'85 trek 400 brakes

two wheels said:

I'm new to road bikes so excuse my terminology, hope this question makes sense!lol! I notice that the new bikes have much bigger and cushioned "hoods". She wants these on her bike! Is there a company that makes aftermarket brake "hood" rubber sleeves or will I have to swap out the entire brake caliper assembley? I hope that question made sense, I worded it the best I could. Thanks!🙂

Your talking about the hoods, i.e. brifters (brake/shifters). Hoods aren't going to get any bigger for a given brake caliper/shift lever than what's already there. It's possible, I guess, to change to a modern assembly, but:

• You won't be able to use the shift function of the levers.
• The leverage provided by the new assembly might decrease braking "strength".
• It's a lot of expense for what you want.

The easiest thing would be to surf eBay for old Campagnolo or SunTour brake levers to see if she would like those more. You might also look at Dia Compe levers.

Thanks for the info!

While there are no replacement hoods which will probably fulfill you wishes ...

TEKTRO makes a replacement brake lever whose design is a copy of the pre-2009 Campagnolo brake levers -- ~$25 +/-, depending on where you buy them.

I think the Campagnolo & Tektro "copy" are amongst the more comfortable levers available.