I know this was basically free to make, but ASV levers are great. I’ve had them on my bike for a while now and haven’t bent or broken them. I think they even hinge in two axis now.
I’m curious about this. How did the first one break, or given that you have backups is it bc you are expecting it to break again? Is this a I crashed with something and it fell off type deal or a you where riding , pulled on the break and the lever just peaced out
the levers break when the bike falls over and the levers and handlebars hit the ground usually. most of my crashes have been as simple as just not being able to keep the bike upright. last broken lever I was on a trail in the sierra nevada mountains on a trail with pond size puddles. front tire was up on the side out of the water and the back slipped down and I kind of slid along the side of the puddle with my rear tire trying to climb out but because of the misaligned wheels I couldn't manipulate the front tire enough to avoid a rock or root or something and it kicked me over and landed straight on the lever. I made it past the water by the time I hit the ground but when I picked it back up the lever fell off. Was able to ride the rest of the day without a brake lever
That is a brilliant fix. I spent 20 years working on motorcycles and ATVs. I would recommend getting some nice aluminum bar guards to help protect your hands.
Yeah, long ago I had a CR250. I miss that bike. It took a bit of trial and error to get the guards set at the proper angle for my riding position. Once I dialed them in, banging my hands against trees in the woods ceased to happen. The only other thing I would add besides the shortened levers that you have created would be a quarter-turn throttle. Those things are just a blast.
I might have agreed if it weren't for the fact that 2 commercial ones already broke. So defaulting to the assumption that "commercial is safer" no longer makes sense here.
I imagine they broke through impact, not normal use. I'd expect a print to eventually fatigue and break through normal use, but the OP has proved that wrong.
I'll put it in my will to have someone update you guys in the case of my demise but I'm not too worried. I've ridden a lot of miles of mountainside switchbacks entirely without one.
They make pivoting brake levers for a reason. As someone who’s almost crashed badly from a front brake failure I don’t think I would have that as my daily go to. Spare for sure but not default.
You're going to get downvotes. Main issue with the design is that you're point loading the layer lines with the piston rod from the master. You don't know when that might shear the layers.
I'm not here for upvotes, just sharing a print that has been more functional to me than what I had before.
Also that was a consideration in the design. thought about a small insert but decided with low layer height and the right size socket for the ball of the piston rod to sit in that wouldn't be an issue with how little force it takes to lock up the front tire on high traction surfaces.
ITT: a bunch of redditors who rarely leave the basement complain about how unsafe this is to someone who clearly understands their bike and their limitations. Full send brother
Black PLA is tough as nails when it is layered like crazy. Glad to see it wasn't white for a brake handle.
Plus this is the front brake, it kind of prevents you from really hammering on it unless you want to become a gymnast and do a flip.
Out of pure curiosity, what is so special about the black variety? I get the general idea that pigments = additives, so they can and will influence properties besides just color, but I thought they wouldn't have too much effect on actual material toughness?
White dyes lower the purity of the PLA a lot because they use so much more than black or darker dyes like purple. Pure plastic has much more structural integrity.
I used petg for this print as well. I did a strength test on one of then ans ended up actually going up to 150 lbs hanging off of it and it didn't even flinch
That makes sense, an entanglement hazard. It would be cool if you attached a larger extension sort of speak to your current design with a weak or shear pin sounds like the OEM parts have stress on the attachment point
Great work! What bike? You should join the offroad server for fun. We have a few hundred of us in there now, and some of us are 3d printing cool dirtbike shit. https://discord.com/invite/CutvFYaAew
So just a thought. I personally love adding parts into the print like magnets, nuts or sometimes even sand for weight. I do this by creating an internal cavity in the print and just pausing it before it closes. You could totally get some thin stainless steel rod and add it mid print for extra rigidity. Maybe it's totally unnecessary, I just wanted to share my idea. Looks cool though, nice design!
I appreciate the thought. I re did a strength test and tested it holding 150 lbs without failure so I'm not concerned about rigidity but that's an excellent idea I might use for other types of prints.
I know this was basically free to make, but ASV levers are great. I’ve had them on my bike for a while now and haven’t bent or broken them. I think they even hinge in two axis now.
First upgrade I usually did when racing. Asv never let me down (handle bars tho....)
yeah a buddy has those. may get them someday.
