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While on the hoods, I'd like to have a bit more surface area, or leverage, for engaging the brakes. I saw somewhere that there are clips or extenders that attach to the standard lever, providing a small protrusion perpendicular to the lever allowing for better engagement or leverage when riding on the hoods. I can't seem to locate/find these clips/extenders.

Edit (years later): Here's a mockup of what I thought I saw somewhere. It's just a additional surface, or nub, on the brake lever to get more surface area to leverage against when braking. photoshop rendering of brake extender

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  • 3
    do you mean these?
    – Swifty
    Commented May 25, 2020 at 17:00
  • I'm having trouble picturing this. Would this be a lever that projects straight forward? I've never seen anything like that. I have seen the suicide levers that @Swifty linked to, but there's a good reason those have become hard to find, as indicated by the name.
    – Adam Rice
    Commented May 25, 2020 at 17:19
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    They don't really exist any more. @Swifty 's link describes why. The modern variant is an interrupter lever but that's for use on the tops not the hoods. Modern brifter design makes then work much better from the hoods, so like hub cleaners, these have gone from all bikes except vintage and period-correct bikes. If these aren't what you mean, can you find a picture, or even draw a sketch of your idea ?
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 25, 2020 at 20:53
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    I can't find anything like your mockup - the nearest would be some SRAM branded levers which are noticeably wider/thicker than Shimano ones. You might get some benefit from putting brifters onto flared handlebars which might give a better angle and therefore the effect you're after ?
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Oct 28, 2021 at 0:16
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    Another option might be to mock up a clamp to a tounge and 3d-print it, to see if such a shape would be beneficial. Sure the mock up would not be durable, but would help test the theory.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Oct 28, 2021 at 0:17

1 Answer 1

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Over a year later, I did some googling and to my surprise, yes these are a thing. However they're rare and not popular, so may be hard to source.

Common Solutions

  1. Safety Levers, common during the 80s bike boom for people who wanted a drop bar bike but found the hoods to be uncomfortable. They're a bit rubbish and not made anymore.
    Related question Why don't brakes come with 'Safety Levers' any more?
    enter image description here

  2. Interruptor levers, these do the same job as above, but work better. These terminate the outer housing, and pull on the second piece of outer housing, which effectively pulls the inner wire. Can even be used without a dropbar brake lever.
    enter image description here

Uncommon solutions

  1. Mountain bike flat bars, with bar ends, with brake lever extensions so you can brake from the bar-end.
    enter image description here
    Or to see them on a bike:
    enter image description here
    I have no experience if these work very well. Likely as bar ends fell out of fashion or were disallowed in events, these levers also became pointless.
    Noticeably, hydraulic brakes reduced the finger pressure required, now one finger braking is the standard.

Different shapes exist too:
enter image description here

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  • Well researched answer!
    – David D
    Commented Oct 25, 2021 at 13:07
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    Good research. However, the OP was asking for better leverage on the hoods, whereas CX levers and safety levers are designed to be used on the tops. I suspect the OP may be mistaken in their description of the item in question. I also suspect the OP perceives they don't have sufficient leverage when on the hoods, so I think your comment in the original post that modern levers work very well from the hoods is appropriate.
    – Weiwen Ng
    Commented Oct 25, 2021 at 16:12
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    @WeiwenNg yeah - I can't prove a negative, and these are the nearest relevant things I could find. We've started chipping away at the "unanswered questions" list at bicycles.stackexchange.com/…
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Oct 25, 2021 at 21:30
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    @Criggie - thanks for researching, but your examples are not what I'm referencing. See updates to my original post.
    – Jason
    Commented Oct 27, 2021 at 15:42

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