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Sharp Hope Levers!


ibs_m

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Just got new hope front brake - x2 and the lever is so sharp that when I pull it back it presses my finger on the bar and cuts the skin!

Does anybody else have this problem and whats the best solution.

So far I have resorted to taping a rubber thimble onto the lever so it stops cutting me - but its uncomfortable to pull on.

Any suggestions? Can it be filed down without damaging it?

Ibs

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Give it a couple of days and this will happen: http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=150639

;):P

HAHA - I cant believe that - that is the exact same lever to mine!!! I knew it was f'king sharp!!

Run the lever a bit further out so it doesn't come to the bar?

I have tried - its as far in as it will go because its an oversized bar...

Any other ideas??

Cheers

Ibs

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It's way too close in if it's hitting your finger, at full squeeze it should be at least three quarters of an inch away to get the full power out of the finger. Screw the lever adjuster much further out.

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wrap a plaster around the lever?

and, move the lever further away from your hand, so if its your right hand lever, move the lever to the left, so that when your braking, your finger is right on the edge of the lever blade . . . . .

has always worked for me, as i have been a long time sufferer of the same problem, oh, and get some gloves??

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This is the exact reason why I was selling mine, it really pissed me off, that and the spongy feel of the lever.

However as I have busted my ankle and had loads of time on my hands I decided to have a go at remedying the situation.

The history of my experience with these levers and why they were pissing me off:

1st I bled them

Then my mate Nick (Citech mechanic) bled them

Then I took them to a bike shop and got a trained technician to bleed them, 2 of them had a go.

I then decided that it was just that the lever design was bollox so I put them up for sale.

Then I busted mt ankle and thought, surely this can't be right, I'm gonna get to the bottom of this.

So what I did was:-

I bled the brakes with standard mini levers.

I pumped the pistons till they were working perfectly with these levers.

I then disconnected the hose and taped it vertically on the bars to stop oil coming out.

I took off the old lever and mounted the new (tech) lever to the bar.

I bled the lever itself by blocking the hole at the end of the cylinder with my finger on the return stroke, this took a good few slow pumps till all the air was out of the lever.

With the reservoir topped up and the lever held OUT I quickly took my finger off the end of the cylinder screwed the fitting on whilst very slowly pushing the lever in so there was a constant drip of oil coming out of the end of the cylinder till I had fully tightened the fitting with a spanner.

I topped the level up again, tapped the reservoir lightly with the end of the 8mm spanner whilst quickly pumping the lever in small movements (less than half travel) to encourage any bubbles trapped in the res to migrate to the surface and then rolled the diaphragm on and buttoned up the cap.

This worked perfectly with BOTH my levers and now they are seriously loverly.

These levers are a ball ache to bleed and I don't care who comes on and says they are not, they got lucky.

Edited by Matt Vandart
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There is a pocket in the lever that can trap air because of the flip-flop design. You need to keep them pointing down at a 45 degree angle when bleeding which makes things a bit tricky. Even when bled perfectly they are still a spongey lever compared to the old one.

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There is a pocket in the lever that can trap air because of the flip-flop design. You need to keep them pointing down at a 45 degree angle when bleeding which makes things a bit tricky. Even when bled perfectly they are still a spongey lever compared to the old one.

Agree with the first bit.

Used to agree with the second bit.

Mine are now supper solid, like a well bled maggie.

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Agree with the first bit.

Used to agree with the second bit.

Mine are now supper solid, like a well bled maggie.

I still don't really get how they're that tricky to bleed - Ali did mine first go with a perfect bleed when I first got my Tech lever. Gives a nice solid lever feel too on the back, and the extra adjustment is pretty sweet...

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Maybe he got lucky, like I did with the first one I had, or maybe Ali's just very good at his job.

I'm no novice at bleeding hydraulic systems, bike brakes, motorbike brakes, car brakes, industrial applications you name it I've done it in vast quantities and it isn't rocket science.

These brake levers are just harder to bleed than the previous levers thats all, simple as that.

As Mark says once they are bled properly they are epic and the BPA and reach dials are very handy if a bit vulnerable to damage.

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