Rene Herse Brake Lever Project

We’re starting a new program, trading no-longer-functional Ergopower levers for brand-new Rene Herse tires. We’ll rebuild the levers into pure analog brake levers. We plan to offer the refurbished levers in our program. That’s less wasteful and better for the environment than developing new brake levers from scratch.

Why analog brake levers? At Rene Herse Cycles, we love modern bikes with electronic shifting—and we’re also committed to analog bikes that are mechanical, simple and involve us in their operation. We’ve been dialing analog bikes up to 11, even developing our Nivex derailleur with desmodromic actuation for faster shifts, more consistent shift action, and utmost reliability.

The one piece that’s been missing is a truly high-end brake lever. On my bikes, I run old Campagnolo carbon levers. I love the shape of the hoods, the light weight, the fact that the carbon levers aren’t cold in winter, and the smooth action that complements our Rene Herse brakes. They pull just the right amount of cable for Rene Herse centerpull and cantilever brakes. In pretty much every respect, these Campy brake levers are perfect.

Unfortunately, Campagnolo stopped making them long ago, and they are getting harder and harder to find. Yet when you look closely, you see that they are in fact Ergopower levers with the shifter mechanism deleted. You can see the slot where the thumb lever usually goes…

As we were thinking about making a Rene Herse brake lever, we had a better idea: Ergopower levers don’t last forever. It’s the shifting part that wears out, not the brake lever itself. Rather than create something new, why not rebuild those no-longer-functional Ergopower levers into pure analog brake levers?

That’s what Peter Weigle did when he built the superlight bike for the Concours de Machines in France a few years back… Whereas the original Campy brake levers used the 9/10-speed shape, Peter used a set of 11-speed levers with slimmer bodies and more sculpted levers. Having ridden with both of them, they feel subtly different. I like them both equally well.

We’re now gearing up to start a small-scale program to refurbish no-longer-functional Ergopower levers into analog brake levers. It just makes sense. We’re offering a trade-in of your old Ergopower levers for a brand-new Rene Herse tire of your choice. Here is how it works:

• Send in your levers
• Tell us which tire you’d like in exchange.
• Depending on the condition of your levers, you can choose a Standard casing for levers that have fixable flaws. If your levers are in perfect shape, you can get an Extralight or Endurance casing tire. (Sorry, Endurance Plus are excluded from this program.)
• You pay shipping of the levers. We cover shipping of the tire.
• U.S. addresses only.
• You can get a second tire at $ 15 off (to make a set).

We accept the following models:

• Chorus, Record and Super Record levers (with carbon blades)
• 9-, 10-, 11-, 12-speed (for mechanical brakes, not hydro/discs)

As to condition:

• Levers must be complete (2 levers, clamps, all screws—missing hoods are OK)
• The carbon of the blades must be intact. (Minor scratches are OK.)
• It’s OK if the clear coat is chipped (but the carbon underneath is undamaged)—as in the photo abov. (You get a Standard casing tire.)
• If the carbon of the blade is damaged beyond minor scratches, we can’t accept the lever.
• If the hoods are worn or missing, that’s OK. (You get a Standard casing tire.)
• If clear coat and hoods are in perfect shape, you get a choice of Extralight or Endurance tire.

How to participate:

• Head to our dedicated web page for this program.
• Describe your Ergopower levers.
• Upload a few photos.
• Tell us which tire you’d like in exchange.
• Wait for an RA Number before you ship your levers.
• Allow 1-2 weeks for processing after we get your levers, before we ship your tire.
• The tire may be a photo sample without packaging. It will carry our full warranty.

We’re excited to create something new and useful out of these worn-out Ergopower levers. If you’ve got an old set of Ergopower levers that you’d like to trade in, head to the Rene Herse Brake Lever Project page.