Clean Custom Conversions

[RunForTheHills]

I've thought about adding cross levers to my drop bar bike with 105 cable disc brakes but the tectro RL720 description states for caliper or cantilever. Do you see a reason they wouldn't work well for cable disc brakes?

Cross levers will work as long as they are cable actuated. I have cross levers on all my drop bar bikes and love them. They aren't e-bikes though, so I don't know if they would get in the way of your electronic controls.

 

[EMGX]

Cable disc brakes still use a caliper.

Unless there is some issue with short pull vs long pull I can't think of a reason that it wouldn't work but I just replaced cables/housings and don't want to mess them up. I'll try a web search to see if it has been done successfully by others.

 

[EMGX]

Cross levers will work as long as they are cable actuated. I have cross levers on all my drop bar bikes and love them. They aren't e-bikes though, so I don't know if they would get in the way of your electronic controls.

No problems with the electronic controls. So you've used them on cable actuated disc brakes (I assume so from your answer but just want to be clear)?
Thanks

 

[RunForTheHills]

No problems with the electronic controls. So you've used them on cable actuated disc brakes (I assume so from your answer but just want to be clear)?
Thanks

I am pretty sure I had them on my Jamis, but I don't have the bike anymore and can't find any pictures of it. I hated the brakes on that bike. Every time I took a wheel off, I would have to recenter the brakes to get rid of the squeaking. This is the installation of cross levers on my Raleigh International. You can see that you cut the brake housing and insert them in line. If you want to undo it, you just need new brake housing. So it won't be expensive if you try it and it doesn't work out.

 

[PedalUma]

One big reason for reusing the original levers is the economics of it. I didn't need to buy parts, blead, and recable. I saw Paul cross bar levers for $251. She is super excited and we will go for a test ride on Monday. If later she wants to change things up we can. She is used to operating this type of lever. I love bar end friction shifters but the left GRX lever alone is worth $260. That is $520 for the pair. I am also pleased with the distinctive aesthetic. I have never seen bar tape like that. It changes with the light from blueish to purple iridescent. It is Bucklos and is $16. Now I am swapping a BBS02 old style controller.
This green bike is electric. See the display on the right side of the HB. The rims match the emerald bike.

 

[stompandgo]

I am pretty sure I had them on my Jamis, but I don't have the bike anymore and can't find any pictures of it. I hated the brakes on that bike. Every time I took a wheel off, I would have to recenter the brakes to get rid of the squeaking. This is the installation of cross levers on my Raleigh International. You can see that you cut the brake housing and insert them in line. If you want to undo it, you just need new brake housing. So it won't be expensive if you try it and it doesn't work out.

View attachment 203546

That's a sweet looking frame. Big boy.

 

[RunForTheHills]

That's a sweet looking frame. Big boy.

The frame has always been a little big on me, but my dad first built me a bike with it when I went away to college more than forty years ago.

 

[stompandgo]

A tall frame was a thing back then. Very little seatpost showing. Nothing like today.

 

[PCeBiker]

A tall frame was a thing back then. Very little seatpost showing. Nothing like today.

That must be what I bought in 1981 ??

A sporty Raleigh 10-speed with a 27" frame.

I thought it was pretty cool, and bought a sporty "Racing Chain" for it so I could go Even Faster.

I had no idea what made the chain so Special, but Wow !!
I Was Super Fast !!


Turned out it was only a lighter chain.
And it was only lighter because it was thinner, and it would get caught between the two chainrings.

I had to detune my front derailleur so I could push the chain further sideways to get it on to the high-speed chainring and if I didn't shift properly I'd launch the chain onto my pedal where it would then get caught between the front derailleur and the pedal axle.

I just left it in high gear on the front when I finally got it planted correctly.
I had no need for going slow anyway.

 

[RunForTheHills]

That must be what I bought in 1981 ??

A sporty Raleigh 10-speed with a 27" frame.

You must be a tall dude. Or maybe you meant 27" wheels. I think that my Raleigh is a 21" frame and there is no gap when I straddle the top tube. I would ideally be on a 50-51cm frame (about 20"). I am 5'8" with only a 29" inseam. It was around 1981, but the frame is from the mid 70's. My dad bought a used frame and built me a bike from used components he had lying around. Mostly Campy though. That was one of his hobbies back then.

 

[PCeBiker]

You must be a tall dude. Or maybe you meant 27" wheels.
I am 5'8" with only a 29" inseam.

I'm 6' tall (maybe a little shorter now? Gravity and age Really Suck) with a 32"-34" inseam.

I didn't know much about the science of it, but I knew I wanted my legs as straight as possible at the bottom of the down-stroke.

I didn't need a Specialist to tell me that.
I could feel the inefficiency when my knees were burning and hitting my chin on the up-stroke.

Then I got all carried away, and raised my seatpost, then strapped my feet into the rat traps so that I would be going down with the ship if I ever fell over.
I could barely touch the ground anyway.

I remember how my frame was Really Rare.

All the 10-speeds had 25" frames or the 24" (I think?) frames for kids and shorter people.

 

[RunForTheHills]

Adult frames had 27" wheels (for 10 speeds). When I was in junior high school, I had a Schwinn Junior Varsity (Varsity Junior?) that had 24" wheels. But the frames came in different sizes and the rule of thumb was to have a 1" gap between your crotch and the top tube when you straddled the bike. I have probably gotten shorter too, but my inseam hasn't changed.

MTA: The frame size is a measurement of the distance from the center of the bottom bracket to the center of the top tube.

 

[PCeBiker]

MTA: The frame size is a measurement of the distance from the center of the bottom bracket to the center of the top tube.

I was wondering about that measurement and thought it was as erroneous as the measurements used for tire sizing.

So,.. What if you bend the downtube or cut it off at the Seatpost tube, and reattach it further down the tube?

You've got the Exact same frame with measurements that don't add up.

I've got an old Haro mountain bike something like this,..

I think it's got a 17" frame.
I don't know what the Hell they're talking about ??

Is MTA an acronym for Mostly Transient & Arbitrary?

 

[RunForTheHills]

I was wondering about that measurement and thought it was as erroneous as the measurements used for tire sizing.

So,.. What if you bend the downtube or cut it off at the Seatpost tube, and reattach it further down the tube?

You've got the Exact same frame with measurements that don't add up.

Yeah, this was from a time when bicycles all had a top tube parallel to the the ground. It doesn't work as well for modern bicycle frames.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Yeah, this was from a time when bicycles all had a top tube parallel to the the ground. It doesn't work as well for modern bicycle frames.

. . . or testicles

 

[PCeBiker]

I'm going to be in a world of hurt if I slip off the seat of my electric monstrosity,..

If I land hard enough, I could even set the battery on

What kind of Horrible Death is waiting for me?

 

[Gionnirocket]

 

[PedalUma]

I thought the measurement was called 'stack'. Make a horizontal line from the top of the steer tube back to the seatpost and from that straight down to the center of the bottom bracket. If it does catch fire that will provide cauterization, so on the upside you won't bleed out in the boonies. And you will have roasted chestnuts!

 

[PCeBiker]

I thought the measurement was called 'stack'.

And she was too...

 

[RunForTheHills]

Stack would certainly be more useful for modern frames. I had to get a short, high rise, stem for my Raleigh when I rebuilt it because the reach was way too far to be comfortable as a I get older. I thought they measured modern frames by estimating where the top tube would intersect the seatpost if it were parallel to the ground, but I could be wrong about that. Sizing seems to be all over the place these days, mountain bikes are completely different, and some just resort to small, medium, and large.