Replacing Weinmann 'Safety' Brakes

Hello chaps,

I'm after a bit of advice, please - I've got a lady friend who rides a classic Raleigh Royale ladies bike from the 1980's but the brakes give her trouble.

She's currently using the original Weinmann Safety levers which came with the drop handlebars - the type that has a standard lever that you can operate from the hoods or when you're down on the bars, but they also have a secondary lever which enables you to operate the brakes when you're on the tops of the bars. I'm sure you know the kind,- terrible things in my opinion.

The problem is that these secondary levers don't give enough braking force on the Weinmann centre-pull brakes and she'd like an upgraded set up that means she can brake sharply when cycling on the tops of the bars.

I've seen 'modern' touring bikes with STI levers and also a separate secondary set of levers which operate the same cable but are mounted a bit like straight-bar levers on the tops of the drop handlebars and I was wondering what these are called and how they work. Annoyingly I can't seem to find the information I need via eBay or Google.

My plan is to remove the secondary Weinmann brake handles as they just bolt on, and once I know what they're called and how they work, replace them with these dedicated secondary levers mounted to the tops of the bars.

Cheers,

Simon.

Re:

Here you go

http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/ ... iXhij4~QM_

How they work, you take the primary brake cable housing cut it and run it into the lever part, then thread the inner cable through and use the outer again from the adjuster part, then attach to brake as normal

Re:

Aha - cheers for that

I understand how they work now - I'll have to replace the levers for Aero ones so that the cable routes along the handlebar and then these levers work by effectively making the outer cable longer in relation to the inner. The bit between the secondary lever and the main lever stays still under the bar tape and it's just the bit from the adjuster of the secondary lever to the brake calliper that effectively moves.

Cheers - I'll grab a set and get them fitted

You could just dump the drop levers altogether. I've got the Cane Creek versions of the Tektros linked and they are superb if coupled with a modern caliper or something like the old single pivot Shimano 105 calipers.

Jonny69":1phm09rx said:

You could just dump the drop levers altogether. I've got the Cane Creek versions of the Tektros linked and they are superb if coupled with a modern caliper or something like the old single pivot Shimano 105 calipers.

Click to expand...

I agree. If she's not going to get down on the drops, straight bars, thumb shifters and mtb brake levers will make the bike much more user friendly

Re:

Thanks for your thoughts chaps - I'd agree with you about ditching the drop levers or even the drops altogether but the lady in question likes the classic looks of the bike so wants to keep it looking more or less original. I think the double brake set up will achieve that for her, while also allowing her to stop...

I'll report back once I've fitted the parts and got her to test it!