A "Correct" Way to Position Levers on Handlebars

[jambee]

I'm setting up a new Rene Herse randonneur handlebars and am finding it challenging to find the "correct" placement for the levers.

Is there a general rule? Something like "the lever should seamlessly connect to the hood as if in a straight line?" Is the rule more like "whatever works for you?"

When I look at Jan's bike on this blog post, the level seems to be further out on the top of the drop.

My attempt to set this up looks to be completely wrong. Any guidance will be great.

[Dead Man]

i mean traditionally the lever ends at the straight line of the flats on the drops. but bar shapes and hood angles have changed a lot over the years, as well as comfort being considered over form .. with a classic bar bend one must mount the shifters way "too high" to achieve a flat transition from bend tops to hoods, but if thats whats comfortable to you and function is more important to you than form then thats what you gotta do.

in my opinion, if this is the case, theres no point using a classic shaped bar - it wont look classic, with the shifters jacked up facing the sky, so might as well move to compact shape bar at that point.. but thats obviously just like my opinion man

[charliedid]

Roll them forward so the flats of the drops are in line with the top tube. I assume you retying to get the tops of the bars to ramp straight out? That's fine but I think you need to move the levers down to get them less cocked up.

[BdaGhisallo]

Go with what you find comfortable. There's no exact right or wrong and since you have metal bars there, you can adjust and move them without having to worry too much. If you can tolerate it, ride them without any bar tape on and take a hex wrench with and adjust as you need.

I usually get one exactly where I want it and then take the bars off the bike and use a very flat surface to get the other lever in the same place by making sure both lever tips hit the surface at the same time when I roll the bar forward.

[jtakeda]

What’s your reasoning for having the levers so far up and aimed up? For comfort? If that’s the case you need to get a different bar or shorter stem


Also rotating the bar so the drops are closer to parallel with the ground will help a little

[jambee]

Thanks!

These bars come with the following note from Jan:

Pro Tip: Angle your Randonneur bars upward so the ramps are approximately flat. It’s key to enjoying the supreme hand comfort for which these handlebars are famous.

So I tried to follow that guide but it's clear that I need to push the levers forward and rotate the handlebar a little outwards.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by jambee

Thanks!

These bars come with the following note from Jan:

Pro Tip: Angle your Randonneur bars upward so the ramps are approximately flat. It’s key to enjoying the supreme hand comfort for which these handlebars are famous.

So I tried to follow that guide but it's clear that I need to push the levers forward and rotate the handlebar a little outwards.

Start by just moving the levers.

[cinema]

traditionally one installs the levers where the base of the lever is even with the bottom of the drops. so place the bars flat on a table and move them down until the ends are touching the table. it's a good starting point.

[Kyle h]

Edit.

[Hindmost]

The way Eddy did.

One advantage of having the bottom of the drops flat-ish is that you can "rest" your hands there, not using a lot of grip--if you spend a lot of time in the drops. Drops have multiple hand positions as do to the tops and transitions.

[djg21]

Against the bottom of the hooks. The end of the brake lever should touch.

[FlashUNC]

A flat transition is all but impossible without totally jacking up the angle of the drops. I personally prefer that "notch" transition of the hoods from the bar, and a flat drop for easier use of the drops.

[marciero]

Originally Posted by jambee

Thanks!

These bars come with the following note from Jan:

Pro Tip: Angle your Randonneur bars upward so the ramps are approximately flat. It’s key to enjoying the supreme hand comfort for which these handlebars are famous.

So I tried to follow that guide but it's clear that I need to push the levers forward and rotate the handlebar a little outwards.

Getting the ramps flat is not as clear on these bars because the ramps are not flat, as they are on their others-the Maes. The parallel version of those you can get flat with nice position in drops. I have both rando and MP, and really like them both. For the rando bars I have also used Jan's tips and also photos as a guide. He has side view of that bike in other photos-maybe the blog or maybe in BQ. But that was just a starting point and I agree with others that you adjust to taste. A couple of general remarks. First, with your levers as positioned in your photo you will not be able to reach them easily while in the drops. Also, you are robbing yourself of reach, which is one of the features of these bars. Another thing is to not try to make up for fit issues with extreme angling the bars or levers. These bars are pretty extreme in their dimensions and one needs to consider stem length and spacers. One thing that may be overlooked is that the overall reach reach is increased even further if you reduce the number of headset spacers to make up for the approx 2cm of upward rise, due to the bars moving forward as you move them down.

[MikeD]

In general, I set the handlebar ramps flat and the levers so there is no bend in the wrist when the hands are on the hoods.

[ColonelJLloyd]

As djg21 says, a good starting place is to hold a straight edge along the bottom of the drops and bring the lever tip down to that. A little further adjustment based on your own hands may be required, but this will get you close.

The relationship of the bottom of your particular bar related to the level ground should be very comparable to those pictured in Flash's post (despite that particular bar being quite different than yours). You need to roll yours forward. You can put a piece of tape on the stem and on the sleeve/bulge of the bar, make a mark in line and then roll the bar forward 3-4mm.