I'm trying to fix up an old Puch 26" town bike and make it a bit more usable. (It's hardly a high end bike I know, but it's not an MTB...)
The only thing stopping me from getting it operational at the moment is brake levers. Standard, it came with those rubbish old Weinmann side pull brakes (and I've had to replace one because the arm holding the barrel adjuster sheared off when I adjusted the brake to actually work - I replaced it with a modern Tektro side pull which is plenty good enough for how the bike will be used. I want to replace the front one too but need to find a mudguard that the brake doesn't foul on first). The brakes have return springs, but the standard levers do not.
The thing is, I'm not sure what kind of levers to use. The bike has an upright riding position and a riser bar, and as standard uses those terrible quality Weinmann levers that don't even stay in place properly, and the plastic guide pieces that hold the cable outer in place are in very bad condition - one is missing and replaced with a barrel adjuster and metal nut of some sort, and the other is old, chipped and going brittle. I really don't want to use them.
I want to replace them with some better levers that will actually work and stay in place, but nowhere on the internet seems to give a solid enough answer for me to know what to use. I have access to both V brake and cantilever brake levers off MTBs, or I could buy something else like some road auxiliary levers.
I'm not quite sure what to use - can anyone tell me what kind of levers will and won't work with side pull brakes?
The only thing stopping me from getting it operational at the moment is brake levers. Standard, it came with those rubbish old Weinmann side pull brakes (and I've had to replace one because the arm holding the barrel adjuster sheared off when I adjusted the brake to actually work - I replaced it with a modern Tektro side pull which is plenty good enough for how the bike will be used. I want to replace the front one too but need to find a mudguard that the brake doesn't foul on first). The brakes have return springs, but the standard levers do not.
The thing is, I'm not sure what kind of levers to use. The bike has an upright riding position and a riser bar, and as standard uses those terrible quality Weinmann levers that don't even stay in place properly, and the plastic guide pieces that hold the cable outer in place are in very bad condition - one is missing and replaced with a barrel adjuster and metal nut of some sort, and the other is old, chipped and going brittle. I really don't want to use them.
I want to replace them with some better levers that will actually work and stay in place, but nowhere on the internet seems to give a solid enough answer for me to know what to use. I have access to both V brake and cantilever brake levers off MTBs, or I could buy something else like some road auxiliary levers.
I'm not quite sure what to use - can anyone tell me what kind of levers will and won't work with side pull brakes?
