Dia-Compe 287-V brake lever installation/removal?

Hi all:

I've acquired a drop-bar bike with linear-pull brakes and Dia-Compe
287-V brake levers. I'm trying to remove the levers from the
handlebar and I'm not sure I've figured out how. It looks like the
band that attaches the levers to the handlebar is secured by a bolt
with a head configured for a 4mm hex wrench that you can access once
the nose piece of the lever is removed. However, that bolt is so far
"down there" that I can only get the long arm of the hex wrench of the
bolt and I can't pull enough torque on the short arm to unscrew that
bolt. Before I get medieval on this sucker I figured I should ask:
am I doing this correctly?

TIA

Tom Young

TomYoung Wrote:
Hi all:

I've acquired a drop-bar bike with linear-pull brakes and Dia-Compe
287-V brake levers. I'm trying to remove the levers from the
handlebar and I'm not sure I've figured out how. It looks like the
band that attaches the levers to the handlebar is secured by a bolt
with a head configured for a 4mm hex wrench that you can access once
the nose piece of the lever is removed. However, that bolt is so far
"down there" that I can only get the long arm of the hex wrench of the
bolt and I can't pull enough torque on the short arm to unscrew that
bolt. Before I get medieval on this sucker I figured I should ask:
am I doing this correctly?

TIA

Tom Young
I would use a 3 way hex wrench and the 3 & 5 mm portions protruding
allow you to get grirp and torque. If you don't have one (I think you
should, but) you can put a piece of tubing or a smallish box end wrench
around the short end to extend the lever arm.


--
daveornee

On Mar 29, 6:08 pm, daveornee daveornee.372...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
TomYoung Wrote:

Hi all:

I've acquired a drop-bar bike with linear-pull brakes and Dia-Compe
287-V brake levers. I'm trying to remove the levers from the
handlebar and I'm not sure I've figured out how. It looks like the
band that attaches the levers to the handlebar is secured by a bolt
with a head configured for a 4mm hex wrench that you can access once
the nose piece of the lever is removed. However, that bolt is so far
"down there" that I can only get the long arm of the hex wrench of the
bolt and I can't pull enough torque on the short arm to unscrew that
bolt. Before I get medieval on this sucker I figured I should ask:
am I doing this correctly?

TIA

Tom Young

I would use a 3 way hex wrench and the 3 & 5 mm portions protruding
allow you to get grirp and torque. If you don't have one (I think you
should, but) you can put a piece of tubing or a smallish box end wrench
around the short end to extend the lever arm.

Thanks. Put a small length of narrow pipe over the short arm of the
wrench to give me the additional torque I needed. The wrench who
installed this thing must of overdosed on his 'roids!

TomYoung wrote:
On Mar 29, 6:08 pm, daveornee daveornee.372...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
TomYoung Wrote:

Hi all:
I've acquired a drop-bar bike with linear-pull brakes and Dia-Compe
287-V brake levers. I'm trying to remove the levers from the
handlebar and I'm not sure I've figured out how. It looks like the
band that attaches the levers to the handlebar is secured by a bolt
with a head configured for a 4mm hex wrench that you can access once
the nose piece of the lever is removed. However, that bolt is so far
"down there" that I can only get the long arm of the hex wrench of the
bolt and I can't pull enough torque on the short arm to unscrew that
bolt. Before I get medieval on this sucker I figured I should ask:
am I doing this correctly?
TIA
Tom Young
I would use a 3 way hex wrench and the 3 & 5 mm portions protruding
allow you to get grirp and torque. If you don't have one (I think you
should, but) you can put a piece of tubing or a smallish box end wrench
around the short end to extend the lever arm.

Thanks. Put a small length of narrow pipe over the short arm of the
wrench to give me the additional torque I needed. The wrench who
installed this thing must of overdosed on his 'roids!

Dia-compe made a special allen key for these things, with both "arms"
about equally long. Think of it as an allen key with extra "reach".
Probably how they were installed, but your solution works equally well.

Mark J.

TomYoung wrote:
Hi all:

I've acquired a drop-bar bike with linear-pull brakes and Dia-Compe
287-V brake levers. I'm trying to remove the levers from the
handlebar and I'm not sure I've figured out how. It looks like the
band that attaches the levers to the handlebar is secured by a bolt
with a head configured for a 4mm hex wrench that you can access once
the nose piece of the lever is removed. However, that bolt is so far
"down there" that I can only get the long arm of the hex wrench of the
bolt and I can't pull enough torque on the short arm to unscrew that
bolt. Before I get medieval on this sucker I figured I should ask:
am I doing this correctly?

Pass a 4mm T-wrench through the hole in the lever. Unscrew
anti-clockwise and oil the thread on installation.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971