Replacing OEM B&C levers

[Sundog]

I bought some Rizoma levers to put on my bike and tried to replace them this last weekend but came up on a bit of a problem I was hoping someone might have experienced before.

Rizoma levers do not come with the half-threaded "pin" that is screwed into the lever, pushes into a rubber sleeve and I assume is used to activate the brake or clutch servo. The Rizoma instructions said I needed to remove the OEM pin and then screw it into the Rizoma lever. My problem is a can't get the damn thing to unscrew from the OEM lever, it's as tight as a gnomes proverbial and I was beginning to mess up the pin when my shifter slipped under the effort. So I stopped and put the OEM lever back on the bike until I understand what is going on.

I can't see a reason why its so hard to remove, I'm assuming there is some loctite in there holding it in place. I hope you can picture this because I neglected to take photos, but did I miss a step is there something else holding it in place?

[Twizted]

There should be a teeny tiny 1.5mm hex head screw that you have to undo first. Be careful using cheap allen keys on this one as it is easy to round out.

[Sundog]

There should be a teeny tiny 1.5mm hex head screw that you have to undo first. Be careful using cheap allen keys on this one as it is easy to round out.

Where is it though? The plunger pin screws into a rotating barrel that sits in a housing that is a part of the lever itself. Am I supposed to get the barrel out of the housing and unscrew this 1.5mm screw from it?? Getting that barrel out was one of the things I wasn't sure I needed to do.

[brad black]

they go in from underneath.  probably worth heating it.  snap on 1.5mm hex keys don't always work either, they twist like pretzels.

[Sundog]

OK, thanks guys, I'll look into it this weekend.

[ellingly]

Dragging this one from the depths and it's probably sorted by now, but I had a similar issue when I bought some CRGs.

The grubscrew was factory red loctited and also the head was covered in glue. I picked the glue out, tried to do it with an appropriately sized allen key and... nothing. So I added heat (quite a bit) and all that did was let the allen key slip in the head of the grubscrew. Ended up finding an imerpail key that fitted when it was hot and that worked, but it was tight.

Bought a packet of new grubscrews from a local bolt place, was about 50c for 10 which was ok for an over-the-counter sale.

I redid it with blue loctite (243? oil safe one) and that worked fine. It didn't come loose for the year it was done like that; the bike needed a new clutch lever (long story) and I just added a bit of heat and the 1.5mm allen key worked on the replacement grub screws. Bit of a PITA design esp. with the red loctite.

[Sundog]

I ended up by giving in when I could not get the grub screw to release and was in danger of stuffing up the OEM lever as well so I got a mechanic at Bikecraft to do it when I went in for a measure up on the Rizoma bars. It took them 30m of effort to get it out as well so I had no chance.