Shifting Sands
One of my favorite stories in Cycling is of the 1989 World Championships. It was a very lumpy parcours, with a particularly tough climb near the end of the circuit. Sean Kelly had a brilliant sprint but could get over the climbs handily enough that he fancied his chance to finally win the rainbow bands. With only 7 gears at his disposal and a 53/39 chainset, he faced a catch 22: should he select a 13-25 block, or a 12-23. With the 25, he could spare his guns but would be on the short side of his sprinting gear. On the other hand, with the 12-23 he would have the optimal gear for the sprint but risked blowing the guns out with too big a gear on the climb.
The question was: spare the guns and arrive at the finish with good legs but a short gear, or chose the gear to win the sprint but risk getting dropped on the final climb? (LeMond, who won the race, chose a 54/42 and a 12-23 for the race. They were obviously different kinds of riders.)
The modern Cyclist is a spoiled one, with 11 speeds at their disposal. The most common cassette in use today is the 11-28, which features a bigger sprinting gear and a much lower climbing gear than Kelly could ever have dreamt of. Gear choice is not one that seems to factor any more; riders are more concerned with compact versus standard than they are with how closely packed their rear sprockets are. We’ve lost a bit of the art; a bit of the thinking and weighing of options that used to factor into winning races.
To take this even further, I was recently given a Super Record EPS groupset as part of a 40th birthday gift from Campagnolo. I haven’t ridden it enough yet to have an opinion of it, but two things are certain: the shifting is flawless and I have less to do with it than I did before.
Even riding downtube shifters was a way of managing your effort; if climbing out of the saddle, shifting would require sitting down in order to move the gear lever. In a sprint, you could shift with your knee, but this was more hammer and nail than it was precision in action. Even that was comparatively luxurious when compared to the Campagnolo Dual-Rod shifting system and the flip-flop hub which was changed with wing nuts before that.
One of the beautiful things about Cycling is that while it is fiercely traditional, it also embraces technology and the evolution that comes with it. Vive la Vie Velominatus.
The Dual-Rod system.
@MangoDave
If you put an extra washer on the outside does that make it work?
@MangoDave
Also, I can’t remember without taking one of mine apart, but is the nylon part the same on both sides? If so try swapping them over and see if the problem transfers with the part.
@Teocalli
In fact try swapping all the common parts one by one to see if one part is worn/at fault.
@Teocalli
Thanks. I wondered if a very thin washer would fix it, or just a new nylon piece. It looks like there are a couple of common parts, but it’s hard to tell
@chris
Campa stopped making a 177.5, so this is actually my old Rotor 177.5 while I wait for Rotor to build me a new 177.5. Carson Hedrick sprayed it in matte black and it looks completely badass.
You make a great point at maintaining momentum, but I don’t see EPS vs Mechanical making that all that different; the DT shifter to Brifter with powerglide was the big innovation there. But I do think I’ll use the 39 more. So easy to shift.
@ChrisO
I think Campa lets you set it in whatever gear you want once its dead, but my bullshit meter is landing somewhere between “I am sure I heard that” and “I might have dreamt that”, so there is no telling if that’s true or not. And, on account of me not being a sissy, I’m not looking it up in the user manual.
@Rick
One of my favorite bikes ever was my Cannondale with Shimano 105 dt shifters and…wait for it…SCOTT DROPINS.
And the more it changes, the less it stays the same.
@Clean39T
I have a 42T I’ve had laying around. Can’t understand why I haven’t loaded it up. I rode it briefly in the Spring a year or two ago, when I was out of shape, but I should really have it on the #1 at all times.
@Oli
FUCK SAKE!!
@Oli
Done!
@chris
You must not have noticed my face. I got a TUE from Wiggin’s DS, and I will shave it off in Spring. I consider it winter wind resistance training.
@MangoDave
Yes assuming the thread is good then it wold appear as though the D-ring thread is bottoming out so an additional waffer thin mint – err washer – should hopefully sort it. If the thread is good then it should not take effort to tighten – does it thread easily when you screw the D-Ring bolt straight into the stud without the shifter or any parts? If so then it sounds like wear on the washers or nylon part so a very thin additional washer should be fine.
@MangoDave
The bosses are connected via a bolt through the frame. Make sure that bolt is tight otherwise the shifters will slip forward. Maddening.
@frank
Unless they are brazed on……..I suspect he has brazed on and there is wear in the washers etc and the D-bolt is actually bottoming out on the frame or bottom of the thread in the boss.
