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How can I hold this brake?

I can’t hold it on the holds because of the angle of the brake and the nature of it being an old brake. I know that the suicide levers are dangerous so I’m confused about how to hold the brake confortably for an extended period of time safely. Brake picture.

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  • Note that you rarely need to hold the brake continuously. You simply need to be ready to apply the brake instinctively, and without having to look or feel around. Somehow the levers need to be closer to the bar, or else ride with your hands on the hoods.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented May 27, 2018 at 14:56

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Looks like the problem is that both the main levers and secondary levers are too far away from the bar, so on the tops, hoods or drop you cannot reach them.

If the levers have a reach adjustment, you can position them closer to the bars.

Another possibility is to move the whole units further down the drops, which would move the secondary levers closer to the tops.

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  • It requires a lot of force to engage the brakes. Is there something that I could adjust to lower this?
    – Dylan Murphy
    Commented May 27, 2018 at 13:34
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    You would need to look at the whole brake system including cable, housings, calipers and pads to diagnose and fix weak braking
    – Argenti Apparatus
    Commented May 27, 2018 at 13:36
  • There's a reason why those secondary levers are called suicide levers. The best thing to do is to get rid of them and install safer levers without the secondary levers and have an overall safer bike.
    – Carel
    Commented May 27, 2018 at 15:04
  • @Carel I have tested the suicide levers and they apply they provide the same force as the regular brakes. Does this make them safe?
    – Dylan Murphy
    Commented May 27, 2018 at 16:20
  • The issue with the suicide levers isn't the force applied. Overtime they have a tendency to bend. It can get so bad that they are parallel to the bar before the brakes are even applied.
    – mikes
    Commented May 27, 2018 at 19:56

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