Changing Handle Bars

Bill Sukhbir is changing is handle bars for some nice carbon ones, he wants our advice on how to change the levers. He is worried of messing it up, it’s a fairly simple job, you just have to be careful not to over tighten the bolts and you also have to know where to find the bolts. Here is our advice

Question:

Hi ya,
I’m changing the drop handlebars on my road bike (upgrading to ‘anatomic’ carbon from alloys) and need advice on removing and replacing the hoods, integrated break/gear leavers, etc. I’m sure I will work it out but as it’s my first time I just need a ‘heads-up’ so I don’t make a hash of it. Cheers, Bill.

Hi Bill,

I’m sure you won’t make a hash of it as it is fairly straight forward. You don’t say which brake/gear levers you have on your existing handle bars, this makes a difference as the bolt for each different manufacturer is in a different position. Some you need to release the brake cable to allow you to get the lever out of the way, and then you can access the bolt inside the lever.

Shimano have the bolt on the outside of the lever, you need to ease the lever rubber back to expose the Allen key bolt on the outer face of the lever.

Campagnolo have the bolt more on the top of the lever body, you can either pull the lever rubber forward from the back or, like the Shimano, pull the rubber back from the front of the lever to get at the bolt.

With all the levers don’t undo the bolt too much so that the clip comes out, it’s really tricky to get it back in, sometimes the bars get slightly thicker at the end and you might have to loosen the bolt a little just to get the lever past this bulge.

When you fit the levers to your new bars, get a stick or steel rule and place it across the levers to get them level, be careful not to tighten the bolt too much as they can break, but they do need to be tight for safety reasons. It’s a good idea not to fit the handle bar tape until you have ridden the bike on a little ride to make sure you are comfortable with their position. I hope it all goes OK Bill?

2 Responses to “Changing Handle Bars”

Jez August 17, 2009

Hi, I’m probably coming in here a bit late Bill with my comments but in any case, just one point. When clamping your new carbon bars to the A-head stem, when you are tightening up the clamp screws you need to be very careful not to overtighten the screws. On the stem (and maybe on the bars, I don’t know) it should indicate the maximum tightening torque to be used in NM. My advice is to use a torque wrench, or if you don’t have one, have the torque checked at a bike shop or simply, using an Allen key, just tighten the screws enough to avoid any slippage of the bars, ie, you cannot rotate them when applying a force to the but ends of the drops. This is a last resort option and still shouldn’t really preclude getting the screw torque checked.

Marty September 11, 2009

Hello All,
Thanks for the newsletter…I am working on a design
concept for a bike component…have done some crude testing
which has been encouraging. Have also talked to a friend who
is a physicist about the concept. Since the design deals with aerodynamic flow he said the concept was viable and to pursue
it to fruition. I was encouraged since he works with aerodynamic flow streams etc. I am writing to seek your advice
as to where to take the idea. Who would listen? I thought
of Steve Hed but his shop in Colorado won’t give me his contact
info…..so, any thoughts would be much appreciated..

Thanks!

Marty

PS:I live in the states