Originally posted in "I have a banana"
Heat it with a blowtorch. Mark it with a sharpie first wherever you want to bend it. When the sharpie mark evaporates the outside is the right temperature to anneal (I don't know what this means, the guy with the science is here:
https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/bent-brake-lever-what-to-do.583878/page-2). Keep heating to heat all the way through, say 5 minutes. Then dunk it in room temoerature water. It will remain "annealed" for some time despite the cooling (only if its aluminium, not if its steel). Now its much easier to handle for straightening and won't melt your rear tyre.
This was all great advice off the net. My inovation was to put the cooled lever in a mole grips (vise grips) and to straighten it by roling over it with the back wheel - it occured to me that it had got bent by a 149 kg bike lying on its side in the back of an estate car (station wagon, un break) and a similiar force would straighten it out.
Andrew
PS lots of posts say don't risk a dodgy repaired brake part for the sake of a ten dollar part. In California its $50, here its £95. Its made in Spain.
Author
Topic: You can straighten that brake lever (Read 2299 times)