Rubber degrades whether you ride or not. UV exposure, temperature swings, and the oils from your hands all break down lever hood material over time, leaving you with sticky residue, hardened surfaces, or hoods that have stretched loose and rotate on the lever body. Shimano's ST-6800 Dual Control Lever Hoods are the factory replacement that restores your brake levers to original condition. These are genuine Shimano bracket covers, not aftermarket approximations, which matters because the fit determines whether your hoods stay put under braking loads or shift around when you don't want them to.

The hoods fit the Ultegra ST-6800 levers they're named for, but Shimano used the same hood geometry across several groupsets in this generation. That means these also work as direct replacements on 105 ST-5800 and Tiagra ST-4700/ST-4703 levers. If you're running any of those shifters and your current hoods have seen better days, this is the part number you need. The cross-compatibility is handy if you're maintaining multiple bikes or picking up a used frame where the hoods are the only thing showing their age.

Installation takes some patience. New hoods fit tight—that's intentional, since a snug fit prevents rotation and creep during hard braking efforts. Warming the rubber slightly makes it more pliable, and a little soapy water helps the hood slide over the lever body without tearing. Work from the bottom up, making sure the hood seats fully around the lever pivot area before pulling the top section into place. Once installed, they should feel identical to what came on the levers originally. Sold as a pair covering both left and right shifters.