small chance that the grips were installed using
hair spray BECAUSE a few years ago someone recommended that was how grips were supposed to be installed -- I had read
that in a magazine & echoed on the web (or, vice-versa) and dismissed it as a stupd idea ... that stupid idea resurfaced when I was helping someone set up a "Flat Bar" bike a few years ago & he was prepared to follow suit ... I explained to him that it was probably a good idea if a person doesn't have to pay for his/her components, and I guess I can understand a race mechanic doing so to expedite the process JUST PRIOR (that is, 5 minutes or less) TO A RACE (so, not really), but it precludes using the grips again because you would need to CUT them off the handlebars to remove them if applied with. He opted to use water to install his new grips. I guess if I were a less-than-scrupulous LBS I would use hair spray to intall the grips on a MTB handlebar.
If the "new" handelbars which you have are not ROAD-type bars, then post a picture of what you are trying to work with.
BTW. Most ROAD brake levers are intended for the adult hand size.
