Brompton 10 degree brake lever

About the Brompton 10 degree brake levers and new cable end (nipple)

In 2012 Brompton changed the size of the nipple used on their brake cables from a proprietary size to a standard brake nipple size

The new (standard - as you would find on a Hybrid / MTB bicycle for example) nipple is slightly smaller than the previous one used by Brompton

This is good if you want to use non-Brompton brake cables but bad if you have some of the older 10 degree Brompton brake levers

Brompton 10 degree brake lever - Open Clevis

Because of the reduced nipple size, some of the older levers (those with an open clevis) must be replaced. These are so called 10 degree levers (this is the angle at which the cable fed out from the lever). They can be identified as they have a double metal band where the lever is secured to the handlebars. See picture

Some older 10 degree brake levers had an open clevis as shown in the below picture:

(the clevis is circled in red - it's the part into which the nipple sits)

Brake clevis on Brompton 10 degree lever

The closed clevis brake lever was introduced in August 2008

Some 10 degree levers (as shown below) and the newer 30 degree levers and (introduced in 2013) aluminium brake levers from Brompton have what is known as a closed clevis

Brompton 10 degree lever with closed clevis

With the closed clevis (even in conjunction with the smaller brake nipple) there is no risk that when the cable is slack that the nipple falls out rendering the brake useless

As you can see from the above picture - with the closed clevis the cable has to be fed through a hole, meaning it can't fall out

Brompton bikes with the old 10 degree brake levers with an open clevis should be replaced with either the 30 degree (if you can find an old one) or preferably new aluminium brake levers

In 2013 Brompton introduced new aluminium brake levers

These new levers are compatible with all 16 inch model Brompton folding bikes

They provide better stopping power even on older calibers as they are made of aluminium and flex less than the older levers which were partially made of nylon

They also provide the additional benefit of allowing the Brompton Be Seen front light to be attached directly to the brake lever - so not take up valuable real estate on the handlebars

See here for our complete list of Brompton brake parts (cables, callipers and levers)