So for the life of me I cant find how to tighten my SRAM brake levers. They are lose and need a turn or two to tighten up. I just can’t find where to tighten them.
I’ve got the SRAM carbon levers (not sure what level). There is a 4mm (or so) bolt inside to tighten but cables can’t be installed to access. You can tighten them another way. This is slightly hard to describe…but you need to begin tightening at a different point. Loosen the levers all the way, rotate them 45 more degrees clockwise and then begin re-tightening them counterclockwise. Maybe 1.5 revolutions? They should begin to get tight at about 90 degrees from “square”. If you get to “square” and are not tight enough…try again (same with if you it’s too tight and you can’t get to “square”).
Clear as mud?
Right, on my SRAM R2C shifters, with the shifters installed in the bars, you have to unbolt/remove the shifting mechanism (the cable does not have to be removed), and there is a bolt in the inside of the shifter that you tighten. Then you reattach the shifter mechanism… The twisting method never really works right. Do it properly once and they will not come loose.
User manual: http://www.sram.com/sites/default/files/techdocs/95-7015-001-000.pdf
You should not need to remove the cable entirely. If you have barrel adjusters you can just give yourself some slack wich will make re-istallation of the shifter mechanism easier.
He’s looking at the brake levers, though you and ccassidy are right in that you don’t need to undo the cable if you’re doing the shift levers.
Guide:
Starting point: Cable in the lever
Step 1: Squeeze the brake to get at the goodies behind it
Step2: Unfortunately, the cable will have to be removed, so pull that out.
Step 3: With cable removed, insert 5mm hex wrench. Righty tighty, lefty loosey.
Unlike One and Done, I never twist the lever to get it into the final position. If you have one of those T-wrenches with a decent handle to grip, it’s just a matter of keeping the lever from twisting with one hand, and tightening with the other. I’ve also used a standard hex wrench as shown above and then just grip it with a pair of pliers for extra leverage.
Hope that helped.
edit: I sometimes also apply friction paste to the wedge area to help prevent it from twisting once you’ve got it tightened down.