Brake hoods a solution for some?

This is a solution for those of us who are not too fussy but would still like hoods for their old brake leavers, I have not been able to find hoods for my shimano 600 leavers and had been looking around for other options and remembered heat shrink tubing, so a quick look on the I-net brought up this company.

http://www.heatshrink-online.co.uk/heat ... Ratio.html

50mm tube for just over £2.00 ( I should also have bought 38mm tube as well just under £2.00) for 500mm. The photos showed a range of colours so I purchased Black and Orange as it looked a bit like the gum of some the hoods in the photo (It dosen’t in the flesh but it will come in useful).

Photos below should explain the process .

A quick try with an old weinman leaver showed promise but is thin so it does not give any padding. So the next try with the 600 leavers I used some foot beds and cut them to fit over the hoods these are a bit thick 6mm but do give shock absorbtion. Gel foot pads should be thinner and better, they can be picked up for little cost at Lidle/Aldi on occasion or I think pound shops and cut to shape.

Heat shrink could also possibly be used over existing hoods that are falling apart, I am yet to try this.

To activate the heat shrink you can use hairdryer, hot air gun or cooker just be careful. Once hot on the sharp curves you can pull it into share pliers to take wrinkles.

I hope this helps someone

Cheers

Phil

Interesting solution.
Thenks for the info.

Must say I winced when I first saw it but actually very good idea, obviously not for your Sunday best but for a work horse it's a great idea. Can imagine it working slightly better on aero levers perhaps with slightly thinner padding to maintain the lever body profile.

Pat on the back for thinking outside of the box.

These were first attempts and as a proof of concept I only took about 10 mins on each one and used a stanly knife to trim. With a craft knife and a bit more care and thinner gel soles I think the results will turn out a lot better.

Also I think there will be a bit of mileage in using this for covering shot hoods as the detail may show through. I have some shot weinman hoods on my pup bike so will update my efforts after next week when I get back from sking .

Cheers

Phil