Crosstop /Interrupter Lever Adjustment

[Waterskivt]

Hi Guys,

I am having trouble adjusting some cross top / interrupter brakes on my cross bike. The brakes are Avid BB 7's. The trouble I am having is when the cross top lever is tensioned how I like it the main lever is soft. When I tighten the main lever to how I like it the cross top is way to tight. Is this due to different pull ratios of the lever styles or am I missing something? Ideally I would have both levers at even tension. Any suggestions appreciated!

Thanks

[DaveM]

Hard to answer exactly without knowing more about your levers and brake setup. But a few things:
- By "soft" do you mean that there is too much lever travel before the brakes engage? Or do you mean that even after the brakes start to engage, you have to pull a lot on the lever to get more stopping power? Those are two very different things. 


You're always going to have some balancing to do when you add extra elements to the brake system. But one thing to check is that you have good quality brake housing and cables. Make sure they are seated into good ferrules and that the housing follows good paths between the various parts. Cheap housing or poorly seated housing can make brake mushy anyway, and much worse when you have multiple separate pieces like you do with extra lever set ups. Any area where the housing can compress or move around in its seat on the lever is going to make the whole system harder to get tight and crisp.

[nfmisso]

I have a guess.

Are your BB7 road or mtb versions?

Are your brake levers short or long pull?  Brand and model would be helpful.

Are your interrupter levers short or long pull?  Brand and model would be helpful.


My guess is that you have something like Tektro RL520 levers, mtb BB7 and short pull cross levers.  IF that is the case, you need something like Tektro RL741 or RL740 cross levers, which are designed for longer cable pull.