Safety Brake Levers Looked Cool But Rightfully Vanished Into Obscurity

from Rookie’s keyboard

Hello, friends

Today, I will make a short post on a piece of equipment that you may see once in a while on an old road/commuter machine.

Meet the “safety lever” (image below).

Drop Bars With Safety Levers

Safety Levers  are designed for braking from the top position of a road bike’s drop bars.

They allow you to brake even when your hands are away from the main levers.

Bike Without Safety Levers

The idea behind safety levers is logical, and one car argue that they look on point on an old bike, but in practice – they failed to deliver and had many negatives such as:

Weak Leverage

Safety levers have a smaller mechanical advantage because they are pulling the brake indirectly.

In other words, they’re pulling a piece which then pulls the brake.

Interference With The Main Lever

Safety levers are an add-on that operates in conjunction with the main lever’s mechanism.

It could be very difficult to remove the main levers from the bars due to obstruction caused by the additional attachment parts.

Also, safety levers pre-pull/pre-load the original lever. This means that the brake lever is partially triggered.

This limits the main lever’s available amplitude and hurts the brakes’ modulation (control over the braking force).

Too Much Riding In The Tops

By having a set of levers on the tops of the bars, the rider is incentivized to ride in the middle of the handlebars more frequently. This position is less stable and increases the drag created by the body.

If the ride is casual, this isn’t a problem, but if there’s a “solid” descent, counting on the safety levers is too risky due to the possible loss of balance and the reduced braking power.

Poor Attachment

Another weak point of safety levers is the way they attach to the main unit. The attachment system often becomes unstable and in some cases, it may even break.

Uncompatible With Hoods

Safety levers can’t operate with standard drop bar hoods. It’s also not possible to run bar tape around them as it will prevent the levers from moving.

Better Options Exist

Interrupter brake levers (inline levers) are a newer concept that matches the function of safety levers while eliminating the drawbacks.

“Interrupter” have a lot of leverage and can trigger a decent amount of stopping power.

The greater efficiency makes them a preferred choice over safety levers.

Bottoming Out

The handlebars prevent the safety levers from moving enough to trigger maximal braking force.

This can be illustrated by squeezing the safety levers and then pressing the main brake levers.

The main brake levers will move a bit even though the safety levers have been maximally “activated”.

This shows that the safety levers are prevented from moving the brake cable sufficiently.

To circumvent this issue, interrupter brake levers have a special shape positioning the end of the levers further away from the handlebars.

Encouraging a Poor Fit

One of the reasons for the boom of safety levers was the illogical desire of casual cyclists to have road bikes with aggressively positioned drop bars.

Eventually, the “noobs” realized that the racing geometry is too aggressive for standard cycling and relied on the safety levers most of the time because they allow a more relaxed back angle.

Ultimately, safety levers indirectly stimulate cyclists to ride bicycles that are too aggressive and/or large.

Anti-racing Appearance

Safety levers do not look sporty. Consequently, you will never see them on a performance bike.

Extra Weight

The additional weight is negligible, but people who want the lightest possible bicycle will consider the extra grams harmful to the goal.

Interference With Handlebar Bags

A handlebar bag will prevent the proper operation of safety levers. Hence why safety levers are rarely seen on bicycles used for bike-packing.


Intersting Fact

Safety levers are are also known as suicide levers because they don’t generate as much braking power as the main levers and can therefore result in inadequate stops.

Another name for those levers is “death grip”. Why? Because the rider may squeeze the levers ultra-hard in an attempt to compensate for the lack of stopping power.


Ultimately, safety levers are a subpar piece of equipment. If you want brakes on the tops of drop bars – go for interrupter levers. Of course, you may also switch to flat bars or risers, if those suit your riding style better.

Until next time,

Rookie


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Comments

One response to “Safety Brake Levers Looked Cool But Rightfully Vanished Into Obscurity”

  1. Dan K Avatar
    Dan K

    I’ve seen these but never gave them a second thought. Good info!

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