Teamprovicycle

I can't seem to find the travel agent or similar product , and except fir a Chinese eBay company selling them as a folding bike part . I'm wondering where to get one .

I have aero brake levers I'm trying to make work with v brakes . The aero levers are tektro and where advertised as compatable with v brakes , I'm thinking maybe not as they don't feel to powerful , maybe I don't have them adjusted as good as possible .. ? :/

Wilfred Laurier

The tektro aero-drop bar levers intended for V brakes is called the RL520. That number should be found on the back of the lever blades.

Thos levers look similar to other Tektro levers that are not designed for V brakes, so it is not impossible that you got a set of non-v brake levers by mistake. Check the number on the lever blade to be sure.

If they are RL52 lever, adding a travel agent-type device will only make it so you have to pull twice as hard on the lever to get the proper braking force at the rim, so it is not advisable. Work on your setup (make sure you have good cables and housing and that the pads are properly aligned.

Also make sure you have full length V brakes - shorter 'mini Vs' are designed for use with the same levers used for caliper and cantilever brakes, and V brake levers will likely feel stiff and give poor braking. Adding a travel agent to that setup will result in spectacularly poor braking, unless you install it backwards somehow.

fietsbob

QBP stopped getting the travel agents made*, so you have to get them from ebay 2nd hand

*as not on current website .. discontinued..


your Tektro levers may be short, not long pull, they make a variety.

the company also makes mini direct pull brakes , would need be a skinny tire wheel ..








..

Eric S.

OP didn't specify which Tektro levers are the subject of this thread, and I don't know what used Travel Agents may cost on eBay but RL520 levers are readily available for ~$25. I would skip the cable pull gadget and just get proper levers, if this is what we're talking about.

Andrew R Stewart 

I'll add that the RL520 levers are a better choice then the Travel Agents are if only yo reduce clutter and added mechanism. I've installed a lot of TAs and converted a number of MtBs to drop bars with the RL520s. If you're not running brifters RL520s are the way. Andy

Teamprovicycle

sorry , they are aero base bar brakes , i think maybe shortys will be the best option ?



TEKTRO RX 4.1 RBP SERIES EXTENSION BRAKE LEVERS FOR AERO TYPE BARS


https://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-TEKTRO-RX-4-1-RBP-SERIES-EXTENSION-BRAKE-LEVERS-FOR-AERO-TYPE-BARS/153435239695?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

88Tempo

Thank you for this information. I had bought a set of RL520 at the coop a while back (look like new take off) and was going to use them.

I'm still going to use them I'm just using them on a different bike than originally planned.

Geekage

What do you mean by "they don't feel to (sic) powerful?" Being made for the shorter pull of sidepull and cantilever brakes, I'd expect the levers to give lots of power, it's just that they bottom out pretty easily and feel "mushy" because of too much leverage. Though depending on how they're routed, there could also be a lot of housing compression going on, which would make them bottom out even faster.

Shortys may help the braking feel more like you're used to, but I've heard they're a bit of a compromise in terms of pull ratio- somewhere between sidepull and linear pull. YMMV.

You can always go to cantilevers, but they are very sensitive to adjustment of the straddle height. Pad wear may also affect the feel.

The closest thing to a Travel Agent, besides the eBay item which sounds perfectly fine, would be a WolfTooth Tanpan. Yeah, it's for adjusting the travel of shifters, so it's made for smaller diameter cables (you may need to drill a hole a bit bigger), and maybe it can't deal with the high tension of brake cables (it's solid aluminum, but the support bolt and bearing may be too small), but it'll get your travel close to the right ballpark. It's not cheap at $45, but it's made in the US. However since you're using them not for their intended purpose, don't expect WolfTooth's support if you break them.

But the first thing I'd do would be to make sure you have good brake housing, routed so there are as few bends as possible- if you squeeze the brakes and the housing moves around, your braking force and travel are going into moving that housing.

Of course, if your levers aren't even close to bottoming out, then none of this applies- I'm not sure what the issue is then.

If you want to mount your brake levers on the end of the bars, you might want to look into just using regular mountain bike brake levers, but the housing may need to be routed in a U-turn and the clamp diameter might not match. Your best bet might be to use something like Paul Component cross levers: they can be adjusted for either short or long pull, and the cable can come back towards the lever and under your bar tape. They fit a bar diameter of 26.0mm, so you'd need to find a shim to fit your bars, which I assume are 23.8mm. The drawback, besides the price ($149 new), is they take up more room on your bar than your existing reverse levers.

Alternatively, use any old linear pull brake levers, pull a U turn with your brake housing or a bend a V-brake noodle into a U-shape, and use something like a HubBub ($70) to match the clamp diameter. And because you're using the HubBub, you don't lose any bar length, you can even gain some. Again, the HubBub is made for a shifter, not a brake, so it might not be able to take the forces applied, but since you're pretty much squeezing against it, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I made my own HubBub style adapter for just this purpose and had no problems, but I did design it so it went into the bar further. As a bonus, you can also use mountain bike shifters- built into the brake levers or clamped to the HubBub- and not have to move your hands to shift. But there's a lot of cable housing pointed forward then.

