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Does anyone know if Tektro 385 brake levers are the same as their 325 junior levers?
My daughter's bike has the 385 levers but they're a bit too big. I was going to swap with the 325 levers that everyone recommends. But they look suspiciously the same as 385 levers. I can't find any mention of 385's on Tektros website either.
I have had a crack at buying a couple of pair of kids brake levers only to find they are the same Tektro levers you have, just badged as something else. They are too big for my 6 year old daughter too.
I contacted Commencal as I was trying to replace what came on the Ramones 20" from a few years back. They cannot provide those and sent me a link to, you guessed it, the same Tektro levers.
Honestly, I think they are the best out there.
I bought some mini V brakes which require less cable pull and will aim to set the lever closer to the bar by using a longer grub screw in the reach adjust.
The mini V's wont work with chubby tyres though but work ok with the 1.5 section tyres she has.
Probably not the answer you are looking for but thought I would share my work around to the same problem.
We put some Deore brakes on my nephew’s bike and just carefully bent the levers in a bit to reduce the reach. Could you do that with the Tekro levers?
Possibly a solution. I have 2 pairs now so I will try it later and report back if they snap or not.
Thanks ZC.
The other option I've seen is a Salt junior BMX lever. Might give those a go after Christmas once post gets back to normal
I had the same issue, and found the best solution was bmx brakes, the junior versions were perfect. I now have 2 other spare sets of large kids levers....
Reporting back on the progress with the Tektro levers.
I bent the lever arms back a little so they are parallel to the handle bars to reduce the reach.
Easy to do, just gripped the lever blade in the vice, protected with wood so no marks on them.
Literally hammered the bar clamp end of the lever (not the bar clamp part) until I was happy with the shape (parallel to handlebar).
Using the shorter V brakes, intended for cyclocross bikes with levers that pull less cable, the result is a really nice result. Not much lever travel required so even though the levers are closer to the bars, they are no where near the grip on full pull.
A couple of test rides by my 6 year old Alice resulted in huge smiles. So a win I reckon.
My youngest has some (according to CRC website) tektro jl510 short reach levers on his Vitus 20+. They are perfect for him. Coming from an islabike beforehand this was crucial and I'm glad they are correctly proportioned. Can't fault that bike at all.
Looking at the Tektro web site, the jl510's and most of the levers are OE only so not available as after market (AM) parts. It's shame because there does look to be some really good options on there for kids.
I was trying to replace the OE levers on a Commencal Ramones 20 from a few years ago.
Islabike sell spare levers for £15 for their range of kids bikes. Not sure if bar size is any different but the reach on those brakes is brilliant.
Hope tech need to get on this!
Seems you can get the tektro levers off eBay but only from Germany currently. So another £17 p&p!
Been round the block on this
Islabike have stock & cheaper after postage than Germany (even before the Brexit shitshow)