# What's the best way to fix a bent brake lever?



## mothahucker (Feb 6, 2006)

Yesterday I did a full-on over-the-bars scorpion faceplant in a nasty rock garden at keystone and put a slight bend in my left lever on my avid juicy fives. Whats the best way to straighten them? Should I just have at it with a vice grip or should I heat it up first or what?


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

Replace them. The levers did their job and bent. Bending it back can stretch and fatigue the metal. You don't want that stuff to snap on you.


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## hamachi (May 9, 2006)

yeah, i would recommend getting a new one as well...


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## moshelove (Jun 8, 2005)

I bent my shimano deore hydro level falling off of a 6 foot cliff on the side of a trail, it was bent about 25 degrees. Substantially to where I wouldn't be able to really work it. I bent it back with my hand. That was almost a year ago. Still no problems. I am not going to replace it. It will not break in my hands, only on a crash. If I crash, I am already in trouble. I will replace it then. Your call.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

moshelove said:


> I bent my shimano deore hydro level falling off of a 6 foot cliff on the side of a trail, it was bent about 25 degrees. Substantially to where I wouldn't be able to really work it. I bent it back with my hand. That was almost a year ago. Still no problems. I am not going to replace it. It will not break in my hands, only on a crash. If I crash, I am already in trouble. I will replace it then. Your call.


Exactly, bend it back best you can, heat helps....Taking it off the lever body is a good idea
If it doesnt bend from the pressure of a super hard squeez after bend back, then it shouldnt during riding, unless you crash... then replace it anyway

Happens on the MX bike for me all the time....

like said above, your call


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## carl0s (Nov 1, 2005)

bent my lever in practice for a race. got the old lighter out, heated the lever at the bend and bent it back. wasn't perfect but good enough to race on and ride for the next 3 months with.


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## kristian (Jan 20, 2004)

*The best way to bend them straight*

If you're on the trail and need to bend it back straight, take your seat post off, stick the bent lever in the hollow of your seat post and use the leverage (length) of the post to bend it back straight. It is a lot easier to fine tune the bend with the seat post. Work slowly and take extra care not to bend it back TOO far so you've got to bend it back the other way to get it straight again because that will cause extra fatigue.

A bent lever _should_ probably be replaced when you finish your ride, but I figure that they are good for one bend back. Bend it a second time and it should be replaced ASAP.


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## zerossix (Jul 25, 2004)

carl0s said:


> bent my lever in practice for a race. got the old lighter out, heated the lever at the bend and bent it back. wasn't perfect but good enough to race on and ride for the next 3 months with.


that was probably worse then just straight bending it. heating stuff up can change the brittleness making it more suseptable (sp?) to snapping.

i've bent pretty much every brakelever i've owned for the past year or so and just bent everyone back using my hands, on the trail, during a race run, or jsut at work. theres no good way to bend it and its kinda sketchy but as long as you keep any eye on it you should be fine. they wont break, a bent lever is gunna be weaker and that bend point, and only in that direction, the vertical i guess it may be... but yeah when your pulling on your lever your pulling perpidincular to that bend so your not really putting it through too much more stress after its been bent.


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## mtb_biker (Jan 27, 2004)

What you want to do is gradually bend it back. I would not suggest heating them at all. Aluminum does not become easier to bend when you heat it up like steel does.


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## finchy (Jan 21, 2004)

take it out the lever, put it in a vice, bend t back, if it is stil messed then replace it... levers bend all the time inorder to protect the master cyclinders and all that other fancey crap inside the lever


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## dminor (May 15, 2006)

Is there an echo in here? You asked the same question yesterday . . . and you are getting many of the same kinds of answers.

And what a waste to replace them without _trying_ to bend them back first. It's not a structural part. The worst that can happen is it'd break; _then_ you can replace it.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

Or even just buy a new one and have it ready for the bent one to break


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## mothahucker (Feb 6, 2006)

dminor said:


> Is there an echo in here? You asked the same question yesterday . . . and you are getting many of the same kinds of answers.
> 
> Haha, yeah, i did, but I couldnt find the thread again so I just typed a new one thinking it got deleted somehow. my bad..


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## fred.r (Sep 8, 2005)

A prob. not so "safe" way but worked fine for me was to just stick a small pipe over the bent lever and bend it back using the pipe for leverage. May have put a weak spot in the lever but does it really matter, I doubt it's going to break off even under the hardest breaking you can do with two fingers....


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## Raptordude (Mar 30, 2004)

Do yourself a favor and look at this as a excuse to get Dangerboy levers for Juicy's. You'll proaboboly like them more.

If you're gonna be cheap and risk it, then if you have a vice that would help out. Stick the lever blade in the vice and use your body weight to approximatley straighten it. But really, use this as a excuse to get ne pimpin brake levers.


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