Bullhorn and Dropbar Options

[ReklinedRider]

Brake levers

Eric, yes now i see the difference in the mechanism of action between RL720/Soma and the EB or RT354AG. The latter are a bit like Avid levers. Glad you pointed that out. Will be interested to hear if the clamp diameter fits your bullhorn bars.

 

[TalleyHo]

CB Bullhorn bars/braking review


For what it's worth, I'd like to weigh in here on my experience with the Cruzbike bullhorn bars, shifters and the brakes provided with the kit. So far I'm impressed with the braking performance and surprised, because both John and Eric had down-played the brake's effectiveness prior to my ordering. Perhaps it's because there are no hard turns in my external routing but these brakes work as well as any I've used in the past 20 years. Granted, the bike and I combine for less than 190 lbs but they compare well. I continue to love the bars and enjoy the ability they afford to release the grip and steer with inner wrist and forearm contact plus the arm resting aspect. The shifters are perfect, too. I like that shifting to any gear is nearly instantaneous and enjoy employing that while attacking the rolling hills that makes up most of my riding. With the momentum from the decent, mash as up the first half still in high gear then drop down 3 or 4 to spin the remainder with little speed loss. Not sure you can do that with brifters (have ridden exclusively recumbent since the brifter was invented) but I can see their appeal and would someday like to convert the Silvio to drops for a change of pace.

 

[TalleyHo]

correction

In the above post the brakes referred to were actually referring to brake levers

 

[Eric Winn]

David, I started with drops

David, I started with drops and brifters and thoroughly enjoyed them and yes you can ride and shift with them as you describe above. Brifters are really cool, I like them a lot.

However, I switched to the bullhorns which I like a LOT more than the drops because I found myself most comfortable cupping the hoods of the brifters which roughly equates to where my bullhorns fall under my hands. I find the bar end shifters a bit easier to keep track of what gear I'm in but that is probably just me.

The cross brake levers work fine but the brake feel is not as crisp as it could be with the lever pulling the cable through the cable housing rather than pushing out on the cable housing the way it does now. Brake modulation is aalso better when the lever pulls the cable as designed.

The brake feel with the brifters, even with the cable housing taped to the handlebars and then run inside the slider and out the pivot cage is much better because the levers are simply pulling the brake cable with the housing in a fixed position.

I can lock up both wheels on dry, clean pavement using JT's current bullhorn brake setup but it takes a good bit more effort and the point that lockup occurs is less predictable.

I'm trying to find levers that will fit on the bars and fall to hand at the same place they do now on my bullhorns but pull the cable rather than push the housing.

-Eric

 

[Eric Winn]

Bullhorn brake levers update

I should have read Bob's (ratz) Silvio cockpit thread before shopping...

Basically don't believe online purchase review comments that claim they made MTB style brake levers fit on a typical bullhorn bar.

Brifters and hooded brake levers that look like brifters fit just fine on larger diameter tube road bars and bullhorn handlebars. The bar-end of the bullhorns are 24mm nominal OD.

MTB and MTB-like handlebar ends are apparently 22.2mm OD and all of the brake levers for these handlebars are sized to fit 22.2mm OD whether the product specification states the clamp fit size or not.

Bar-end shifters seemed to be sized for the larger diameter road bars so you are in a catch-22 if you want bar-end shifters and MTB-like brake levers.

Would be nice if the industry would settle on one size for the bar clamp area and the bar diameter for where your hand, bar grips, brake levers, bar-end shifters, etc all mounted. I wonder, is it the hand grips that got the industry in this dichotomy of bar end sizes?

I'll try larger loops between the cross levers and where they enter the bullhorns to see if that improves things. Most of the photos of cross levers show them in use with large loops of unsecured cable housing runs...

-Eric

 

[1happyreader]

we don't neeed no steeekin standards

How about 26mm and shims...

Nashbar In-line Brake Levers

 

[Eric Winn]

Tim, those are still cross

Tim, those are still cross levers. They are designed to push the cable housing out to put tension on the brake cable. When the cable housing is not captured and free to move they work OK without inducing the cracking I am seeing at the base because the arc of the cable housing is very large.

This is how they were designed to work: Park Tool: Repair Help ?In-Line Brake Levers (cross levers)

See in the photo below how the cross levers push out the cable housing to get tension on the actual brake cable. Since bullhorns tend to follow along the lines of road bike handlebar dimensions the cross lever clamps fit the bar OK but then instead of the large arc of free cable housing in this photo the Cruzbiek bullhorn design routes the cable inside the bar so you have to leave a loop to allow the "braking action" to work.

The loop I was using should be larger to prevent the cable housing from cracking where it goes into the cross lever...




I actually had bigger cable housing loops than the photos below. These were after pulling the bullhorns off the bike and I repositioned the amount of cable outside the bars to get everything framed in the photo and to emphasize the problem with the geometry.




-Eric

 

[ratz]

Noodling on the problem....

Eric,

If you stay with the reversed brakes why not use some Jagwire Felxible Brake Noodles. You can get them in black but the color usually rubs off so just get sliver.

http://www.niagaracycle.com/categories/jagwire-flexible-brake-noodle-bag-of-10

I did test these and the do work with the inline levers. Should prevent the cracking and give you a smoother more even pull. They are shorter than they look; you housing should mate up with them outside of your bars for easy maintenance and replacement. Spray paint them black or yellow and you should be good to go.

