Author Topic: Pre-bent and double bend DC levers (Read 1709 times)

sparky · « **on:** January 22, 2016, 11:14 PM »

Anyone know why over here in England we never really got the double bend Dia-Compe lever on bikes and why it usually had a plain silver clasp?

dancetothedrummersbeat · « **Reply #1 on:** January 23, 2016, 12:42 AM »

Good question, and sadly one i can't answer with any certainty

Did they come as stock on any completes? If they're the ones i'm thinking of, i'm sure Ant (factory pilot) said they came on SE quad completes, but i don't know if they were ever released over here. I suppose tech 2's, 3's, 4,s and dx levers (plus various copies and variations of them) just became the norm. Two finger and tech 3's became all the fashion, as if you took a tumble the whole full sized lever wouldn't crush your fingers ((just your index & middle ones) - that's what i remember the salesman in the bike shop telling me back in '84). Weren't the double bend levers fairly early? If so, by the time bmx and bmx equipment reached our shores, they were seen as being outdated/not cool? Just a thought, but i really don't know $:-\$

factory pilot · « **Reply #2 on:** January 23, 2016, 09:44 AM »

What Andy said! ^^^^
Standard on 83 Quad completes in the states ... I've been contemplating putting them on my Quad build ... Known as Bronco levers they sure are strange when fitted ... I think they'd be a marmite thing.. You'd love 'em or hate 'em.
Trying to find a nos gold pair is proving difficult .. Plus not sure why the top is silver/chrome ... It's a shame it does seem standard and rather spoils a rather cool looking thing.

Many factory spec bikes in 83 in the states came with straight, pre-bent and bronco levers ( I've been researching heavy for my build ! )
What's also interesting is that there are many pictures of US riders using them too ...I'm sure Mike Buff used them at some point and our own Andy Preston too on his Quad.

Anybody else got any info?
I guess it's like the 2 finger levers they were a fad for a while and people always wanted the next cool thing and moved on ?

BMX1973 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 23, 2016, 03:06 PM »

Re: Pre-bent and double bend DC levers

What year were these made from and to? $:-\$

Jono · « **Reply #4 on:** January 23, 2016, 03:11 PM »

Ive got em on my torker freestylist , love em and yes I always wondered why clasp fitting comes in silver

meticulous · « **Reply #5 on:** January 23, 2016, 04:39 PM »

only usefull on 'V' bars so the clasp sat under the top bar, also the bars had to be really short, like 24" wide, to you could actually get hold of the lever, and when you did they was as about as much use as an ash try on a motorbike!

Gnarlyscoots · « **Reply #6 on:** January 23, 2016, 04:49 PM »

Quote from: meticulous on January 23, 2016, 04:39 PM

1 - only usefull on 'V' bars so the clasp sat under the top bar
2 - the bars had to be really s h o r t, like 24" wide to you could actually get hold of the lever
3 - when you did they was as about as much use as an ash try on a motorbike!

Bang on there really, Sam

When I bought my first BMX, pre bent and straight levers were all the rage. Tech 3's quickly followed on our bikes, because they were 'hooked' at the ends and you could get more pull than a flexy pre bent. I never liked V bars at all, so I quickly went to straight bars, thus only ever using Tech 3's. I did try the Shimano DX 2 finger lever when they came out, but they were awful to use.

Waxintaxin · « **Reply #7 on:** January 23, 2016, 05:44 PM »

I always thought it was a date thing , we got into it later and the pre bents and other longer levers were earlier therefore we didn't see so many of them as the tech 2 and 3 were introduced by the time shiners were importing masses of levers and break sets

The v bar issue also has a place as earlier bikes had less wide v bars as the norm and as we in the UK started to see wider non v bars ,levers like the pre bent were shit for wide straight or CW bars

The silver clamp gain was I think a date thing, I have only seen early dates with the silver clamp and all the later ones I have had have had coloured clamps , and all the blues I have had have had a lighter coloured blue than the lever

animal · « **Reply #8 on:** January 23, 2016, 08:32 PM »

Double Bend levers are my favourite

hotdog · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2016, 07:06 AM »

Redlines and Nishikis had double-bend levers. 1980/81 was the first time I saw them on bikes stocked in Alpine Sports on Deansgate in Manchester.

sparky · « **Reply #10 on:** January 24, 2016, 08:47 PM »

Thanks everyone, some useful info and I never knew they were around as early as 1980

factory pilot · « **Reply #11 on:** January 24, 2016, 08:49 PM »

Just found this picture .. To be fair images of them are pretty thin on the ground ...