longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 10/31/2016 07:34 PM |
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Cold brake levers are bothering more as I get older.
Any tips on making aluminum levers less cold?
Wear gloves
Get Carbon Fiber levers.
Now that those are out of the way,
any other suggestions?
I'm wondering about a layer of thin tape, or maybe plastidip https://plastidip.com/
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 11/01/2016 09:11 AM |
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I would wear gloves or get carbon fiber levers....
YOu could try Plasti-Dip, but if you are using brifters, my guess is that you will run into clearance / tolderance issues between the paddles. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 11/01/2016 11:22 AM |
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I keep trying to figure out a way to wrap the undersides of the levers so when I pull on them outo f the saddle, they don't chafe my fingers (mostly the side of my middle finger).
The all-time best lever I have ever wrapped my hands around on that score was the old Mafac Racer lever with the metal very nicely rolled in to meet at the centerlne. One of the worst was the Mafac 2000 lever. So bad I wrapped the upper portion of the levers with bar tape, then whipped them nautical style to keep the tape in place. Not ideal and still chafed but far better.
I still try to dream up a scheme to wrap the levers in nice leather, fueled by the knowledge that Oregon leather will have just the leather once I figure out how to do it. If I ever come up with a solution, I;'ll post it. (But it may not work with brifters. Cue up "Brifting Blues" by Charles Brown. ("Brifting and brifting like a ship out on the sea ...")
Ben |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 11/01/2016 04:10 PM |
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| Don't need to cover the back of the brake levers or the shift paddles, as contact with these is transient. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 11/01/2016 04:27 PM |
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| Well, if you just do the painted version of Plasti-Dip, the durability will be much lower than dipping the parts and coating the whole thing.... |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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DonnaMobile
Posts:71
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| 11/01/2016 11:09 PM |
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These might help: https://www.lizardskins.com/mtb/bike-protection/lever-grips
I started using them years ago on my road bike after I kept experiencing a disconcerting lack of grip on levers made slippery by rain and/or sweat, especially when climbing and descending mountain roads.
I use Campy brifters and they fit just fine. There is a seam which I position to the inside of the lever, to eliminate interference with the shift lever. |
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zootracer
Posts:833
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| 11/02/2016 10:32 AM |
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| Wondering if you put anything on the brake levers (such as the Lizardskins) you will loose touch and feel, might as well stick with wearing gloves. There are some thin high tech gloves that would probably work. I can't imagine riding through fall or winter without gloves. You must live in warm climates... |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 11/02/2016 07:45 PM |
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Zoot, cold is all relative. A younger me never I mean NEVER had cold hands or feet. That me is long gone!
Neoprene is a good suggestion, but I'm afraid it might interfere with the shift paddles.
Maybe I should have written earlier that my bikes presently are all SRAM. I like the compatibility of mtb and road drivetrains that works so well in our steep mountain roads here in VA. To the best of my knowledge Shimano does not offer this option. I like road bars, road brifters, and mtb drive trains so this geezer can sit and spin up 15 - 20 percent grades. With Shimano, it's mtb or road, pick one. Their road goes down to 34 x 28, which is not low enough for me. To you who laugh at such patheticness, I say: You kids get off my lawn!
So SRAM it is. Perhaps I am reading the latest SRAM offerings incorrectly, but carbon fiber levers = higher gears than my old knees need in our steep mountains. SRAM brifters with Aluminum levers still work with their current 11 speed mtb drive trains, hence my original post.
Yes I could just keep my current Fargo with SRAM carbon levers and 10 speed that work fine, but I'm hankering for something new. Rational? No. |
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Nick A
Posts:625
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| 11/03/2016 11:53 AM |
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I've been riding a "real road bike" since I was 14. I just turned 50. Is this what I have to look forward to?!
Nick |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 11/03/2016 12:07 PM |
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Posted By Nicholas Arenella on 11/03/2016 11:53 AM
I've been riding a "real road bike" since I was 14. I just turned 50. Is this what I have to look forward to?!
Nick
Does my Peugeot UO-8 count as real? Bought it when I was 13. 
But to get on topic: that bike had plastic covers over the brake levers. Just the levers and the covers stopped well short of the pivot. And the "hoods" were just pads on the back side of the unit, not the pull over hoods we are used to.
Certainly manufacturers could easily offer levers with padding. Need an excuse, an in, a sales point? Look the shift levers and steering wheels of any high end sports car. Heck, just look at the handlebars of any high end bicycle.
Ben
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zootracer
Posts:833
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| 11/04/2016 01:55 PM |
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If any of you children are age 74 or older. You don't know the meaning of the word "old". Age is a state of mind. From my side it's kinda ulgly.
Back to topic. I have a big problem dealing with cold, heat, sun, wind, fog, mist, rain, snow, and any other thing related to weather. Cold is number one on my list. |
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KootnaMoots
Posts:47
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| 11/04/2016 05:00 PM |
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Yo Zoot. I have 9 years on ya and the perfect Days don't seem to come around very often. Keep moving 'cause it don't get any better. Cold is my No. 1 whine.
Jer |
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zootracer
Posts:833
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| 11/04/2016 05:21 PM |
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| Kootnamoots...I hear your. Keep moving, if you stop, it all ends there. I keep on telling myself I love cold weather. That seems to help..... |
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