Squeeze

I just bought a pair of Velo Orange City Bike Brake Levers.

Specifically, these, in the 23.8mm clamp size: https://velo-orange.com/collections/...-brakes-levers

I tried to install them on VO porteur bars this weekend. One lever went on just fine, but the when I slid the other into position on the bar and tried to tighten, the square nut inside turned freely instead of being trapped in place by the sides of the clamp. I didn't crank down hard on these with the wrench, honest! The bolt (and nut, unfortunately) turned quite easily, but wouldn't tighten up.

The square nut now has slightly rounded corners, and you can see evidence of my pliers that I applied to try to figure out how to make it not turn as I examined the assembly.

I'm wondering if I can create a shim to slide in on one side (or both sides?) of the nut, in between the outer sides of the nut and the clamp to prevent the nut from turning as I tighten the bolt from the other side. This would be when the nut is "square", as shown in the center picture of the three below.

If so, what kind of shim might work? I was thinking of cutting thin aluminum (such as from a soda can or beer can) to size, and maybe folding it over once or twice with pliers and a vice to make it thicker. Then perhaps a coating of super glue over the shim (but not down into the threads, obviously) to hold it in place? Or would something as simple as a toothpick of the right diameter work?

Thanks for any advice. I imagine I'm not the first person to have this problem.

79pmooney

I have a vise so I think what I would do is get some steel sheet the width of gap, cut it to the depth of the nut then use the vise and hammer to make a hard cornered "U". If this sees rain, that steel would rust unless yo used stainless. (Think ing out loud here - take my words in that context.)

Ben

dsbrantjr

[QUOTE=Squeeze;20004581]I just bought a pair of Velo Orange City Bike Brake Levers....


I would ask VO to replace the lever before doing anything to void the warranty.

trailangel

What size are your handlebars...22.2mm or 23.8mm ?

Squeeze

23.8mm.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

trailangel

Try to get that nut started a bit more before sliding the brake onto the bar

Squeeze

That's what I tried to do with the pliers - I held the nut in place with the pliers while tightening the nut from below. I could only tighten it a tiny bit and still have it loose enough to slide onto the handlebar.

Latest idea: bend a thick paperclip (or two, to match nut height) into a "U".

Do they make stainless steel paperclips?

fietsbob

?putting a 22.2 band on a 23.8 bar?


take the brake apart, the swaged connection of the nut to the band has perhaps, loosened up , if so,


I'd expect a punch, hit with a hammer .. It, securely backed up with a bench vise could tighten it up again..

Squeeze

No, I am not trying to put a 22.2 band on a 23.8 bar.

Both the bar and the clamp are 23.8mm. The band fits on the bar just fine. It just won't tighten due to the nut turning when it shouldn't. I need to find a way to keep the nut from turning when it's on the bar.

I will disassemble the band and nut & bolt assembly again and see if I can tighten the band.

Troul 

Have a broken spoke soon set out for the trash? Take said spoke & mend the spoke to the shape of the OD of the floating attachment nut. Dab each side to which the spoke touches the outer sides of floating attachment nut with exterior tolerant silicone adhesive caulk.

fietsbob

Band, squeeze it with pliers to grip the square nut.

Dsprok

Are the threads on the nut damaged/cross threaded?

chorlton

Looks like there is a 'cage' which is supposed to stop the nut from turning but the 'cage' is not tight against the nut. Even if you were to bend it to hold the nut it would probably bend back again. Try a meaty star washer?

Oh, sorry.. what I am referring to as a cage is the loop of metal. It's been a while. The bolt end screws against the bar to pull the loop tight. Here's an old Weinmann... Looks like it might almost suffer from the same problem but less so. Try a meaty star washer or a bigger nut.

What Fietsbob said.

...

79pmooney

Tell VO about this (and provide a link to this thread). They should know so they can 1) correct the problem at the source (contact the manufacturer and tell them) and 2) have square nuts to provide to customers to make this right.

