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Gravity
Racing Components Replacment Levers Cam McRae |
When I was a kid I was a car nut. Early on I would drool over the mag wheels, lake pipes and rumble seats in Hot Rod magazine. At that stage in my life adults puzzled me. These oafs had enough money to purchase expensive cars yet were somehow unable to come up with the cash for a decent set of slotted mags. How were they so blind to this travesty? By age 11, my tastes had become more sophisticated and I subscribed to Road & Track . I always enjoyed Peter Egan's column - side glances - but I spent most of my time poring over articles about Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Ferraris and other exotic autos, memorizing horsepower and 0-60 times.
I still harbour a simmering lust for nice automobiles but I would no longer allocate a significant amount of funds to purchase a fast and beautiful machine. My car has become nothing more than a means to get to great riding destinations and I now drive a 1989 Volvo wagon (a.k.a. the vulva) that holds lots of riders and bikes but lacks fancy wheels.
My desire to assemble the ultimate machine now manifests itself on my bikes. I know freeriders (Perry and Kevin, this means you) who buy titanium fittings and every possible trick item, not because they want to lighten their bikes - just because they are obsessed with pimping them out.
While these lads should probably be medicated, I lie somewhere between them and a completely sane individual, which is why the details on my ride are so important.
Medicated: Kevin Faw's custom RM 8 - Custom maple leaf/flame paint, titanium and aluminum hardware throughout, custom stroke Fox Vanilla RC (made for the FroRiders) giving 8" of rear wheel travel, Rohloff 14 speed internally geared hub, carbon fibre saddle, Syncros Ti seatpost, Ti nitride Boxxers, Ti BB, Race Face Next LP cranks with hand-laid carbon fibre inserts etc., etc. He was generous enough tolend it to me but I couldn't bring myself to get it dirty.
Which brings me to Gravity Racing Components brake levers. In my XC days, I appreciated pretty anodizing and ultra-light parts but I now seek to modify my bike in ways that enable me to perform better. If they are made from a cool material or they look sexy, that is a bonus but if they function better than off the shelf gear I couldn't be happier. My GRC levers nail that criterion.
To the naked eye they aren't dramatically different in shape or size to the levers they replace but the subtleties of the design make their performance significantly better.
Left to right: GRC Shorty, GRC DHF moto and the stock Hayes lever.
I tried both the Shorty lever and the DHF (downhill friendly) moto lever. I don't have big mitts and I found that I had to reach too far for the Shorty lever because of the angle and the length of the blade. It would not be a good choice for someone who favours a two-finger approach because there isn't room to get both digits in comfortably. If you have big hands, and use only one finger to slow your bike, the Shorty could be a good choice for you. From here on in, I will confine my comments to the DHF moto.
| These levers felt like they were made for my fingers. I really thought that after trying Razor Rocks I wouldn't find anything I liked as much but these have a similar stiff feel and a better shape. Compared to the stock Hayes lever, the surface of the DHF is flatter, which increases the contact area for your finger and they sport a very generous hook that is radiused slightly to greet your pointer. The DHFs are also angled so that they engage closer to the bar and they are slightly longer than stock. This results in more leverage and modulation as well as a confidence-inspiring grip on your bike. |
 Left to right: GRC Shorty, GRC DHF and the stock Hayes lever. |
The back of the stock Hayes blades is machined out, presumably to reduce weight. If you crush your fingers under your lever these ridges can do some damage. After the contact area the stock units thin some and this is where they tend to bend or break. The GRC models keep their width all the way to the master cylinder and seem to be very strong as a result. For the kind of riding we do, it makes no sense to save weight while weakening vital components.
These are stiff, tough, finger-friendly blades that are a real improvement over stock. One thing I could see that could make them even better is to knurl the surface to provide more friction for your glove.
| If you aren't happy with your stock levers, and you want to make your bike a little cooler than your buddy's, consider a pair of GRC levers. They are CNC machined from 6061 billet and they are made by John 'Sully' Sullivan, who also owns Rotec Cycles. Sully's such a good lad, and that's reason enough to buy them. They will set you back US$75 a pair or $42.50 for a single lever. |
 GRC Shorty, GRC DHF and the stock Hayes lever. |
Sully now makes DHF moto replacement levers for Grimeca's System 8&12, Shimano's XT and the new SRAM disc brake system, as well as all Hayes models.
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Now if only they had the secondary reach adjustment like Razor Rocks...
Go to GRComponents.com to order a set or if you have any questions send them an e-mail.
In Canada to find a dealer go to yodobike.com
