The rear brake lever - depending on exactly what the problem is, you may be able to fix the existing one. Is it a flat-barred bike? If so, then you can twist the brake lever around by loosening the clamp that holds it to the handlebars, moving the lever, and tightening the clamp back up. You want it so it falls naturally under your fingers when you're sitting on your bike with your hands on the bars. If the 'reach' on the lever is too big (ie the lever itself is a long way away from your fingers - often a problem if you have small hands) then a lot of levers have a small screw sticking out from the hinge between lever and handlebar that you can adjust to increase or decrease the reach. Check YouTube for helpful videos!
(Sometimes the lever is in the wrong place because of a bell or the gear changer or something. You should be able to move those around too in much the same way, if it helps.)
Oh, also, re chain guard & trousers - a cheaper way to solve this problem is either just to roll the legs of your trousers up (which is what I do; neither of my bikes have a chain guard), to tuck them into your socks to keep them out of the way, or to use a thick elastic band for the same job. You can also buy trouser-clips (or at least you can in the UK!) to keep your trousers out of the way of the chain, but I find it easier to take the lower-tech options, myself. If you get oil on your trousers, a good option is to rub a bit of a hand degreaser like Swarfega (is that UK-only? Something similar must exist elsewhere! You use it to get oil off your hands.) onto the stain before putting it in the washing machine. Magic. Obviously this will not help actual damaged fabric :)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-10-17 07:44 am (UTC)(Sometimes the lever is in the wrong place because of a bell or the gear changer or something. You should be able to move those around too in much the same way, if it helps.)
Oh, also, re chain guard & trousers - a cheaper way to solve this problem is either just to roll the legs of your trousers up (which is what I do; neither of my bikes have a chain guard), to tuck them into your socks to keep them out of the way, or to use a thick elastic band for the same job. You can also buy trouser-clips (or at least you can in the UK!) to keep your trousers out of the way of the chain, but I find it easier to take the lower-tech options, myself. If you get oil on your trousers, a good option is to rub a bit of a hand degreaser like Swarfega (is that UK-only? Something similar must exist elsewhere! You use it to get oil off your hands.) onto the stain before putting it in the washing machine. Magic. Obviously this will not help actual damaged fabric :)