Bent rear Brake lever

Hello all,

I received my used 2011 Tenni last week and I'm going over it from stem to stern make everything 'just so'.

I noticed the rear brake lever is bent inward slightly. I can reach it with my foot but I want it proper and it just doesn't look right.
I'm tempted to remove the lever and bend it back out but was wondering if the metal would be likely to break or would it be OK.

Has anyone done this? Any thoughts? Advice?
Thanks in advance.

Tvboy

Most likely it will snap but it's worth a go.

"Some" heat will/might assist (not on the bike though). However this particular alloy has a "one way" grain structure - it is happy to bend the wrong way, but will probably break (as Pete says) when you try to bend it back. Alloys can be like that!

Go buy a new one and keep this as a spare.

Thanks Tony, I figured that might be the case.
It isn't bent much so I'll put it off for a while.
It goes to shop next week to be roller-ized so the brake lever isn't my priority.

I've bent mine a few times over the years, and they do bend back. Heat helps. Use leverage. Do not hit it.

Signed,
Mr Droppy

Thanks Mr Droopy
That's encouraging too.

A few months ago I dropped mine on the right side at a stop sign and it bent the brake lever a little. It hasn't bothered me enough to do anything about it.

My 07 (bought new in 2011) and my 09 were both bent on delivery...
I assume this happens when they crate these bikes at the factory.
I bent them back successfully without heating anything.
The trick i used is a floor jack handle (any long tube will do) that I slipped through the lever after removing the toe end piece.
Wrap the lever with lots of tape or small rag so the improvised tube doesn't gouge the casting.
Go progressively and do not pull like a ravaged ape! It takes minimum force to do the trick. That long tube gives you a lot of leverage...

My rear brake lever was bent when I bought my '09 used. I used the biggest
phillips screwdriver I could fit through the slot, from the inside. (handle forward and
toward the bike) and pried it out as gently as I could. Worked fine.

Mine's bent, it'll stay that way until I buy a replacement. Broken shit before, still works like it is, though it could be considered as "tucked in " more than standard. Makes it go faster...

For various reasons which are not worth an excuse I've had to bend mine back into shape 3 times now.

I've taken the lever off & put it into a large vice, taking care to protect the parts of the lever that are against the vice jaws, with wood. Arranging the lever in the vice as if I was going to flatten the thing out. Then gently apply pressure to the lever By tightening the vice.

So far so good

Thank you all for the advice. I've noticed no marks or scrapes on the brake lever tip and wondered about that.
If MG crates them improperly and it gets bent then the wood may not leave a mark.
That could explain the bend. The PO never mentioned it (and why would he) and I can't find any other marks on the right side.
Interesting mystery. It is such a small deflection that I feel comfortable pressing it out a few degrees.
If I break it you'll be the second ones to know.

Grisonut wrote:

My 07 (bought new in 2011) and my 09 were both bent on delivery...
I assume this happens when they crate these bikes at the factory.
I bent them back successfully without heating anything.
The trick i used is a floor jack handle (any long tube will do) that I slipped through the lever after removing the toe end piece.
Wrap the lever with lots of tape or small rag so the improvised tube doesn't gouge the casting.
Go progressively and do not pull like a ravaged ape! It takes minimum force to do the trick. That long tube gives you a lot of leverage...

That's a very good tip, Have some cred

If the lever points slightly inwards, maybe its not bend, but the bolt/axis of the lever is somewhat loose. As this bolt its loose, the lever points inward as its pulled by the spring.

Just try to pull by hand the lever outwards - if it moves, the bolt is loose.

Good pointer Petros. Mine had a bent bolt at some stage. New bolt fixed that part but the lever is still bent.

We can always straighten levers, but some of the riders here will always remain, shall we say, out of shape.

Good tip Petros,
I just checked it and the pivot point is sturdy and snug. Very little play.
I can see clearly the forward 'straight' section is angled inward toward the gearbox.
5 degrees is my estimate. It's harmless but doesn't look right so one of these days I'll take it off and think about it some more.

Thank you all for the input.

waterbottle wrote:

Grisonut wrote:

My 07 (bought new in 2011) and my 09 were both bent on delivery...
I assume this happens when they crate these bikes at the factory.
I bent them back successfully without heating anything.
The trick i used is a floor jack handle (any long tube will do) that I slipped through the lever after removing the toe end piece.
Wrap the lever with lots of tape or small rag so the improvised tube doesn't gouge the casting.
Go progressively and do not pull like a ravaged ape! It takes minimum force to do the trick. That long tube gives you a lot of leverage...

That's a very good tip, Have some cred

Glad to be of some help...
Done this a lot in my younger days of amateur racing.
Of course, back then most of those components were steel so no worries of stressing like cast aluminum does.

Same here. The steel parts were easy and predictable.
I'm in no hurry on this. I'll give it some more thought.

I too have bent mine back, when it fell over just some nice persuasion and no banging

Worst case it's about $80 for a new one, I replaced mine a couple of weeks back.