Raleigh Routier Re-Born

[longjon]

excuse a newb but why are they called 'suicide levers' and/or why are they wrong?

 

[Bats]

Because they fit in the gap between the proper brake lever and it's body. To make that gap, you have to slacken the brakes off otherwise they'd be stuck on all the time. In other words the only way of fitting them is to make the brakes less powerful.

And then there's the other problem, that they're really long and bendy. So the brakes are already not as good as they should be, and you can't even pull harder on them to make up for it because they just start bending. Using them to stop in a hurry is suicide.

They were only invented because numpty americans would hold the wrong part of the handlebars and then ride straight into the nearest wall. Apparently making a new law was easier than learning how to ride a bike properly. :facepalm:

 

[Diamant_Don]

Re:

what i might do is just remove the 'safety-levers' from the existing set

That's not always possible - unless you cut them off and smooth the metal…

If you're not that bothered about aesthetics, you can still use the main brake levers and leave the suicide add-ons for 'decoration'.

 

[Woz]

They were only invented because numpty americans would hold the wrong part of the handlebars and then ride straight into the nearest wall. Apparently making a new law was easier than learning how to ride a bike properly. :facepalm:

....oh the irony calling them suicide levers. Is this because when you did pull them nothing happened
and you hit the nearest wall anyway? BITD I took mine off with a hacksaw to save some vital few grams
when doing the paper round and be like a proper racer. :facepalm:

 

[Pogo]

Re:

Weird that this post has been resurrected after such a long time. I was only thinking about how useful I've found these levers since deciding to leave them on. They work as well as the calipers allow and when dawdling along with hands flat on the bars it's nice to have the brakes at your fingers. There's no mechanical disadvantage when using the levers on the drops, but when pootling around the access to a brake lever has saved me more than once from errant dogs and the such like.

Plus they are proper retro!

 

[Ritz]

Re:

Here's my Routier which I picked up recently, currently being lightly restored including the fitting of alloy wheels.

I know it's an entry model, I just liked the colour scheme, stainless mud guards,rack and geometry.

Ritz

 

[Pogo]

Re:

Nice one Ritz, an honest bike that's ideal for commuting I find. Enjoy.

 

[Ritz]

Re: Re:

Nice one Ritz, an honest bike that's ideal for commuting I find. Enjoy.

Hi Pogo,

I've not ridden it yet. Looking forward to using it on my local lanes and quieter roads.

Oh and the suicide levers, well I'm leaving them on.

I always thought they were just for secondary braking anyway, maybe just to slow down a bit and not intended to be used for all out hard braking.

 

[Bats]

But your all out braking is worse because you've lost about 5 degrees of movement. Granted, you should never need it, but when you do...

Luckily no traffic was going across when I did.

 

[Pogo]

But your all out braking is worse because you've lost about 5 degrees of movement. Granted, you should never need it, but when you do...

Luckily no traffic was going across when I did.

There is no loss of movement 5 degrees or otherwise, the safety levers sit within a slot on the main levers so they have full articulation. You pull and the cable moves, there's no delay or restriction or whatever- not on the type fitted to the venerable Routier anyways.