Irreverence: Shift Indicators
This is possibly the most offensive piece of gear I have encountered on a bike. Do you really need a little orange wand to tell you what gear you’re in? There is only one gear to be in: the hardest one at which you can still make the pedals go around in something resembling a circle.
These goofy little things were found on the bike I rented last weekend for a benefit ride on the east coast in honor of my late Aunt. It was a wonderful ride and great family time… but really, shift indicators? Further proof that all has been in decline since the advent of indexed derailleurs. What added insult to injury in this case was the quality (or lack there of) in the shifting itself. Tiagra is a far cry from my beloved Dura Ace. I would try to shift and the little orange wand would wobble uselessly back and forth — like a Seattle driver trying to merge on the highway — until, finally, an enormous noise would ripple up the bike and a new gear *might* be achieved. I began to brace myself for the effort…. and…. SHHHHHIIIIIFFFFFFTTTTT. Like passing a gallbladder stone. (Or so I imagine.)
In the end, this Cannondale Synapse was just fine. It even had a sharp paint job. Almost sharp enough to make up for the kiddie shifters.
These are carelessly open to being deemed “SHIT INDICATORS” !
I saw a nice set of shifters on ebay the other day, 105, I think, hardly used. In the description, the the owner explained that they were an upgrade but didn’t like them as they didn’t have the indicator. He was going back to his old shifters.
Seems to me that if you’re crap enough on a bike to need a little orange anti-V indicator (maximum wherever it’s pointing) looking down at your shifters is going to use up way too much concentration that should be used for more fundamental functions like balance and hazard recognition.
Do they have the same thing going on on the left shifter, are there people who have trouble coping with three chain rings?
I never understood those either. Like various “grip shifters”.
If you’re a novice, what does “1” mean? “7”? “Hey Honey, I got the new Surly long haul commut-o-tank into 7th today! Or was it 1st?”
This was only ever one bike that could get away with having a gear indicator*
*for children only. Adults riding Choppers should be dealt with the same level of disdain as fixie and recumbent riders.
What’s next? Electric shifters?
Shimano is ugly full stop.
Being a lowly (but aspirational) Velominatus budgetatus I am forced to accept these idiot indicators. My question to my peers is this? Do I cover the indicators or sell a kidney to upgrade?
@Velodeluded Take it apart and spray paint the inside black?
@Velodeluded
In keeping with black tires, saddle and bar tape: black electrical tape may partly shield you from the anti-V
@Velodeluded Sell a kidney. Or if you’re lucky enough to have more than one rug rat around the house, you could sell one of those. I’ve got one on the market; blond haired, blue eyed, smart, so I can get that Veloforma that slipped from my grasp in the VSP.
I dunno. You might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater here. Shifting: a by-product of the gruppo or the poor maintenance of said gruppo by the folks from whom you rented the bike? My experience was rather different. I rode Tiagra for a few years (9spd), and didn’t think it was that bad. Yes: my Ultegra is better, smoother, lighter, but I never Schlecked on the Tiagra and found it to be good, reliable, durable stuff (Shimano knows steel).
The shift indicators never bothered me, though I rarely paid them any heed. I thought it was a clever little addition as far as it went: functional. But that’s what Tiagra is. It’s heavier and probably won’t last as long as the Ultegra/Dura Ace stuff, but it’s a great entry-level bit of gear. Aesthetes might groan, but there you go.
I may be a broke-ass poor Velominatus, but even I set my low-end standards to 105 … which is why my ground-up brifter housing will continue to be ground-up until I get a new bike.
@Velodeluded
I’m clearly in the minority, but nothing wrong with it. If you’re riding your bike, no one can see the orange indicators anyway. Taping them over will look hideous. Kidneys can be useful things; I’d ride the stuff into the ground, all the while saving your pennies. It’s only through riding your Tiagra stuff that you would appreciate an upgrade anyway.
a. at least the indicator is orange
b. this is perhaps a good Rule to follow: do not ever rent a bike
c. others seem to nearly apologize for decking out the ride with 105 or such, and i run shit rival on my daily rider, but in the end, if your out front on the club ride, or even better a breakaway on race day…does it matter? I have seen plenty of Masters semi-pro run steel bikes, older gear and they have diesel engines that kill
@Xyverz
Agreed. My #2 has 105 and they work fine. It’s one of the few things I haven’t upgraded. Mind you, I’m kinda persnickety about having them dialled-in just right. I think Tiagra is aimed at the consumer who likes know what gear they’re in. If you tell them you were spinning a 52-12 they won’t understand.
