Have you ever dropped or crashed your bike and broken a lever, leaving you stranded by the roadside? Even a bent lever can make things difficult and will break off if you try to straighten it. Or ...

Never mind fancy electronic shifting and disc brakes – back in the real world that most of us inhabit, mechanical shifting and calliper rim brakes are still the most common gear and brake systems ...

Fixie bikes are all about simplicity. Besides just having one fixed gear with no associated derailleurs, shifters or freehubs, many of them don't even have brakes – instead, riders just stop them by ...

Generally speaking, ergonomics of modern-day brake and shift levers are pretty good, offering reliable and consistent fingertip control of all the major functions. But if you step back and think about ...

Make a clean sweep of grime. (Photos: Daniel Sharp) When you break it down, your bicycle only needs to do two things: Go and stop. In our last column we discussed the go (chains), today we’ll delve ...