Shimano 600 I.D.?
 

'86 allez w/6208 calipers with these levers that need hoods.no match on www.velobase,what series might they be or anyone had luck matching hoods to them?owner had 6400 series hoods that didn't cover the front very well.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7bb3a5025a.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1a07263eb5.jpg

Those look like 6300 series - 600 AX, the first aero brake levers. Shimano releases the 7300 and 6300 "Aerodynamic" components sometime around 1981. They didn't catch on, so they're uncommon. You will have great difficulty finding hoods for those. Sorry.

You could get 6208 non-aero levers, or 6209 Aero levers. Or go with 6400s. You may still have a hood problem, but I think you'd have better luck.

Never seen Shimano levers like those... :foo:

They look like these 600-AX levers on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16511785383...4AAOSwI2phYOnb

Maybe they came out right after the AX & EX aero fad stuff disappeared???

It's a starting point.

Good luck

verktyg :50:

Interesting! The hoods you need are indeed most likely the 600ax hoods, which are impossible to find. But the levers blades aren't 100% identical to the 600ax :foo:

thanks for the quick replies-went with repo's from France.just need a rubber plug for the cable outlet as Campy used.https://www.ebay.com/itm/12228783706...Cclp%3A2047675

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...89e65f8ebf.jpg

Shimano used old BL-6300 600AX levers, with new graphics, as the aero option for the New 600EX group until they introduced the dedicated BL-6209 aero levers for the 1987 model year. They did the same with Dura-Ace, using the BL-7300 Dura-Ace AX levers as the inital aero option with New Dura-Ace.

Shimano AX EX Style Brake Lever Hoods
 

Those who weren't there... Don't know... (reference to many eBay seller who pretend to be experts)

I suspect that you may be disappointed because those hoods appear to be knockoff Weinmann-DiaCompe style hoods used on the old "red dot" levers.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2bbb1f3875.jpg

Weinmann, DiaCompe & Cane Creek - all three interchange to fit these old style levers.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d4d5c29369.jpghttps://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e773780a36.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4be5bb308e.jpg

I mentioned above that I'd never seen those Shimano 600 levers before... I was wrong. I have a set of similar design old DuraAce aero levers that I've never pulled the fragile hoods back to check until now. They have the same design as your 600 levers.

Shimano hoods vs. Weinmann hoods. Those Weinmann style hoods can be stretched on but... They'll look like Mafac levers that someone put undersized Weinmann style hoods on.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0e2ff271c6.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...181acea94d.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c04a035073.jpg

Shimano was notorious for making drastic incompatible product changes, especially during the early 80's... These are one bad example. This design was only produced for a few years. Yours are probably from the end of the run because of the SHIMANO 600 embossed into the levers vs. SHIMANO 600AX.

If you can find hoods that fit, they'll probably be crazy expensive and up to 40 years old. As mentioned above, you may be better off finding some later style levers with hoods that are still available.

I guess that if a new Shimano product didn't immediately sell well, the marketoids responsible took a one way trip to the back yard!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...42869d6ba7.jpg

verktyg :50: