Make sure you don’t overtighten the little screws!
I’ve just installed a new set that I had sitting around for ages (let’s see what all this braking business is about), and I’ve cracked the lever from overtightening the screws 
Please Kris or whoever designs them…make them of stronger plastic next time!
I made excatly the same mistake.
At first I thought it was because the end of my brake lever had been scuffed to bits because of several UPDs and was a little bent out of shape, but sounds like it’s more of a common problem than I thought.
It’s just went ‘CRACK’ as I tightened it. I didn’t want it to slip off but overdid things, obviously. It might help if it was lined with rubber (maybe an old inner tube cut out) so that it will hold fast with less force.
Severely overpriced little piece of plastic the spooner is IMHO. I made my own with a wheel from a broken storage box, some bluetac, a rivet and some Gaffa tape. Took all of 10min and cost nothing! Works a treat too. I’ve seen others make them out of the paddles on the levers for gas chambers on office chairs, or just U bolts with tape.
mark
Something to check before tightening is that the spooner is positioned correctly/precisely over the brake lever (and the brake lever shape is compatible), else I’d reckon it would be relatively easy to break the plastic when tightening.
I’ve got the spooner on a few uni’s running HS33’s since last October, done up tight, no problems.
Mine & Spencers have both done this too, although I’m not sure if it was from over-tightening, or just crashes (they have been dropped on rocks quite a lot).
They still work fine after being cracked.
In some ways, it is better that it isn’t so strong that the lever breaks instead, but it is a pain that they seem quite so fragile.
We had some chats on rides about the possibility of custom aluminium ones, or perhaps using some kind of moulding plastic to make them. They certainly could be made a bit less fragile somehow.
Joe
Mine cracked the first time it was dropped I think. It still works fine and i’m too bothered. Hopefully if I ever put it on another lever it will still be OK.
I talked with Kris about that; he said the cost of doing the part in aluminum would be prohibitive for the small volumes it sells in.
It might be possible to machine something in aluminum relatively cheaply, if you are willing to lose the “spoon” aspect; it’s the curve that’s most difficult to do.
Yeah,
I think we were talking about either casting something (I can’t remember what in, but I think some kind of metal), or doing a small piece either on a CNC (out of aluminium) or on a rapid prototyping machine (3d printer type thing, out of plastic). But you’re right, I don’t think it’d be possible to do metal ones on a commercial scale unless people were willing to pay loads more, it is only really an option for someone with the machines and the know how to use them.
Joe
Fiberglass or cf would be great. I may take mine (still good no cracks) to a local surf shop and have them make a duplicate in fiberglass!
I thought you made yours from Oreos and tomatoes.
Mine haven’t cracked from tightening (just be careful ;)) but the one on my muni did crack slightly the first time I dropped it on rocks. Hasn’t got any worse, but I was a bit annoyed it seemed so brittle after forking out the money. If they could be made from a less brittle plastic (perhaps some sort of nylon?) it would be good. Not moaning about the price as such (I’m sure the production/development costs justify it) but they ARE expensive and it would be nice if they didn’t break so easily.
I’ve got the clamp on my brake lever set fairly slack so it’ll swivel on side impacts, but what broke my spooner was just a straight hit on a rock from the front when I dropped the uni on a upd in a rock garden.
Rob
I had the same “splitting” problem on my Spooner, initially from over-tightening and then a couple of direct impacts on rocks really started the thing splitting. Probably not the best remedy, but I basically took some Gorilla Glue (you could use some other epoxy but this was all I had on hand) and filled up the Spooner through the gaping crack so now there is this epoxy mold that fills all the open space inside the Spooner. This basically made the Spooner very bomb-proof. The downside I learned recently, was that I took a bad impact and broke the entire brake handle! :ouch: So now I’ve got to figure out a way to remove the Spooner to put it on my new brake handle! I’ll figure something out. I do, however, like Rob’s idea about leaving the brake handle a bit loose on the seat connection to help dampen the impact…
Yeah, but I ate 'em!
Mmmmmm, oreos and tomatoes…!
I did not want to overtighten it … and lost one at Moab (so I was obliged to buy another :p).
This said bouin-bouin on this forum built a mock one out of rubber! that’s the best imitation I have heard of! (bouin-bouin is an engineer at Renault not at Michelin :p)
bouin-bouin if you read that could you post a pic? thanks!
I guess one way to look at it is it’s probably less of a drama if the Spooner takes the impact and breaks during a crash, instead of the brake lever. I’ve been lucky so far touchwood.
It’s surprising though about the guys breaking them by overtightening… must be going way too tight, or maybe there was a dud batch or something?
I can’t take credit for that - lots of people do it. You can get away with having the clamp quite loose before it moves under normal use. It lets the lever move sideways on impact and reduces the chance of snapping the lever. What broke my spooner though was a whack from the front, forcing the lever into the spooner like a wedge.
Rob
What do you have holding that together?
It looks like rivets perhaps.
