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?