"suicide" brake levers

[mukkinese]

A few times I have heard reference to these brake levers. I understand that they refer to the levers sitting on tyhe top of drop handled bars, such as that found on my old 80's Raleigh Winner.

But why are they 'suicide'?

I thought they were quite comfortable when I was 12 - was I lulled into false security?

[Ian H]

Because if the brakes are at all out of adjustment the 'suicide' levers contact the bars before the blocks touch the rims. Hence a death grip on the bars/levers, and a scream of terror at the approaching obstruction.

[andygates]

And even when well adjusted, there is so much play in the couplings and flex in the materials that you can at best slow down a bit. 

If a rider is used to using them, and not used to using the drop levers, then they'll ride into the back of the first thing that startles them.  Such a rider would be better served with a flat handlebar bike but fashion is king.  Or was, back then...

[Ian H]

I first came across them when I borrowed an American student's bike in Durham in 1971. They worked fine and I wondered why British bikes didn't have them.

[andygates]

I first hacksawed mine off after riding my paperbike into the back of a van.   

[Cudzoziemiec]

And I got rid of mine after discovering Blackboy Hill!

[Polar Bear]

The leverage ratio was all wrong.  The lever was too far away from the pivot whereas the actuating arm part was very close.  Hence a huge amount of travel at the lever was required to effect only a very very small amount of movement of the brake itself.   

[nuttycyclist]

I found them perfectly adequate back in the 80's when I used them daily.

I might get the bike with them fitted out of the garage for a ride soon.

[numbnuts]

you can buy bar top levers now I have them on my tourer

[Cunobelin]

you can buy bar top levers now I have them on my tourer

Different design. These actuate the cable in the same way as "normal" brake levers so they work well.

The "Suicide" levers were a sideways extension to the original lever, so the pull was transferred to the original lever. As above the flex, distance and design were inefficient.

[mukkinese]

Blimey. Guess I was lucky then. Although I am kind of used to the idea of having to grip really hard on the brakes and gradually slow. It must have started from that old Raleigh.

you can buy bar top levers now I have them on my tourer

I have seen these as standard on a crosser that a colleague bought a couple of years ago.

[alecstilleyedye]

you can buy bar top levers now I have them on my tourer

those aren't the same though

[spesh]

you can buy bar top levers now I have them on my tourer

those aren't the same though

For a start, they work... 

[Martin]

Suicide levers on Weinmann brakes didn't actually touch the bar top they cleared them by a couple of cm; but you often had to pull the levers above the bar tops which was just as ineffectual.

Mrs Zoom's bike still has them as she can't reach further than the tops and they work fine if constantly fettled.

[arabella]

I've never had a problem with them, I quite like them.
Though I live in Suffolk.
Decent hills lead to me using the levers from the drops ...

[Biggsy]

I used them for a quite a few years, and they didn't kill me.  They were OK for moderate braking if the brake blocks were set extremely close to the rims.

I wouldn't go back to such crap now, though.  When used with dual-pivot calipers, nowdays drop-bar brake levers are so effective and comfortable from the hood position that you don't need extensions.

[arabella]

Hmm,

depends on the size of your hands!
I am currently having troubles as modern brake levers for drops seem to be of longer reach.. (as per other thread somewehre further down) (or the hoods are 'bigger'.)

[Biggsy]

...Fair enough, I was thinking of average man-size hands, there, sorry.

Fortunately there is a modern improvement on the old extension levers.  They're mounted on the bars and pull the cable instead of pushing on the main levers.

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=extension+brake+levers&hl=en

[rogerzilla]

Mine (I no longer have that bike) saved my arse at least once, when there was a touch of wheels at the front of a club run.

[drossall]

A fellow-student in about 1980 complained of his poor brakes. When a friend and I examined the bike, we found that his suicide levers hooked into the main lever between lever and housing. This reduced the travel of the main lever. Remove the suicide levers and hey presto, good brakes.

I was told that they were invented for coasting down alpine passes, where the requirement was for gentle braking over many miles. They were totally unsuitable for emergency stops for all the reasons above, but the industry sold them as "safety" levers, which got you into the habit of using them when you shouldn't.

Fortunately the mountain-bike revolution killed the market for the things.