Kvale Bars

I was never quite satisfied with the bars on my Chris Kvale. I like neat, clean, especially the cables and cable housings. Those bars had clamp-on levers with laced leather pieced around them.

Sight is getting to be an issue. I kind of feel my way and keep tools and parts organized in view under the brightest light I can. Lorna encourages me, telling me about her sight challenged friend who repaired computers. Dammit, if he could repair computers, I can put brake cables on a damned bicycle.

I bought a pair of time-trial levers which routed cable inside the bars. I stripped the anodizing off and polished them. I cut oblong holes on the underside of the bars a few inches from the stem. I dyed raw leather the same color as the saddle and laced it on the underside with a break where those obround holes are. Then I fished the cable housing and cables through from levers to brakes.

All this sounds pretty straight forward until you actually try to do it. For instance the cable feeds through same hole that has the tightening nut for the lever body, therefore the body has to be installed first - before you insert the cable through into that blind tube - there are just things that have to be thought out in the correct order.

Oh, and I cut leather scrap and glued it in the hollow on the top of the levers, which may have been a little anal.

- Gunnar