@Chris
That Chopper looks like new! Man, I lusted after one of those in the 70s. Shockingly unstable, poorly made, badly balanced, weighed a ton, but an object of desire nevertheless.
They don’t really bother me too much. Really not much of a feature but considering who Tiagra is marketed towards it kind of makes sense. If you haven’t a clue even a little info would be helpful.
Concerning 105 it’s often OEM on frames nice enough to continue to upgrade. In that sense it sand economical base to build from on a frame you would not have been able to afford had it been spec’d with a more expensive group. As already noted its perfectly adequate for rain and CX bikes.
@Steampunk
Isn’t aesthetics the whole point? My n=1 experience with Tiagra was similar. I kept it clean, lubed, changed cables regularly, and after 4 years of real riding, it took a shit. The internals just seized on me. I blame those damn indicators. I think for a bike you are going to hang in the garage and ride a couple times a season, it is fine, it will last forever, but for real day in day out service, it falls short. For the minimal difference in price, the 105s are a stellar upgrade, and they look good to boot.
Nice. Is this the first installment of irreverence?
Whenever I do something like let my mind wander and start to imagine that I have something in common with others I see out cycling I realize many folks are willing to put up with, or don’t know any better, and will ride a bike with Tiagra. I passed a gal yesterday who was in fancy strappy sandals. I said hello, she just looked at me. “I don’t get a hello out of you?” What? “I said hello, say hi.” I’m sure she was riding Tiagra.
A few weeks back I was all set to Pantani-climb the biggest local hill. Halfway up I spot a woman, in sandals with a fanny pack, walking her bike. She was an older woman so I took pity and slowed to ask if she was okay. She was fine but had to stop because she couldn’t turn her cranks. Why? She had absolutely no idea how to shift and would just guess. She didn’t even know the difference between her FD and RD shifting. I stopped and gave her a short tutorial. She began to inquire about the numbers. I told her as politely as I could to fucking forget the numbers and just listen to what I was saying. Things almost went off the rails. I got her to the top though.
@razmaspaz
I rode the shit out of mine in all weather, but made a point of cleaning it thoroughly and regularly. I upgraded a couple of years ago and recently passed along the parts for a build at my café. The shifters remained in terrific shape; crankset, too.
I think my thing is this: it’s easy to bemoan cheap bike bits and it’s easy (for those who can afford to) to jump the queue drop a packet on the first bike without really earning their wheels. That’s all well and good, but it seems to me that the proper progression from pedalwan to sensei involves actually experiencing the different levels of quality, in terms of parts, riding proficiency, wrenching, etc. (Incidentally, I don’t think I’ve completed that transition, but I am learning from a couple of excellent sensei). You can fork over $5000 for your first bike and take it to a mechanic to have it worked on, but that won’t make you ride better uphill. Or you can earn those upgrades through becoming stronger on the bike, learning to care for your own machine, and taking apart every bolt, cleaning everything, applying anti-seize lubricant, and putting the bike back together (so it’s probably in better shape than when you bought it). That’s how your bike becomes yours and I think it also changes one’s perspective on issues pertaining to aesthetics.
At the end of the day, my Tiagra worked fine and I took pleasure in riding my bike.
This is gold. I have extolled the virtues of the bike as a system. Some “components” simply do not qualify. We don’t put baseball trading cards in our spokes with a clothespin either.
i had tiagra on my first road bike, a trek 1000 I bought on eBay for $450. Put about 6000 miles it before upgrading to 105. No indicators on the old tiagra, but it worked well. 105 is good value.
@eightzero
You put baseball (or soccer) cards in your spokes if you have one of those Choppers like Chris has!
