Brake levers on bar tops?

[thekarens]

When my Jamis came into the shop and was built they were supposed you out those on for me, but they forgot. I can see the benefits. There's times when I'd like to sit up more but don't want to be that far away from the brakes for any length of time.

[Eden]

I had these on my Schwinn Le Tour growing up in the late 70's and 80's. I've heard a couple of things since, mostly that they are called 'cheater' brakes, etc. And shouldn’t be used.

The ones you had on your bike at that time were quite different from the ones on the market today…. in those days they really were quite dangerous. We used to call them suicide levers as they often failed to stop the bike…

The interrupters of today do a much better job - they are inline in the brake cable rather than being a mechanical extension to the regular lever, but still they shouldn't be used in place of learning correct bike handling. There are more reasons than braking that you want to learn to ride in the drops, especially downhill or on fast corners.

[emily_in_nc]

They came on the Trek Pilot I purchased used. My DH later took them off as I was not using them at all, being used to road riding and using hood brakes. And, as others have stated, they took up valuable bar real estate. Since my bars are narrower (38 cm), I need all the top bar I can get.

I think if I had started out with them, I might have liked them, but because I was so used to braking from the hoods and drops, I just never ever remembered they were there!

[Trek420]

I had these on my Schwinn Le Tour growing up in the late 70's and 80's. I've heard a couple of things since, mostly that they are called 'cheater' brakes, etc. And shouldn’t be used. ....

In those days they were also called suicide bars. Weaker response than your standard brakes.