# Early 80's Brake Lever Choices?



## L-Train (Apr 28, 2006)

What was available 1985 and prior?


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

laffeaux said:


> Magura and Tommaselli motorcycle levers were the original levers on early mountain bikes and were used into the mid-80s. Suntour came out with a lever in '83 and Shimano in '84. Lower end bikes may have used other lesser known brands (i.e. "Chang Star" made levers as well.).


Shimano also did in 83 with the Deerhead XT. The Suntour levers then were actually Dia Compe right? I don't remember a Suntour lever that early.


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## Shayne (Jan 14, 2004)

Suntour had their own levers with the first roller cam set didnt they? c1984


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Shayne said:


> Suntour had their own levers with the first roller cam set didnt they? c1984


I don't remember anything that old, but maybe there was. Was the first Suntour RC 85? When did they license it?

This '83-84 Dia Compe and the '83 Shimano Deerhead were the first levers to compete with the European Tommaselli and the Magura:


__
https://flic.kr/p/4204857617


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

laffeaux said:


> Yep. I think you're right. It was the SunTour "Dirt Group" but not all of the components were made by SunTour.


Yeah, Suntour did that type of thing a lot. For sure into the late 80s. I think all of their road brakes and levers were made by Dia Compe.


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## halaburt (Jan 13, 2004)

L-Train said:


> What was available 1985 and prior?


http://mombat.org/Timeline.htm


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

L-Train said:


> What was available 1985 and prior?


Magura and Tommaselli motorcycle levers were the original levers on early mountain bikes and were used into the mid-80s. Suntour came out with a lever in '83 and Shimano in '84. Lower end bikes may have used other lesser known brands (i.e. "Chang Star" made levers as well.).


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

What EL said.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

Fillet-brazed said:


> The Suntour levers then were actually Dia Compe right?


Yep. I think you're right. It was the SunTour "Dirt Group" but not all of the components were made by SunTour.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

The Tommaselli levers...


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## 83stumpjumper (Feb 14, 2011)

The Tommaselli's are the Cadillac of brake levers. On this there can be no debate!


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## WickedPhatChance (May 28, 2011)

Rumfy-
Nice paint job on that Steve Potts.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

WickedPhatChance said:


> Rumfy-
> Nice paint job on that Steve Potts.


Thanks! Not sure if that's what Hank asked for or if it was Steve/painters choice, but I dig it.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

cousineddie said:


> In my opinion, the Magura levers of that era are on par with the Tommasellis.


I prefer the Maguras, but only because of lever shape and feel. Quality seems to be similar between the two if not maybe a little nicer on the Tommasellis.


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## cousineddie (Oct 23, 2008)

Fillet-brazed said:


> Shimano also did in 83 with the Deerhead XT. The Suntour levers then were actually Dia Compe right? I don't remember a Suntour lever that early.


Most early 80's bikes I've come across with Suntour Mountech components had Dia Compe 280 levers and 980 calipers. The earliest ones I've found had mid to late 1982 date codes stamped on them.


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## cousineddie (Oct 23, 2008)

83stumpjumper said:


> The Tommaselli's are the Cadillac of brake levers. On this there can be no debate!


In my opinion, the Magura levers of that era are on par with the Tommasellis.


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## 83stumpjumper (Feb 14, 2011)

The Tommy levers were the Cadillac of break levers back then. And on this there can a be no debate!


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

You can always debate. Not always intelligently but that's what free choice and open dialogue gets you. 

I recently got magura shortys on a bike and for me personally, I love them more than any other levers until the avid ultimate black ops ones.


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## muddybuddy (Jan 31, 2007)

83stumpjumper said:


> The Tommy levers were the Cadillac of break levers back then. And on this there can a be no debate!


If you've come here to not debate. You'e in the wrong place. 

Gotta agree with you though. I think the Tommasellis were the nicest ones around at the time.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Oh, forgot to mention that I've never tried the tommasellis. Everytime I follow one in auction, they go for more than I'm willing to shell out.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

*debate?*



girlonbike said:


> Oh, forgot to mention that I've never tried the tommasellis. Everytime I follow one in auction, they go for more than I'm willing to shell out.


Maguras were a little more expensive back in the day, had more options and parts availability and much more popular on the high-end handmade bikes. But some guys are so into Stumpjumpers that they blindly like Tomasellis as well. 

He did say the "Cadillac of brake levers" so he could actually be right (not impressed with Cadillacs).

JK. Tomasellis are nice too.


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## cousineddie (Oct 23, 2008)

83stumpjumper said:


> The Tommy levers were the Cadillac of break levers back then. And on this there can a be no debate!


So you're saying the Tommy levers broke down frequently like Cadillacs of the 1980's?


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## 83stumpjumper (Feb 14, 2011)

Looks like some of you didn't get my, "no debate" reference. See Seinfeld; Poppy.

The Tommy levers were heavy duty, and looked it. As for how they work, it's a brake lever, you pull it back, and it it slows the bike. All levers do that, it's about style.
There's a reason they sell for so much on Ebay, they're the best of the early 80's!


