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I am starting a new project to build a custom bike with bullhorn handlebar. It'd most likely be made either with road or hybrid type of frame. I am planning on having both front and real derailleurs, and brakes (writing all this because, you know, fixies :) There are many unknowns/choices (obviously!), but I am really struggling with one detail in particular: shifters and brake lever mount to the bullhorn handlebar. I was searching a lot and came across this bike: enter image description here This is way aero for my taste, but check out that brake lever/shifter combo on the right side of the handlebar. Does anyone know what these components are? I searched Vision's site, but couldn't find TT brake level with opened top to which TT shifter could be mounted. And the lever doesn't look to be crosstop one; so I am really confused.

Does anyone know how can this be done? Thanks!

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I can't tell for sure what's going on in that picture, but I think it's a modified older Vision lever that clamps on the OD rather than inside the bars, and then the shifter is just stuck out the end. Ways of doing it with off the shelf parts that I know of are the Jtek Aerobrake, Ultegra ST-6871 and DA ST-9071, the Record and Athena tri/tt EPS levers, and SRAM eTap blips (their equivalent, kind of).

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  • Top marks, Jtek Aerobike are exactly what I was looking for!
    – Boris
    Aug 20, 2016 at 21:46
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The brake levers look like Vision TriMax Aero Brake Levers -see picture. I found them on ebay. But couldn't find them on the vision website.

They appear to have had the front part, marked in red cut off or removed in order to fit what look like SRAM bar end shifters.

enter image description here

You could probably create a similar set up using these components or bar end shifters combined with Specialized road bike extension levers.

Specialized Road Bike Extension Levers

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  • Keith, thanks for answering. I was thinking of perhaps going with the design similar to these Specialized levers. One thing though, if I were to mount them in frontal direction, how would I bend the cable backwards? Wouldn't that impact the braking performance?
    – Boris
    Aug 20, 2016 at 18:54
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    The idea is that the head of the cable would be sitting in the lever side, and your housing would be sitting in the side that normally goes to the main brake lever.
    – Nathan Knutson
    Aug 20, 2016 at 19:16
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Your photo looks like barcons or bar-end shifters with cyclocross interrupter brake levers.

Another option might be mounting regular old brifters on the up-curved part of the bullhorn, so the brake lever points down and backward. You'll probably want the brifters where the brake cable can exit "downwards" not backwards.

Also gear cables - brifters may send the gear cables horizontally toward the bike's midline, or maybe back along the handlebar - this needs checking.

Finally - if you're spending large on this project, how about some electronic+wireless brifters?

This chap has plain dropbar brake levers with downtube shifters, but you can imagine brifers instead.

enter image description here

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  • Thanks for such valuable input. I really appreciate the remarks on cable exits.
    – Boris
    Aug 20, 2016 at 21:47
  • Thanks, that's a really useful photo
    – AndyGaskell
    Aug 20, 2020 at 9:01
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I know this is a bit old but I see that there are still quite a few people visiting this post.

That bike is called the B-Skinny Project by English Cycles. It's obviously a custom job but some of the build details and why they made them that way are included in Brandon's flicker feed.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pocketbeagle/5522825484/in/album-72157626255732058/

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  • As those photos could be removed from flickr at any time, would you mind embedding them directly in the post?
    – Paul H
    Jun 20, 2019 at 17:26

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