# Removing Ergo brake lever?



## SDizzle (May 1, 2004)

Does anyone have a link to an (intelligible) instruction sheet for - or suggestions for how to go about - removing the brake lever from an Ergolever assembly? All I want to do is take the lever out (and be able to put it back in). It looks like there's a sort of snap ring on the back side, but I'm reluctant to go prying sh!t apart with a screwdriver without knowing anything at all about what I'm doing...


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## whit417 (Jul 5, 2005)

I believe on Campy's website in the catalogue section they have exploded diagrams of it. That might help. If you get it apart and can't get it back together I need a lever and you can send it my way!


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## Squeegy200 (Dec 1, 2005)

*Bolt accessible from the front*

If you look from the front, pull back the hoods and you should see a 5mm allen bolt which will loosen the bar clamp.


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## Hillen (May 13, 2005)

Squeegy200 said:


> If you look from the front, pull back the hoods and you should see a 5mm allen bolt which will loosen the bar clamp.


If you’re taking about removing the Ergopower shifter/brake units from the bars (which you'll need to do anyhow), this is the right way to do it. But I think the original question was about removing the brake lever from the shifter/brake unit. Zinn’s book (Art of Road Bike Maintenance) gives a good description of how to do it as part of his instructions for rebuilding the entire Ergopower shifter/brake assembly. 

In any case, I just did this (with aid from Zinn and the Branford Bike site). This applies to recent model (2000+?) Ergopower units:

- First, you need to remove the entire shifter/brake unit from the bars. If you tried to do it without first removing the unit, you will risk breaking the Ergopower housing (expensive mistake).

- Take a piece of hardwood (it needs to be at least 1.25 inch thick -- let’s say a small board, with square edges, and big enough to be stable for the operation you’re about to do), drill a small hole (3/8th to 1/4) near one of the corners.

- The brake and shifter levers pivot on the same pin. That pin is about 1/8th inch thick, and about ¾ inch long, and the endpoints are visible on either side of the unit. The pin is held in place by friction – in engineer speak, it’s an “interference fit” with the Ergopower housing. There are no clips, screws or other devices holding the pin in place.

- With one hand, hold the unit so that the housing is firmly against the block of wood with one end of the pin sitting atop the hole you drilled. 

- With a hole punch, small Philips head screw driver or other hard steel item that has a diameter smaller than the pin itself, tap the pin out from above with a hammer. My pin was in pretty tight, so you’ll need to give it a couple good whacks to get it started. That’s why you need to remove the unit and use the block of wood. Without the wood as support, when you start hammering, you’ll break off the housing flange on the other side of the pin. Also, note that each end of the pin has an interference fit with the housing, so you’ll need to be able to tap the top end of the pin through the bottom end – that’s why you need a hole in the wood that’s taller than the pin is long and why the screwdriver you are using needs to be able to fit through the pin hole all the way through.

- Assembly is the reverse of disassembly, but much easier. 

More than you wanted to know, I’m sure.


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## SDizzle (May 1, 2004)

Squeegy200 said:


> If you look from the front, pull back the hoods and you should see a 5mm allen bolt which will loosen the bar clamp.


Gee, thanks.



Otherwise, thanks for the suggestions. I got it a few days ago. I should have posted here to save some of you the trouble. It was much simpler than I though - just push the pin out. Duh.


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