Secondary brake levers .... a surprising disclaimer

[Vapin' Joe]

Provided whatever levers you fit can apply the full force of the pads to the rim or the disc without running out of travel before they touch the bars I can't see any problem.

 

[raleighnut]

If Mad Max did bikes...... Crossbow mount in the middle?

Nah I've got a set of Electron dual front lights, that's where they mount. I used to do a lot of night-time riding on that bike mainly on unlit back lanes so needed a lot of light, they're not 'Retina Burners' and they don't flash or strobe but each lamp unit has 8 LEDs rated at 5w and they're independently switchable.


Although I've got the earlier set with a square battery pack.

They mount to most of my other bikes too, here they are on the front of the Trike mounted on another 'Space Bar'

 

[bigjim]

Regarding the heavy bit. The only concession manufacturers seem to make for bigger riders is the size of the frame. All the other items such as wheels, brakes, gears etc are stock whether you are 11 stone or 20. I wonder if they build down to the 11 or up to the 20 in terms of robustness? My money is on down.

 

[Old jon]

^^^^

Phil Irving has a view on this, I shall approximate because rake angle and trail will influence the result. If the weight supported by the front wheel is 60 lb the bending moment applied to the headstock will be about 50 lb/ft. ‘These loads may be multiplied from 3 to 10 times under impact.’ The previous sentence is a direct quote. I have never seen or heard of bicycle frame failure ( OK that does not mean it don’t happen ) around the headstock, so I guess frames at least are sufficiently robust.

 

[PaulSB]

For me the main issue with such levers is reaction in an emergency and would be the reason not to use them - again.

Several years ago after an accident it was six months before my right hand could exert enough force to use the lever on the drop. I had secondary levers fitted which I agree are easy and comfortable to apply.

What I found dangerous for me was the lack of control in some situations caused by grabbing at brake levers positioned in the centre of the bars - that is moving my hands from the hoods to the secondary levers reduced my overall control of the bike.

Once they were removed it took several months for my brain to unlearn which levers to use in situations where braking was instinctive rather than planned - even though the secondary levers weren’t there!!

I can understand why people use them but I wouldn’t again. I’d rather move to flat bars.