Dura Ace Brake Lever Woes and in a funk.

bugloss · Mar 5, 2014

Greetings fellow RBers.

I have made a purchase of a new bike for the Cheddar ride on Saturday.
I went to fit new brake cables in the Dura Ace 7401 brake levers and have found that the ferrules that hold the cable outer in the lever are missing.

A good solution is needed now!

Help me Obe Wane Kenobi you're my only hope.

Yours brakeless and peeved,
B

Mike Muz · Mar 5, 2014

Surely princess :facepalm: the ferrule is part of the outer cable ? Unless Dura Ace has a different design to other shimano aero levers .may the brake force be with you

Well , someone had to say it !
BTW I won't need that Cinelli stem now mate , found myself an ITM one :roll:
Cheers
Mike

foz · Mar 5, 2014

Early da 740x series levers need a stepped ferrules, similar to mavic and dia compe levers. You could try some cable tension adjusters, cut down a bit shorter. Not perfect, but you only need something to hold the outer cable and stop it pulling through. Later model levers had the body shaped to take the outer cable directly with no need for ferrules.

Mike Muz · Mar 5, 2014

Oops , beggin' your pardon Sir

Yorkshire_rusher · Mar 5, 2014

I had the same issue and asked for a pair at a bike jumble which came from a chepaer pair of leavers but fitted fine. The cost... "no charge mate".

Otherwise, as previouslt stated, standard ferrule will work in the interim :mrgreen:

stringfellow1946 · Mar 5, 2014

Dura-Ace 7401-02 brake levers use a standard brake Ferrule. NOT a stepped one.
The Dura- Ace AX 7300 levers used a stepped Ferrule.
There is a photo of the Dura Ace AX lever here viewtopic.php?f=23&t=257436

bugloss · Mar 5, 2014

Well thanks everyone for taking the time to answer and help me out. I've put in a couple of cut down adjusters to hold the cable in the lever housing and I'll have to take it out and give it a good squeeze as we've got some hairy descents on Saturday.

There must have been something in there to hold the end of the cable. I've never used Dura Ace before but it seems nicely made if not a little fiddly.

Does anyone have a photo of the holder that I should be looking out for?

foz · Mar 5, 2014

Chris, the 7401 levers definitely use a stepped ferrule, the same system as mavic and dia compe. I had some a while back. I'm not sure about the 7402 - I think they had the newer style body that takes the outer directly.

stringfellow1946 · Mar 5, 2014

Foz
We are going to have to differ on that one I'm Afraid

7400 brake lever Non Aero no return spring, Normal Ferrule
7401 brake lever Aero no return spring, Normal Ferrule
7402 brake lever Aero with return spring, Normal Ferrule
I have the 7400 & the 7402 in front of me now, the 7401's are on a bike But i've never ever used stepped ferrules on them.

foz · Mar 5, 2014

No problem

I don't have the levers anymore, but I'm certain they were 7401, and needed a special ferrule. I remember when I sold them to someone on here, they didn't use them for a while, then got in touch with me to ask about the ferrules. It seems there is more than one thread even just on RB where the same problem is mentioned.

I might be remembering the ferrule wrongly - I know the 600ax ones are a stepped dome type, because I have some. I think the mavic ones I had a while back on the caygill were more like a plain dome, not stepped. I can't be sure though, and don't have either the mavic or da levers anymore to check. I don't suppose you want to take those 7401 levers off and check?

Dura Ace Brake Lever Woes and in a funk.

bugloss

Mike Muz

foz

Mike Muz

Yorkshire_rusher

Dirt Disciple

stringfellow1946

Senior Retro Guru

bugloss

foz

stringfellow1946

Senior Retro Guru

foz

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