How to Adjust your brake levers

Posted by Dr. Yan Lyansky on Nov 11th 2017

Adjusting brakes can get tricky, however adjusting the levers is easy.

First off your levers should have some throw. You should be able to pull the levers a little before they engage the brakes. They will need to be adjusted if they engage as soon as you touch the brakes.. Additionally they should not require you to pull them all the way to the handlebar. Either of these problems can be adjusted while riding.

If the brake lever engages too quickly you need to turn the barrel adjuster inwards until it gets comfortable. Feel free to rotate the locking nut if necessary.

If the brake levers get close to the handlebar when engaged you need to turn the barrel adjuster outward until the brakes engage comfortably. Then rotate the locking nut until it keeps the barrel adjuster stable.

Finally make sure to adjust the brake lever position. Make sure there is no bend in your wrist when holding the brake levers. Adjust them so that your wrists are straight on a ray eminating from your shoulder. Adjusting the angle of the lever is easy, just loosen the 5mm allen bolt on the bottom of the lever and move it into place, then re tighten the bolt.

That's all your brake levers are adjusted properly. To learn about adjusting brakes go to our brake adjustment page.