as title what’s the best way to bend the rear brake lever back to its normal position it’s perfectly useable as is Thanks in advance
Get some heat on it and gently bend it using a vice and whatever tools are needed. Chances are it may split, if it works ok now i'd be inclined to leave it. Or have a look on eBay for a replacement A picture might help with recommendations
Or get a really big (30mm+) ring spanner and wrap a cloth around it, using it as a lever wrapped around the toe-post of the pedal or sliding it up as required. Be patient, go gentle and if you can get some heat on it as mentioned by @Andy800 then you'll reduce the chance of snapping it.
Very gentle heat would be OK, but there's a risk of melting or damaging cosmetics. eBay may be a good friend.
Not a good idea to use heat on alloy. More likely to crack when bending. I’d try tapping it back into shape or as said, eBay.
There are a few videos on youtube that suggest soap, patient use of a blow torch and judicious use of force will work, can't vouch for them myself
Yeah I'm not implying mega heat. I tried without heat on my shift pedal on my 848 and it split, I don't think I'd bother trying to correct a bent lever/pedal again and if I did I wouldn't be hard on myself if it broke. (hence i'd be inclined to leave it)
It’s best to buy a replacement, they don’t cost much in the great scheme of things, (cheaper than a tyre?) and if the accident that bent it in the first place or the straightening process cause an internal flaw it could snap at the worst possible moment.
I've done this. Put it in the vice, get a large long pipe, put it over the whole toe piece onto the stem, then swing (gently) levering it back into shape. Worth a try before buying a new one.
I've must have cold straightened a dozen gearchange/rear brake pedals over the years/1990 on and never had one break or fail afterwards as a result. If the damage is severe and the bend is heavily kinked rather than radiused then it will probably fail on correcting whether hot or cold. If in doubt buy new of course.
Thanks guys really appreciate the answers it’s only bent a bit inward probably 20 mm , it almost looks like you could just get a big spanner behind it in situ and pull it back , it’s perfectly useable as is
It will depend of how far it's bent and how quickly it was bent. The reason it cracks when bending it back is that the bent bit has become work hardened, so it is more brittle than the rest of it. The soap trick works on the theory that it will go black at the point where the Ali is softened but not overheated, and is a trick I learnt in metalwork lessons at school too many years ago. Personally I'd heat it up and let it cool naturally before heating it up again to bend it. The natural slow cooling sorts the metallurgy out, where as sticking it in a bucket of cold water to cool it shocks it into a hard crystalline structure that's brittle. Nasher.
