Get A Grip!

After 8 years and almost 25,000 miles, the right-side brake/shifter hood on my BMC road bike finally wore out. It wasn’t a catastrophic failure; it was gradual but irreversible. What began as a small tear grew into a fissure large enough that the hood was no longer stable. I could feel it moving beneath my hand. Not comfortable. Not safe. After yesterday’s ride, I couldn’t live with it anymore.

Today I installed the new one. It’s an easy do-it-yourself job, but one that I had never done before on any bike. And it’s a job that a lot of people have screwed up. It’s not impossible to tear a new hood, and then you’re right back where you started but with less money and more anger. So, I pass on to you the lessons I learned from others:

• Make sure the hoods are warm and malleable. You have to stretch them over the braking/shifting mechanism. Trying to stretch them when they are cold is likely to cause a tear.
• Use a generous amount of rubbing alcohol as a lubricant. It will quickly and cleanly evaporate, but in the meantime it will help the rubber hood to glide.

I got the new hood seated without any difficulty. It looks as good as new. And it should: it’s a genuine SRAM replacement part. But trust me when I say you don’t want to get this wrong. Sold in pairs, these are a little pricey. I paid almost $37 and now I have a spare left-side hood that I might never need. Oh, well. It’s hard to be dissatisfied.