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## geckocycles (Sep 3, 2006)

I'm a Tommy guy and have a set on my Sherpa. I even have brand new in wrapper hoods for them! Maguras are nice and strong too but had not the style of a Tommy and were not anodized black if I recall either. Never a failure of a Tommy and it has seen many a crash and 10's of thousands of hard miles on them. I like the large star adjuster too.

I had Blue Red Lines on my VVA if I recall. 1980 or 81. I broke one and nearly went through a plate glass window. Big air bubble in the molding. Got Tommies for that bike after that too.

Or were they just called Blue Lines?


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## geckocycles (Sep 3, 2006)

Too Lazy to resize them. LOL
http://www.geckocycles.com/images/old%20bike%20stuff/strong%20riders.jpg

http://www.geckocycles.com/images/old%20bike%20stuff/new%20007.jpg


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

geckocycles said:


> and were not anodized black if I recall either.














geckocycles said:


> Or were they just called Blue Lines?


Were those the plastic ones you could get from the motorcycle shop? Never liked those.


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## -Anomie- (Jan 16, 2005)

I prefer Tommaselli levers over Magura, they just look slightly higher quality to me and the barrel adjusters are much nicer, but it really depends on the bike. Some bikes need certain levers, like my red Ritchey needs Maguras so that's what will be replacing the Tommy's that are on it now.

There's another type of lever that was actually pretty popular in the late 70's to early 80's, these Dia-Compe/Weinmann stamped aluminum levers. They're very light and were cheap so if you crashed and bent or broke them it wasn't a big deal. Most people now prefer to pretend they don't exist because they have no "cool factor", but ask Alan Bonds if you don't believe me, these were used on a lot of the bikes he built back in the day. (FWIW, I've never seen another set with "integrated" thumb shifters like mine, but apparently they weren't super-rare):



















From AB himself, and a photo of his own bike:


> At the time there was the belief among the Fairfax crowd that huge brake levers were necessary. In response to this dogma I put aftermarket motorcycle levers on the bikes I was selling. While most of us rode some trails some times, I also rode with my friends from Larkspur who rode a lot of trails lots of times, as did I. Nothing could be more impractical than hanging up your levers on manzanita and other scrub. Well setup brakes didn't need huge levers and adjusters could be fitted to the barrels though not seen here. I'm still amazed how those levers are perceived.


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## Fatmikeynyc (Jun 20, 2005)

I like both Magura and Tommaselli levers and I use both.

ER-What color are those grips they look almost white?









Nice shot of the Tommaselli levers and a smooth hairless chest









There was also a "newer" version of the Tommaselli lever as well as grips that were around in the late 80s:


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Fatmikeynyc said:


> I like both Magura and Tommaselli levers and I use both.
> 
> ER-What color are those grips they look almost white?
> 
> There was also a "newer" version of the Tommaselli lever as well as grips that were around in the late 80s:


Mikey,
I think those are a no longer offered option in clear, but just a little dirty.

I like those later version of the Tommaselli - never have seen those before. I think I like the looks better than the earlier version. They look fairly Magura-ish.


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## Fatmikeynyc (Jun 20, 2005)

Fillet-brazed said:


> Mikey,
> I think those are a no longer offered option in clear, but just a little dirty.
> 
> I like those later version of the Tommaselli - never have seen those before. I think I like the looks better than the earlier version. They look fairly Magura-ish.


--
Ahh, I didn't even consider that they were clear and filthy.

I have a few sets of those "newer" Tommaselli levers, there are rubber covers that aren't shown in my pic. I got my first pair of this style on my 1987 Wicked Fat Chance. The lever is a different shape and proportion than the older style.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Fatmikeynyc said:


> --
> Ahh, I didn't even consider that they were clear and filthy.
> 
> I have a few sets of those "newer" Tommaselli levers, there are rubber covers that aren't shown in my pic. I got my first pair of this style on my 1987 Wicked Fat Chance. The lever is a different shape and proportion than the older style.


I like what looks to be a split clamp on the perch so you can remove them w/out grip removal. Are the rubber covers the same as the previous version with the wrap-around little straps?

I think my favorite hoods by far are the leather Magura ones with the snap.  Pretty rare.

The clear on those grips seems to be more of a milky clear, if you will. Or at least the ones I have are.


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## Fatmikeynyc (Jun 20, 2005)

Fillet-brazed said:


> I like what looks to be a split clamp on the perch so you can remove them w/out grip removal. Are the rubber covers the same as the previous version with the wrap-around little straps?


Yep, a split clamp that saves grips and the cover is different, this one has a wrap around strap but on the levers in my pic they both were torn off


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Fatmikeynyc said:


> ER-What color are those grips they look almost white?


They were 'clear' WTB grips...since replaced.


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## Fatmikeynyc (Jun 20, 2005)

Rumpfy said:


> They were 'clear' WTB grips...since replaced.


--

What did you replace with, Maguras or WTB?
I hope you didn't use those phallic pink ones.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Fatmikeynyc said:


> --
> 
> What did you replace with, Maguras or WTB?
> I hope you didn't use those phallic pink ones.


Shoulda used this pic from the start. Magura.


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## Fatmikeynyc (Jun 20, 2005)

Rumpfy said:


> Shoulda used this pic from the start. Magura.


Can't find the proper smily to emote my joy that you used those grips! 
:yesnod:


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