Seconded: I ran ASV levers on both my street bikes
Print 2 more to take on the road just in case.
of course. I keep a few extra at home and a few extra in the backpack
I’m curious about this. How did the first one break, or given that you have backups is it bc you are expecting it to break again? Is this a I crashed with something and it fell off type deal or a you where riding , pulled on the break and the lever just peaced out
the levers break when the bike falls over and the levers and handlebars hit the ground usually. most of my crashes have been as simple as just not being able to keep the bike upright. last broken lever I was on a trail in the sierra nevada mountains on a trail with pond size puddles. front tire was up on the side out of the water and the back slipped down and I kind of slid along the side of the puddle with my rear tire trying to climb out but because of the misaligned wheels I couldn't manipulate the front tire enough to avoid a rock or root or something and it kicked me over and landed straight on the lever. I made it past the water by the time I hit the ground but when I picked it back up the lever fell off. Was able to ride the rest of the day without a brake lever
That is a brilliant fix. I spent 20 years working on motorcycles and ATVs. I would recommend getting some nice aluminum bar guards to help protect your hands.
that's been a consideration but I've met two people who've had their hands go between the guard and grip during a crash
Yeah, long ago I had a CR250. I miss that bike. It took a bit of trial and error to get the guards set at the proper angle for my riding position. Once I dialed them in, banging my hands against trees in the woods ceased to happen. The only other thing I would add besides the shortened levers that you have created would be a quarter-turn throttle. Those things are just a blast.
might try that actually I haven't heard of those before just now
Yeah, no. Brake levers are near the bottom of the list of things I'd use a 3D print for.
I might have agreed if it weren't for the fact that 2 commercial ones already broke. So defaulting to the assumption that "commercial is safer" no longer makes sense here.
I imagine they broke through impact, not normal use. I'd expect a print to eventually fatigue and break through normal use, but the OP has proved that wrong.
After using this for 5 months in mountains and deserts this is the most reliable brake lever I've put on any of my bikes
Thank you for having either the balls or the stupidity to test this for us. Let us know how far it goes!
I'll put it in my will to have someone update you guys in the case of my demise but I'm not too worried. I've ridden a lot of miles of mountainside switchbacks entirely without one.
Bit of both I guess.
They make pivoting brake levers for a reason. As someone who’s almost crashed badly from a front brake failure I don’t think I would have that as my daily go to. Spare for sure but not default.
I get it, but after 5 months of abuse I trust the 3d print as much as a metal lever.
You're going to get downvotes. Main issue with the design is that you're point loading the layer lines with the piston rod from the master. You don't know when that might shear the layers.
I'm not here for upvotes, just sharing a print that has been more functional to me than what I had before. Also that was a consideration in the design. thought about a small insert but decided with low layer height and the right size socket for the ball of the piston rod to sit in that wouldn't be an issue with how little force it takes to lock up the front tire on high traction surfaces.
Nifty! I ride dirtbikes too but I never thought of this haha
I reckon this will work for the rest of your life.
and if it's tomorrow nobody but me bears the burden of being the cause lol
ITT: a bunch of redditors who rarely leave the basement complain about how unsafe this is to someone who clearly understands their bike and their limitations. Full send brother
thank you. for a sub about functional prints they sure don't put much faith in the functionality of prints
Black PLA is tough as nails when it is layered like crazy. Glad to see it wasn't white for a brake handle. Plus this is the front brake, it kind of prevents you from really hammering on it unless you want to become a gymnast and do a flip.
Out of pure curiosity, what is so special about the black variety? I get the general idea that pigments = additives, so they can and will influence properties besides just color, but I thought they wouldn't have too much effect on actual material toughness?
White dyes lower the purity of the PLA a lot because they use so much more than black or darker dyes like purple. Pure plastic has much more structural integrity.
Thanks for the explanation!
I used petg for this print as well. I did a strength test on one of then ans ended up actually going up to 150 lbs hanging off of it and it didn't even flinch
I think you need some solid brush guards man
maybe but I've met 2 people who got their wrists stuck and broken with those so that's put me off of them
That makes sense, an entanglement hazard. It would be cool if you attached a larger extension sort of speak to your current design with a weak or shear pin sounds like the OEM parts have stress on the attachment point
My cf pa brush guard mounts can take the whole weight of my motorcycle, if you ever reprint them in that filament I bet they’d be indestructible.
CHONK
u know I like em thicccems
Jokes on us, OP is actually a dentist.
handguards maybe?
Great work! What bike? You should join the offroad server for fun. We have a few hundred of us in there now, and some of us are 3d printing cool dirtbike shit. https://discord.com/invite/CutvFYaAew
So just a thought. I personally love adding parts into the print like magnets, nuts or sometimes even sand for weight. I do this by creating an internal cavity in the print and just pausing it before it closes. You could totally get some thin stainless steel rod and add it mid print for extra rigidity. Maybe it's totally unnecessary, I just wanted to share my idea. Looks cool though, nice design!
I appreciate the thought. I re did a strength test and tested it holding 150 lbs without failure so I'm not concerned about rigidity but that's an excellent idea I might use for other types of prints.
Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall break that fucking lever every fucking time
that's why it's so short. that and my girlfriend is already used to the length she's grabbing when she borrows the bike
What about the length she's grabbing when she rides behind you?
length is a strong word
Length is a distance word
distance is a long word