Taking off old brake levers

rswarbrick said:

I've got an old (1976!) road bike with drop down handlebars and managed to crack one of the brake levers yesterday. I've got a new set, which look like they'll be fine to fit, but I can't get the old ones off!

They seem to be attached by a bolt sticking up from the handlebar, which appears to be held on by a jubilee-clip sort of thing. But they are attached to this bolt by a nut, which is underneath the brake lever itself. I've taken off the cable to give me more space, but this nut sits inside a sort of box with almost no space around it.

So the question is: how do I undo the nut?! There's not space for even a small adjustable spanner - the only thing I could think of that would fit is needle-nose pliers, but they don't have enough grip to do the job...

I presume there's a standard trick/tool for the job - hopefully someone can suggest it! Incidentally, the new (well, second hand) levers have an allen key setup. Much more sensible.

Thin walled socket. Probably 10mm.

rswarbrick said:

I've got an old (1976!) road bike with drop down handlebars and managed to crack one of the brake levers yesterday. I've got a new set, which look like they'll be fine to fit, but I can't get the old ones off!

They seem to be attached by a bolt sticking up from the handlebar, which appears to be held on by a jubilee-clip sort of thing. But they are attached to this bolt by a nut, which is underneath the brake lever itself. I've taken off the cable to give me more space, but this nut sits inside a sort of box with almost no space around it.

So the question is: how do I undo the nut?! There's not space for even a small adjustable spanner - the only thing I could think of that would fit is needle-nose pliers, but they don't have enough grip to do the job...

I presume there's a standard trick/tool for the job - hopefully someone can suggest it! Incidentally, the new (well, second hand) levers have an allen key setup. Much more sensible.

Gee, due to my apparently limited knowledge base, the only vintage ROAD lever I can think of which had a plastic handle was MAFAC's Delrin bodied brake levers ...

Regardless, since you are presumably NOT trying to save-or-preserve the old lever, I would suggest that you simply CUT it off with a hack saw OR hand grinder (!?!) ... with the "cut" passing through the threaded part of the bolt.

alfeng said:

Gee, due to my apparently limited knowledge base, the only vintage ROAD lever I can think of which had a plastic handle was MAFAC's Delrin bodied brake levers ...

Regardless, since you are presumably NOT trying to save-or-preserve the old lever, I would suggest that you simply CUT it off with a hack saw OR hand grinder (!?!) ... with the "cut" passing through the threaded part of the bolt.

+1.

Are you sure you can't put a screwdriver in through the gap between the mount and the lever? Look past the cable. I think the square nut you are seeing is held in place by the clamp, and can't turn, but the screw threads into it.

Thanks for the help, everyone! I went with alfeng's suggestion in the end, especially when I noticed that the surround was made of aluminium.

In fact, I chopped off enough of the thing to be able to get at the nut and then undid it. The sorry-looking shards of aluminium that remained went straight in the dustbin!

Rupert