@Teocalli
Brazed…
It’s hard to imagine it would be due to wear, considering how little it’s been ridden.
@MangoDave
You are not oiling them are you? That would be kinda like oiling a brake…..
Key for me is can you screw the bolt in easily without the shifter on the boss and does it go in further than it would with the shifter assembled? My Gios frame had a boss with a slightly iffy thread and the bolt would not screw in easily. I chased the thread with a thread tap (very carefully!) and it was then fine.
@Teocalli
You don’t oil your brake pads? It helps get rid of the squeaking, you should try it!
No, no oil. The threads are perfect, no issues getting the bolt in/out easily. Also, two of the metal washers are cupped, they need to face the proper direction. I believe (but not certain) that they offer just a tiny amount of flex, which acts as a spring for the friction adjustment. They could be the problem if they’re too crushed. I’ll play with it this evening, may have to order some new internals if I still can’t get it working. I appreciate the help.
Disregard my comment about the cupped metal washers, I was thinking about something different. Solved the problem tonight- I didn’t have a washer that would fit, but I cut down the bolt by about 1mm. Now it doesn’t bottom out before tightening the shifter. Thanks, gents,for the inspiration.
@Teocalli
There are two levers in the photo of Bartali, just one is hidden by his hand. With the Cambio Corsa one lever releases and tightens the axle and the other is attached to a fork that shoves the chain over the three sprockets as you backpedal. The single lever version is the later Paris-Roubaix mechanism that worked exactly the same, only the lever had a two-stage operation rather than the separate levers of the CC.
@MangoDave
Glad that’s sorted – I was about to say I had the same problem on my Vitus, sorted the same way!
@frank
Showed this photo to my 8 year old daughter last night and said “This is daddy’s friend with a very famous cyclist” and she pointed to Millar and said, “He must be the cyclist” and I said “How did you know” and she said, “He’s the skinny one”.
Ha! Had to share! But, in your defense Frahnk, she did not call you the fat one, only Millar the skinny one!
@Buck Rogers
Shades of Ed Clancy – Frank needs to think about having his collar bones trimmed.
@Buck Rogers
Who’s the hipster with the beard hugging David Millar?
@RobSandy
I didn’t recognize our Dear Leader either. Is he going for Sagan hair?
@wiscot
Do you suppose he’s gone full Winter Wookie?
@wiscot
@Teocalli
That must be it, you know, in honour of the new Rogue One movie coming out in a month (although I do not know if Chewie is in it or not?–No spoilers please!)
Resolution for 2017 – figure out how to get on Campagnolo’s birthday gift list.
Regarding the problem with the loose Syncro shifter. I’ve used blue loctite on my Campy friction shifters that come loose and fixed that problem. Haven’t had that problem on any of my Syncros but expect it should work. There is a little play in the shifter on one of mine after -really- tightening it down but it still shifts crisply.
@Oli
That’s a beautiful Vitus! I used to see those on the road quite often, but it’s probably been two decades since the last time now.
@frank
Di2: at something like 10% or whatev battery life… once ya shift in to the little ring it stays there. Can mash the FD button and will only get a blinky red light at junction box but no shift. The thing about Di2 is that the battery is recharged in pronto time. Maybe 30 minutes and certainly less than an hour. So it’s just not a big deal to juice up the battery before a ride if realize haven’t done it in a while. I’ve been caught out only once with the FD stuck but still plenty of juice for RD function to complete the ride. I think that the logic behind the FD no longer operating is that that is the little servo motor that consumes the all the juice vs the RD motor. Cheers
I love push button motorized shifting. But I keep telling myself my next bike will be external cabled mech DA (CAAD frame set is good ex).
@Buck Rogers
Quite possibly. Clearly Frank is growing “Sagan Hair” and, as far as we know, may be doing the hairy legs a la Sagan too. Not a bad role model to be sure, but hardly rule compliant.
Hells bells, you can always tell when the road season is over as threads on this site start taking really weird directions. We’re discussing the shaving and body hair management of our Dear Leader.
@wiscot
I’m going to put my hand up and say since velodrome season started I’ve been back to Rule #33 compliance and I’ve just upgraded my hair clippers to ensure I comply with Rule #50. I don’t think stubble contravenes this rule, which is good because I’m sure as hell not going clean shaven.
Good god. Frank, you hit 40 and now you’re wearing a beard and talking of using the 39 more?! What is going on around here! Things are not right, not right at all.