Major props to the steerer tube extension. Sometimes you’re better off walking.
@Steampunk
Before upgrading I didn’t know any better, and for those first 3 years, it was ignorant bliss. GIven that, I still have the one shifter on a frankenstein with an old ultegra double shifter, and there is no comparison with the 105. The 105 even outperforms the older ultegra. I would say that I would never go back, but every time i ride that bike, I go back, and every time I ride it, I miss the feel of the 105. I have the final components of a campy chorus 10 group in the mail and am looking forward to rebuilding the frankenstein up proper. I will hand the old parts down to someone for a new bike build, and I’m sure they will find bliss in their ignorance as well.
Those things are ugly and stewpid. But it they’re part of somebody’s path to enlightenment, they’re exactly what they ought to be. For that somebody.
Until earlier this year, my #1 bike looked roughly like the above. (Not my actual bike, and I did make a few improvements, such as clipless pedals, no reflectors, and a saddle that hadn’t been chewed by the dog). I had smooth road tires on it, but the damn thing weighs in excess of 30 pounds; I would have thought I’d died and gone to heaven if I had Tiagra 10-speed components on it.
My replacement bike is not that snazzy compared to many on here, but it is a decent house-brand bike from Performance with Ultegra components on it and the comparison is day and night. I’ve kept the Schwinnosaur as my rain/mud bike, so it continues to be kept in the best shape possible given its humble status.
Riding a heavy, clunky bike that invariably elicits comments like “Dude, have you considered getting a bike from this century?” builds both physical and moral fortitude in a way that my new carbon bike with drop bars doesn’t. The short version of this long story is that I’m a firm believer in ride what you’ve got, since there will always be somebody with a more expensive bike but that doesn’t mean they can keep ahead of you.
Plus, I had a Schwinn Stingray back in the early 70s with a center-mounted shifter much as shown in the picture, although I only had a 3-speed. Good times.
Oh my God, I never realised grown-up groupsets didn’t have indicators!!!
I’m with razmaspaz – you’re better off learning how to ride with rubbish components (hello Shimano Sora!) and then appreciating the upgrade.
My new baby (complete with Centaur) arrives on Tuesday, struggling to sleep…
A Keeper that rides Shimano? What is this madness!
In other news, Campagnolo Athena’s 2012 and newer shifters now only allow you to downshift one gear at a time. I’ve got the 2011 and can dump half the cluster, which is important for when I’m attacking, out of the saddle, in the drops on the HC.
@Chris
You better not be lumping us track riders into that category.
@TBONE I suspect it depends on whether you do a lot of skidding on the track.
Speaking of which, I recently read “Gold” by Christopher Cleave, and while it’s a bit of a Movie of the Week story it focuses on three characters who are Olympic-level track racers. It’s an interesting change of pace from some more focused cycling stories.
@Chris
Two shifters. Does that mean it’s a ten speed. Just wrong. 3 speed and a banana seat only. It’s official Choppers are cool. Why? You can hang a carrier bag full of beers on the handlebars on the way home from the off license. You won’t shred the bag on the front wheel spokes and scatter your beverages across the road. Try that on your Cervelo….
@ralph
Uh, DA 7700 pioneered these. It’s inline on the cable right next to the shifter.
@Steampunk
Amen. I bought my Allez with Tiagra 9-speed and it still works well after 15,000 kms. One day I will upgrade, but for now I take pleasure in going faster than those with bikes that cost 3-5 times more than what mine did. My dad taught me from a very young age: “You have to earn your bike” I’d like to think that I’m doing that
@Steampunk
I rode a noodly steel 7 speed Tiagra road bike for 10 years without knowing there was anything better. And I loved it!
I don’t have that bike anymore, but barely a week goes by that I don’t appreciate the crisp shifting in modern gearing.
It makes me wonder what I’m taking for granted given that my first MTB is a really nice full suspension Yeti. I never had to live through 1990’s cantis or off-road hardtails or any of the history that has been improved upon.
(No offense to people who ride MTB hardtails…I may end up buying one myself).
