Perfectly Symetrical Brake Lever Alignment... How?
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#27
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The Blue Lug bicycle shop in Japan has a YouTube channel in which they have lots of videos of their bike builds. A few of these videos show their process for aligning levers and other things. These videos are well-produced, and besides showing the building process, they show a little bit of the Tokyo cycling culture. They also produce videos of their staff rides in different parts of the Japan. Blue Lug’s channel
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This thread caught my attention. I like FB's cardboard jig idea, but I like Kontact's X measurement better.
Next question: My version of this is getting handlebars perfectly perpendicular to the wheel. Instead of just tryna eyeball it, what is a geometric way to do it?
Next question: My version of this is getting handlebars perfectly perpendicular to the wheel. Instead of just tryna eyeball it, what is a geometric way to do it?
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Eyeballs are best. The thing people get wrong is that they try to align the wheel, top tube and stem. Turn the bars out of alignment with the frame and just look at the front and back of the stem in relation to the tire exposed in front and in back of it.
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Interesting to see others have found what I intuited as well, turning the wheel does seem to help focus. But there's gotta be a geometry way.
Like what if you take a cloth measuring tape (like for sewing), and run it from handlebar tip, under the rim, and to the other handlebar tip. You should be able to measure the same number of mm on either side. I wanna go try that now.
Like what if you take a cloth measuring tape (like for sewing), and run it from handlebar tip, under the rim, and to the other handlebar tip. You should be able to measure the same number of mm on either side. I wanna go try that now.
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I use a level across the hoods to match a level handlebar. Then measure from a point on the forward portion of each hood to the center the stem.
Or just eye it.
#32
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I don't care about the levers being symmetrical I set brake levers up to feel natural reach and comfortable. Since most of my bikes are flat bars . The right brake lever is rotated up a little higher than the left just feels natural for me
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Merry Christmas.
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Agree that's a geometrically equivalent goal, but the stem is a much shorter line segment to work with, so maybe harder to judge parallel, plus there are tricks of perspective depending on how you look at it
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Seeing parallel (which is what we experience while riding a stem aligned with the wheel), is much easier and more relevant than trying to measure perpendicular between two objects with no flat sides. And using a measure like I suggested for the brake levers doesn't work very well when there are no real landmarks on the wheel and the angles are all relatively shallow.
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A string through the wheel and pulled taut would be a relatively wide angle (for modern MTB flat bars)
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.
Strap a wooden ruler (or any straight bit of wood / metal / plastic) across the back of the forks just below the crown - it has to be flat against the fork arms.
Now compare the ends of the bars for position against the wood.
.Now compare the ends of the bars for position against the wood.
I use rubber bands to hold an 18" wooden ruler to the forks, the ends of the bars overlap by about 1/4 inch.
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just take it to the lbs & pay them to figure it out. Free coffee while you're there dropping/picking it up too!
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Just under the rim. Pull taut to the ends of the handlebars, let the wheel go where the string pulls it. Make sure the length of string on both sides is the same number of mm.
I just don't know, if the handlebars are off by x degrees, how many mm of difference that makes in string, if the method is sensitive enough.
I just don't know, if the handlebars are off by x degrees, how many mm of difference that makes in string, if the method is sensitive enough.
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Something I found a while back:
.
I use rubber bands to hold an 18" wooden ruler to the forks, the ends of the bars overlap by about 1/4 inch.
.
Strap a wooden ruler (or any straight bit of wood / metal / plastic) across the back of the forks just below the crown - it has to be flat against the fork arms.
Now compare the ends of the bars for position against the wood.
.Now compare the ends of the bars for position against the wood.
I use rubber bands to hold an 18" wooden ruler to the forks, the ends of the bars overlap by about 1/4 inch.
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Just under the rim. Pull taut to the ends of the handlebars, let the wheel go where the string pulls it. Make sure the length of string on both sides is the same number of mm.
I just don't know, if the handlebars are off by x degrees, how many mm of difference that makes in string, if the method is sensitive enough.
I just don't know, if the handlebars are off by x degrees, how many mm of difference that makes in string, if the method is sensitive enough.
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For those who actually care about this, there's a simple way, which requires minimal skill or effort.
Put the bike along a wall. Brace the bar solidly against the wall with the bottom and outside top stabilizing it. Measure wall to a lever reference point. Flip bike and repeat.
Put the bike along a wall. Brace the bar solidly against the wall with the bottom and outside top stabilizing it. Measure wall to a lever reference point. Flip bike and repeat.
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Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
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You're talking if the stem is loose, to force the stem position before tightening? That's an idea too. I was just talking about measuring, if the two bent lengths of string are not the same, adjust and check again
#48
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For lever height, run a cloth sewing tape measure from the tip of one end of the handlebar along the bar up to the lever clamp. Repeat on the other side. Of course, you have to do this without handlebar tape.
For stem alignment, first, as has been mentioned, turn the bars and wheel away from alignment with the top tube. Then lay a straightedge on its edge along the center of the stem so that the straightedge extends beyond both the front and back of the stem. Then when you sight straight down at the straightedge, you can see if both the front and the back of the straightedge align along the center of the tire. It helps to do this sighting with one eye closed.
For stem alignment, first, as has been mentioned, turn the bars and wheel away from alignment with the top tube. Then lay a straightedge on its edge along the center of the stem so that the straightedge extends beyond both the front and back of the stem. Then when you sight straight down at the straightedge, you can see if both the front and the back of the straightedge align along the center of the tire. It helps to do this sighting with one eye closed.
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No. I think I understand the method you described above now that you have clarified that it is for measuring the respective distance of each bar end to the stem rather than for aligning the stem between the bar ends. Assuming that your fork is symmetrical, removing the front wheel (and thus eliminating this moving part) and then running a string from one bar end though both fork dropouts to the other bar end might be more accurate.
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The irony with "ocd" is that it is in itself, "out of alignment". Think about it.
Being "healthy" or expressing "health/wholeness" is not about "fixing" things, it's understanding that there isn't anything out of place to begin with. That what "wholeness" is.
Being "healthy" or expressing "health/wholeness" is not about "fixing" things, it's understanding that there isn't anything out of place to begin with. That what "wholeness" is.