Given the way reverse pulls work I did conclude that a little super glue or expose on the outside of the cable house would be a good idea; apply a dab to the house then slide noodle over the top; wrap with one small piece of electrical tape and off you go.

 

[Eric Winn]

John supplies a pair of

John supplies a pair of noodles with adjusters in the bullhorn kit. Not sure if they are for the included brakes or the brake levers but when I experimented with them with the brake lever they acted like a spring partially engaging the lever making the brakes drag.

-Eric

 

[bladderhead]

Eric should have read ratz.

Eric should have read ratz. So should I. Too late now. My decision to get Tech Evo X2 was almost random. The levers do not fit the bars supplied by J Tolhurst. I got these cruiser bars which fit the levers. Too small for the clamp on the Silvio. Have to use two pairs of shims.

It's road bars and mountain bars isn't it? I realise that now.

I am now wondering if TRP Hylex would fit the original bars. But fitting the Hope callipers was an ordeal itself, because they are only just small enough to go between the spokes and the frame. Suppose the TRP callipers are even bigger. How do I know?

I think the biggest noodle around here is me.

 

[Vangelo]

MTB Risers

I used similar bars as Bladderhead, but retained the Brifters that came with the bike. Added some MTB endbars to make the horns. I find very comfortable with no leg fouling on turns & alot of adjustment possible.

 

[John Tolhurst]

At 36 kph you move 10 m/s. If

At 36 kph you move 10 m/s. If it takes 0.5 seconds longer to get the brakes on you have lengthened your braking distance by 5 meters.

This arrangement is innovative and interesting, but I couldn't suggest it.

 

[ratz]

Marc any ride report?

Marc,

I'm curious how you like the brifters as bullhorns now that you've been riding for awhile?

I've made the decision to change my Vendetta over to brifters as bullhorns in September, I like the narrower had position, it's more stable and solid for me; I really don't use the multiple positions the drops give.

 

[mzweili]

DEDA LOWRIDER WITH BRIFTERS

Bob,
I couldn't ride as much as planned, but I'm very happy with my set-up as shown in this thread (post #114). I road 500 miles and I do not plan to change the current set-up for this season.
While reading the different posts related to the chainstay extension, I'm less convinced that this add-on would bring an advantage to me.
Maybe I'm going to shorten the 100mm extension I have in hand.

Just for fun, a pic of the last 1/4 mile on my way back home, it makes more fun to ride downhill ;-)

 

[Vangelo]

At 36 kph you move 10 m/s. If

At 36 kph you move 10 m/s. If it takes 0.5 seconds longer to get the brakes on you have lengthened your braking distance by 5 meters. This arrangement is innovative and interesting, but I couldn't suggest it.


The idea here is to hold onto the bar in a position with access to immediate braking under conditions that warrant it. On the wide open road I can stretch my arms out to a relaxed extended position. Both are very comfortable with no leg/hip interference.

With this type of split bar arrangement there are many configurations. With appropriate shaped side bars you could position the brakes at the bar ends for instance..........

 

[John Tolhurst]

Yes, I accept it works when

Yes, I accept it works when you know when to be prepared. I have found it difficult to always know when that is, such is life.

 

[hamishbarker]

whew, just finished reading

whew, just finished reading the thread, what a marathon. Think I'll leave my vendetta with the original slightly flared drop bars as they work really well. Even though the ends of the drops are a bit long, that area does provide some support under the outside of my wrist when gripping the drop below the brifter (as opposed to gripping the brifter hood.).

Rain this weekend though. :-(

 

[Rick Youngblood]

The stock flared drops have

The stock flared drops have grown on me. In the beginning, I wanted to change them out, maybe just because I wasn't used to something so different. After making my initial dial-in's and 4000 miles later (Silvio+Vendetta), I've come to really like them a lot, I find them to be pretty darn comfortable. I'm not able to grip the horns like some do, I grip the top quarter of the curved radius, which gives my hands a nice relaxed feeling - if that makes any sense.

The info on this threat is great and has some pretty exhaustive research, thanks to Ratz, Ivan, Eric, and many of the other community members.

However, in the future, I would like to try the wide bullhorns (like Eric's) with bar-end shifters.

 

[mzweili]

Bullhorns on the ride

on the videos I posted under ''Ride Reports, My first experiences'' post 7, you can see that I'm still satisfied with my bullhorn arrangement. Modified DEDA Crononero LOW RIDER.

 

[TalleyHo]

In Praise of Cruzbike Bullhorn Bars

Just my 2 cents worth here, but the Cruzbike bullhorn bars are an almost indispensable element on my Silvio 2, as I see it. They provide both an arm rest and strong, intimate connection to the Silvio's somewhat unruly front end. They very much add to the comfort which is so outstanding; by far the most comfortable bike I've experienced and they for me complete a perfect fit which is such a wonderful thing and so specific with these bikes. They do require a high BB, however, to get the bars down and be able to take advantage of the Cruzbike bar's end-angles, both upward and inward, and to keep the arms level with ground for max aero. So lack of aero belly and a chainstay extension are needed. I find the brakes to be excellent and the bar end shifting has a lot going for it. So I am perplexed that these fabulous bars, designed just for these performance bikes, it seems, are not currently on the menu here. What gives, if anyone knows. Here's some pics from the spring soon after fitting.

?

The grass always being greener elsewhere, I of course wonder about having drops and brifters and may someday do that. I am so happy with this ride and want to fully experience all the possibilities. But I suspect in the end the comfort and control of these Cruzbike bullhorns will the preference.

Dave