All the manufacturer has to do to make this go away completely is use square nuts. Slightly bigger would be nice but the exact same nut without the additional machining would do just fine. (Fix a problem for good by simply omitting an expensive step? What a concept!)

Ben

79pmooney

Squeeze, I'll bet that the hex nut chorlton shows on that Weinmann has the same threads as your VO. Find a set of old Weimanns. (Won't be hard. Any older shop will have a box of old levers.)

Ben

chorlton

https://velo-orange.com/pages/contact-us

Done... Perhaps others can chip in and make mine better.

JohnDThompson 

The vast majority of brake lever mounting hardware is standard 6.0mm x 1.0mm thread. This should be available at any decent hardware store.

Squeeze

Thanks for the excellent advice, everyone. Much appreciated.

You know, I'm that guy with ten jars of various nuts and bolts in my garage, yet I'm forever going to Ace Hardware to dig through their nut & bolt bins for just the right thing. Somehow, I hadn't even considered the hardware store yet. I'm still fairly new at wrenching on bikes, and my enthusiasm apparently blinded me to the obvious.

I thought of contacting VO about these levers, but at $13.00 for the pair and intended for a deliberately cheap city bike, I figured it wasn't worth the time or trouble to try to return one lever. Plus, the first thing I did was "polish" the exterior parts with 0000 steel wool to get rid of the high shine they came with. While not extremely obvious once done (check picture on the left in the OP), if anyone compared these to new ones, they'd figure I was trying to pull a fast one by returning old parts.

Off to the hardware store I go, brake lever and allen wrench in hand!

Edited to add: and pliers, because yes, by now the threads are a little...um...rough. Not stripped, but getting there.

trailangel

I would do this

woodcraft

You could fix the nut in place with wire shims and some dabs of shoe goo.

chorlton

It would seem that Velo has zero interest in fixing the manufacturing defects in their products...

Good to know they can send you some more defective bits though.

chorlton

Thanks Bob.

Squeeze

Original Poster here. Thanks again to everyone who took time to help. As Paul Harvey used to say, here is the rest of the story.

The short version: I fixed the problem, but wasn't confident in my repair. I contacted VO for a replacement. They sent me a new pair on a Friday, the same day I asked, and it arrived on Monday. They bolted on right away with no problems at all. I'm happy with the outcome and with VO's customer service.

The long version:

Before I contacted VO, I snipped apart the pull tab from a soda can, where the aluminum is already rolled over on itself for double thickness. Then I dabbed on some super glue, being careful not to get any down in the threads. It worked pretty well, but I couldn't stop thinking that I shouldn't have to fix a brand new product, even one with a very low price.



I was going to do this, until I realized the band or clamp was connected to the nut. Metal from the band wraps down under the nut. I didn't think I could remove the nut without destroying the band.

I tried that (a few times), but there just wasn't enough slack in the band for the pliers to have any effect. The band was tight around the bar and I couldn't make it any tighter or add pressure where it needed to be.

I did buy a set of old Weinmanns from one of Denver's bike co-ops. Free plug: Bikes Together | Denver's Nonprofit Bike Shop (I'm not affiliated with them except as an occasional customer and donor)

The Weinmanns are pretty nice. They cleaned up really well, but I wasn't able to use any part of them to improve the VO levers. I hope to use them on my next vintage MTB drop bar conversion to get that "extra vintage" look over aero levers.

Here they are on the VO porteur bars. I kind of liked the look, and now I feel as though I've tried moustache bars with the forward-mounted levers, but the extra motion required to roll my wrists back before being able to reach for the levers seemed inefficient and uncomfortable. I didn't think I'd get a full pull with them rotated down to the usual position for bars like this due to the curved levers.



Here's a before picture, prior to Nevr Dull and then Meguiar's Cleaner Wax. Yes, I realize it's ironic that I wanted to shine up an old set of levers but dulled the shine on the new levers with 0000 steel wool.

I think I am becoming a serious bike nerd.



Thanks again for the help, everyone. I haven't finished the bike yet, but when I do, I'll post it in this thread:

Vintage MTB To Upright Bar / Urban Bike Conversions