• Straitline Components levers
• £49.99
• www.straitlinecomponents.com

Straitline Components is a Canadian-based company with a history in precision engineering, including making parts for the Space Shuttle, so it’s safe to assume they know their way around a CNC machine. Turning their attention to bike parts has resulted in some of the classiest kit we’ve seen this year.

The company produces stems, bash rings, bar plugs, pedals and upgrade brake levers. But a brake lever is a brake lever right? Mostly, yes, and while there’s nothing really wrong with standard levers, replacements can bring about a few key differences.

If you can brake better, you can go faster. Pretty simple stuff, and these levers come with claims of increased modulation and better comfort. To find out if this was the case we’ve had a pair on our Enduro tester with Shimano Deore XT discs, and stroked our chins for a time contemplating whether pink on a brown bike floats…

Installation is simple enough, though some basic instructions wouldn’t have gone amiss. The supplied barrel nuts are easy to adjust and the nylon tipped bolt avoids the levers gradually winding out on a ride. While the length of the lever is roughly the same as those they replaced, the shape is radically different. They’re slightly taller, meaning there’s more lever to hang onto, and two curved areas make for easy one or two-finger braking, with the large hooked end confidently engaging your finger in those fast and sketchy hangin-on moments.

Finally, and perhaps the most common reason for upgrading levers, is their distinctive looks. They certainly stand out and beside the usual plain black levers they replaced, they look positively exciting. The range of anodised colours extends from bright pink (honestly not as bad as it sounds), red, blue, gold, green, titanium grey, black and finally white. The build quality of the levers is exceptional, with smooth edges all round and the recessed dimples and Straitline logo finishing them off beautifully.

Positives: Colours, comfortably shaped, better braking, pimp as

Negatives: Whether they’re too pricey is down to you, we don’t think the price tag is all that bad

Verdict: We’d have these on all our bikes, a small price to pay for such funky looking levers. And they’re more comfortable in use too.

Performance: 5/5
Value: 3/5
Overall: 4/5