Dia Compe levers

[TrevorKershaw]

I have a couple of sets of Dia Compe levers that need identification. I think the ones with the holes are SS5 MKII, but what are the others?

Any ideas would be very useful.

 

[Corduroyboy]

Top ones are SS7. Bottom are SS5 MKII as you thought.

 

[mkaavin]

Corduroyboy is right.....they are SS7's.

These are actually great canti levers and are suprisingly powerful. I have a pair myself that I used for many years.

 

[TrevorKershaw]

Corduroyboy is right.....they are SS7's.

These are actually great canti levers and are suprisingly powerful. I have a pair myself that I used for many years.

Yes, I remember them being good ones which is why I am using them on my E3 retro build with XT or XTR cantis, whichever ones I can source.
I suppose a lot of it is having the brake cantis and levers set up right. We take for granted the power in discs and v brakes, but in the end if you end up locking up the wheels, due to the surface being loose, there's not much point in having mega brake power.

 

[mkaavin]

You are right about that. I still remember trying my M737 sti's for the first time back in 1994 and was shocked at how powerful they were. I never felt that I needed more power than that.

The SS7's was also pretty good as I can remember but can of course not be measured against modern disc brakes.

 

[bduc61]

I have some Suntour XC expert ones and they are very very similar , not to say identical to the Diacompe SS7

They are actually engraved Diacompe so I wonder if Dia Compe was subcontracted the manufacturing
will try to post pics

anybody know more about this likeness ?

 

[TrevorKershaw]

I have some Suntour XC expert ones and they are very very similar , not to say identical to the Diacompe SS7

They are actually engraved Diacompe so I wonder if Dia Compe was subcontracted the manufacturing
will try to post pics

anybody know more about this likeness ?

You could be right. As far as I remember Dia-Compe were one of the most popular brake levers around, just about everyone had them. The rest had Shimano, with the odd one or two using Maguras. The Maguras were very expensive then and quite exotic, because they were hydraulics.

 

[mkaavin]

I have some Suntour XC expert ones and they are very very similar , not to say identical to the Diacompe SS7

They are actually engraved Diacompe so I wonder if Dia Compe was subcontracted the manufacturing
will try to post pics

anybody know more about this likeness ?

You could be right. As far as I remember Dia-Compe were one of the most popular brake levers around, just about everyone had them. The rest had Shimano, with the odd one or two using Maguras. The Maguras were very expensive then and quite exotic, because they were hydraulics.

Back in 94-96 Dia-Compe gained market shares because of Grip-Shift if I remember correctly....but Avid soon stole their position as the preferred brake lever producer.

.....and yes, the Magura's were special back then. They were also quite solid although somewhat brutal and primitive in their braking.

 

[bduc61]

Suntour xc expert levers
apart from from the silver cable stops and the recess on the back ( where the small blue bolt inserts) can't see a lot of difference with SS7 :idea:

 

[TrevorKershaw]

The Suntour and Dia-Compe were probably made in the same factory. Just dredged this off Wikipedia so it may not be completely accurate;

"Like Shimano, SunTour initially did not sell complete group-sets, so it teamed with other parts makers, such as Sugino for cranksets and Dia-Compe for brakes, so it could sell a complete line of SunTour branded components. Under these types of production agreements, companies did not have design control; if a cooperating component manufacturer decided not to upgrade or redesign its products, SunTour could do little about it. Shimano decided to greatly expand its research and development staff to 200 employees, enabling the company to end its component marketing agreements in order to produce hubs, pedals, brakes, and other components on its own in competition with its former partners.[2] In comparison, SunTour chose to continue with its existing research and development staff of some 20 persons, and remained primarily a bicycle gear and shifter manufacturer.[2]"