In the end it’s all about perspective. The first bike I ever bought (though not my first bike) was a 120-Euro work of art froma sports department store. Things that failed on that bike: plastic pedals, handlebar clamp, seatpost, and ultimately the rear hub. All within 500 kms of use. I still had a blast riding that bike and it makes me appreciate my aluminum, 18-speed Allez even more
@Xyverz
Having checked The Lexicon, I see that the correct term here is Velominatus Budgetatus. I am not of the highest order, so I believe I’m still a Pedalwan. Please forgive my transgression.
Err, that should be “highest order yet…”
I’ve been reading a lot of posts on this site lately that use the term “does it really matter…” “its good enough” or ” you’re being a little too serious”. Have we all gone mental and forgot where we are?
In the immortal words of Walter Sobchak “Has the whole world gone crazy? Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules?”
enjoy and do not forget the V or shall you all be smote by the prophet.
I’m 18 and just finished my A levels so I basically have no money. I’ve always rode a bike throughout my life, but never seriously, so got my first ‘proper’ road bike this February. The bike has a 2300 groupset. The combined weight of the bike is around 12kg so it’s pretty heavy! The 2300 shifters have a little ‘wand’, I don’t take any notice of them.
I don’t agree with the comments of some users saying that by having shifters with the little orange thing they must be crap cyclists. I train hard, I put my heart and soul into cycling, and I still thrash idiots on bikes worth many thousands of pounds, and am up there in the top 10-15% of many of the popular strava segments in my local area.
The things are annoying and pointless, but that doesn’t determine how good the cyclist is. These comments are coming from imbeciles.
I’ve about already had it with snobby, stuck up cnuts who think they’re better than everyone else because they have a £7,000+ DA equipped bike and wear full Rapha Sky kit. Just fcuk off.
@Steampunk
I fully agree with you here – my cross bike is pre-Sora generic Shimano 7spd (for the moment) and its worked fantastically well since I installed it – these lower end groupsets are all pretty good these days provided that they are setup and maintained by someone who knows what they are doing.
The gear shift indicators are pretty stupid though. If you really can’t tell what gear you’re in by feel, simply look down at your cluster.
@G’rilla
I’m hardly the one to talk to about MTBs, but I did go from hardtail to full squish, and it was like that bird says, “Night-time…DAYTIME!” My VMH still rides a hardtail, largely because she hates spending money on anything, and I do envy the ease with which she climbs on smooth XC trails. If I didn’t have a ruptured disk, I’d consider riding a nice light hardtail single-speed like a few of the nutters in this area. (And then I’d blow a kneecap right off my leg…)
@Brian
You know, it’s the yellow lenses that really make Walter’s character complete. Clear lenses wouldn’t work, dark lenses would look stupid and predictable, but the yellow (for heightened visibility and therefore excellent awareness of all that goes on around him) are perfect. It’s funny, for a film hat has become a cult (the use of the word Dude, for example) I’m amazed at how few folks have seen the whole thing.
@G’rilla
None taken. Hardtails might be the steel roadie version of the MTB world. And steel, as you well know, is real.
@Matt
Take it down a notch or 10 there little buddy. I didn’t read anywhere in the comments that said if you have lower end kit, you’re a shit cyclist. Most everyone here has started on lower end gear, and as we’ve gotten older (see; gotten jobs that allow us to upgrade our whips) or whatever, the upgrade is a nice/ noticeable difference.
If you read through any of the posts, on any of the articles, this is all (mostly) tongue in cheek, and us just fucking with each other.
Also: you can spell FUCK here without moderation. We don’t suffer stuck up cunts that think they’re better than everyone else because of their Di2 equipped Colnago in Rapha kit either.
@doubleR
I was so jealous of my cousin when he got the Ornge Krate. Even after a almost became a castrati while trying it out.
@wiscot Very good point about the yellow lenses and heightened visi-awareness. I have seen this movie too many times to count and it still never gets old. Like watching the 1994 Paris-Roubaix.
@scaler911
Some more than others. But yeah, it’s all in good fun.
A-MERCKX to that, brother!
@Steampunk
not even. they make carbon hardtails. cause hard tails are legit.
@RedRanger
Yes, yes they are.