Teamprovicycle

im kinda stuck on the brakes , its an aero base bar no bar tape , i was thinking or just switching to the flat bar brake , maybe bull horn brakes and a bar end shifter, it is a silly bike lolololol

Geekage

This is what I did with my base bars:

But, as I said, I needed to use a diameter adapter like the HubBub.

Teamprovicycle

the brakes pull but there is very little stopping power and they sqeel like im killing puppies , plus no in line adjuster so i will need two of those , i really want to keep the cleaner look , i could mount flat bar brakes upside down , ive seen that before and wondered why it was done . i thought about a bar end shifter and bull horn style brake lever but i dont know if a practical brake lever exists one that can amount around the bar grip area instead of inside it like it is now ..??

should i convert to canti brake ( crowd gasps ) ??

maybe i could get the Tektro RL520 and cut the hoods off mount them around the grip bar area switch to a bar end shifter ???

Teamprovicycle

i got tektro bmx brakes , the front works but the back needs more bite , i might have to just get the adapter .

Andrew R Stewart 

Those "aero/fixie" bull horn bar levers have very little leverage or cable pull amount, so even short reach dual pivot calipers have suckie performance. Andy

fietsbob

they have a bigger leverage resulting in little cable pull for the amount of lever swing..


A potential use of Paul's cross, top mount brake levers ... they offer 2 pairs of holes in body & lever

removing a tiny snap ring * and the pivot pin can be moved , increasing the cable pull for lever swing ratio

Pulling V brake like cable length for the demand of the brakes greater leverage..


* don't lose it ..

OneIsAllYouNeed

I can recommend using Vision Reverse Brake Levers with Tektro 926 Mini-V front brake and Tektro RX6 rear brake. My commuter fixie uses this arrangement. There's plenty of stopping power with each brake, even with the relatively sharp brake levers. The front brake has a noodle with barrel adjuster, while the rear brake housing has an inline barrel adjuster. Another bike in my collection uses the same brakeset with Sram Doubletap levers. Braking performance is great on that bike, too. Those bikes are frequently ridden in rain; mud; and wet, salty roads. One of my wife's bikes uses the Vision brake levers with Sram road calipers -- again it works totally fine. Make sure your cables and housings are relatively clean; cable doesn't have any kinks; housing has no tight bends; and that the cable isn't rubbing on a housing stop.

Teamprovicycle

thanks , im really trying to keep the look of the bike , i have the noodle barrel adjusters on there ,

i dont want standard brakes or cross top brakes , becuase i need the houseing to run back into the aero bar ,

i built the bike to be a fast effecient commuter , that can punch above its weight , some people just dont understand its design , but i feel i have used my immagination and expecience to craft a bike that can in theory compete against my higher quality carbon race bikes .
now its just a theory , but i feel like i put some thought into the set up , and i have always belvied the frame , that used to be a OEM felt sr91 was a great frame .

it was sitting int he basement for around a year , doing a few snow day rides with the larger gator skin tires , but i really wanted to put it to use .

my CX bike was getting old and worn so now i have this bike that super fast but wont stop

i dont think the vision will work with my current set up , i have the gx thumb shifter behind the brake , the brake mounts inside the bar ends so i just have enough room to get a decent grip , but even now its hurting my hand .

i will most likey have to swap to a bar end shifter and get the reverse brakes!

if i did keep the brake levers as is , they where like 14 bucks so no worries on price , i could convert to cantis , and would that solve the issue , or would they still pull weak ???

the cheapest option is to buy the 17 dollar ebay imitation pull adapter / converter thingy , but i really have no clue how that will work out either .

shelbyfv

Thanks for the clarification

Wilfred Laurier

Mystery solved!

The BMX V brakes are in fact mini Vs. This means you don't want to use V brake compatible levers as they will result in nice crisp feeling brakes that have no stopping power. Mini Vs are designed for use with short-pull levers (cantilever compatible).

If you add the Travel Agent things, this will make the situation worse... I would bet the brakes will barely stop the bike. As you have it set up now, you probably have to pull almost twice as hard as normal to get the bike to stop. A travel agent will make it so you have to pull four times as hard.

Also, moving to cantilever brakes will leave you with the same problem you have now.

Your options are:

Get a set of full length V brakes. These will work with the levers you have

or

Get a set of cantilever/caliper compatible levers. These will work with he brakes you have.

Either one of these will solve your problem, BUT doing both will result in brakes that function badly in another way (squishy levers that bottom out on the bar without stopping you)

Teamprovicycle

but i have decided this bike is fast enough to do the only two time trials i can get to in my area so i think i did , good , a TT bike that doubles as a commuter , full customized for the terrain it will be used on , and i can put aero bars on it without swapping the entire cockpit out , I AM GENIUS

if i could only figure out how to convert the aero base bar to a drop , it could pull triple duty as a cx race bike ,awwwwwww maaaaaaaayun !!!!!!

Teamprovicycle

i actually figured this one out , its kinda weird but first , i threw the stock tektro brake pads in the trash and installed some shimano ultegra holders and pads , and i switched the spacers on the pad with the smaller one on the inside and the larger one on the out side , its still a little bit soft to the pull , but they bite and stop me to where i feel safe enough to hit near top speeds in traffic and stuff .....

Wilfred Laurier

I glad it's working for you, but I think you would find better function (much less hand force required at the lever) if you find a set of short-pull (non-V brake) levers.