I am running BB7s on the fat bike and would love to get rid of the metal lever blades and replace with something less cold-sinky. Wrapping is an option I suppose but I don't want to lose lever feel and I do run the bike in the warm season as well. Are there any good options for lever blades made from carbon or composite that can be swapped? If not, what are typical solutions for eliminating the metal contact point?
Carbon or composite brake levers blades
fly4130
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they also currently make carbon hydro levers on the level ultimate I believe - they came on a used Mukluk i bought and have worked well- i think it may avoid the temperature issue with fluid that Jayem mentioned on Shimano.
Thanks for the offer but I have a set of the tektro levers and some of these sram levers - I will be set either way.
TRP also made some carbon V brake levers, could keep an eye out for a pair of those. I had to re-engineer the pivots on mine and they've always felt like trash, but they are warmer than metal...
TRP ML940 Mountain Bike Carbon Brake Lever - Ti Hardware - Activesport
TRP ML940 Mountain Bike Carbon Brake Lever - Ti Hardware - Activesport
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I had a set of those briefly. I agree that the feel was trash. Could not adjust them to feel any kind of good.
Hayes made a limited edition version of A2 brakes with carbon blades - T2. Still available in some places: https://www.bike24.com/p2408673.html
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This usually isn't a problem for me because, let's face it, I'm usually going slow enough and level enough that I'm not using the brakes all that long on my cold/fatbike rides. But occasionally on a longer descent I start to feel the heat sinking effect of my aluminum XT levers. Does anyone know if these XTR carbon levers switch right on or are they not compatible with the XT brakes?
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Is there an unmet need for aftermarket carbon brake levers? I'm deriving from the discussion that there is no need. If you're a weirdo and have a specific purpose, lemme know. The first experiment I did with resin transfer years ago into a net-shape (no "B side" rough finish, no cavity, not hollow) carbon composite, I merely used a large syringe and a burly cylinder around it, some studs supporting the plastic impeller, driven by a bottle style car jack. It was good at making little parts with mirror-like surface finish out of the mold with little investment. And we're talking small, smaller than a human hand, the syringe is only of finite volume with which to deliver resin. Given the cheap equipment -- I mean, the rubber on the syringe allowed some blow-by of the resin on the outside of the mold -- it worked remarkably well. I haven't needed to make any such parts since that time.
I use some "Sticky Fingers" on my Paul love levers, and they make a huge difference. Here's some knockoffs for cheap: https://www.amazon.com/T-best-Protector-Anti-Slip-Silicone-Mountain/dp/B07F58JW29?th=1
heat shrink might not be as good as a carbon lever, but for 90% of us, that are not doing the ITI. heat shrink works good enough. especially if you are recreational riding above 10 degrees. Drop some chemical heaters in your pogies and you are good to go.
Actually there is.
Conductivity of aluminum alloy is 92.446 BTU/h∙ft∙°F
Conductivity of rubber is .139 BTU/h∙ft∙°F
So last night I went on a 15 mile ride. Temp started out at 19 degrees and by the time I finished it was 1 degree. During my ride I was thinking about this thread and I noticed that my fingers are never on the brake lever unless I actually need to brake.
So are people riding with their fingers on the brake lever the whole ride or ????
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You could at least troll in SI units...
LOL. Not trolling though. I do thermal calculations on numerous kinds of materials for a living.
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If you ride anything DH, you have your finger resting on the lever. If you ride anything technical, you are on the brakes a significant amount of time. It's the DH stuff though that really cold-soaks fingers IME. If you could keep your fists balled up inside the pogies the entire time, it wouldn't be as much of an issue, but the more you can't do this, the more you have to remove your fingers to do things like shift and brake, the colder they get.
Makes sense. I have some downhill riding on my winter trails but my fingers aren't resting on the brake lever for much more than a minute during those time. I don't have pogies either.
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On this morning's ride I calc'ed 28 straight minutes of descending, all with fingers on/using the brakes.
And all of them were 'digitally' blissful, because I don't have metal or rubber-covered-metal levers.
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Do what satisfies your brain or wallet but if you are not a truly elite athlete......
For a good while we (my same height wife and kids) had identical or near identical fat and trail bikes but differences such as plastic and metal for frames, handlebars and brake levers as discussed here. Nothing in that ever made a difference in feel or performance like having a good day and one's basic fitness, strength and age.
The areas where exotic or performance material really made a difference where wheels, tires, saddles and clothing.
For a good while we (my same height wife and kids) had identical or near identical fat and trail bikes but differences such as plastic and metal for frames, handlebars and brake levers as discussed here. Nothing in that ever made a difference in feel or performance like having a good day and one's basic fitness, strength and age.
The areas where exotic or performance material really made a difference where wheels, tires, saddles and clothing.
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Sorry, but...
Please draw a straight line for me from numb (or not) fingers to 'elite athlete'?
I don't think anyone in this thread qualifies as such. Nor do I think it would matter.
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