I suspect that whoever first put a set of downtube shifters on a bike immediately knew that while it was superior to having the shifter on the seat stay, it was a design that was going to be improved upon. Not only did it require being seated to shift, it also required taking your hands off the bars. Shimano got close with the introduction of the STI shifter in the early bit of the 90’s, although the decision to allow the brake lever to pivot laterally was a fundamental flaw.
I remember the first time I saw a set of STI levers in person; I was at County Cycles and they had a complete set of Dura Ace 7400 in the box. It was a truly beautiful groupset, and the metal details on the shifters were as stunning in my hands as they were glinting sunlight off the Pros as they crossed countless finish lines with their arms aloft. The price point was well out of reach, and so I dove headlong into various experiments to find a way to get my shifters on the bars.
Bar-end shifters didn’t look cool so they were out, full stop. I first tried Grip Shift, which was a complete disaster, partly because they didn’t shift well, and partly because they required twisting the bars and invariably introduced a terrifying wobble toward either traffic or the ditch. The low point of my experimentation involved mountain bike thumb shifters mounted near the brake levers, but I couldn’t get them positioned in a way that I could reach them. Cue more wobbling into traffic. Finally I got a set of Suntour Command Shifters, which were basically double-ended thumb shifters that were mounted at the brake lever. These might have worked well, except I couldn’t afford a Suntour rear mech, and the Command Shifters couldn’t get along with my Shimano 105 drivetrain. I had no alternative but to set those shifters to friction, which meant even more wobbling about as I tried to coax it from one gear to the next. But being unsuccessful didn’t mean it wasn’t fun, and when Shimano finally released a 105 STI version – which I could afford – I was that much happier to finally realize my dream of having functional handle-bar mounted shifters.
I’ve never liked the lateral pivot off the STI system, though, and once I could afford to, I moved to Campa and their superior design of incorporating a Go Button along with a paddle shifter. Campagnolo, for all its beauty and functional flawlessness, does require some coddling. It doesn’t particularly like being dirty, and I find myself tweaking the cable tension a few times a week – just a fraction of a turn – to keep it perfect. Because a perfectly tuned Campa drive train runs more perfectly and more silently than anything else – and the Principle of Silence holds sway over all else.
When it came time to building up my Graveur, I never seriously considered Campa because doing that on a bike intended for taking regular mud baths demands something less finicky. And I really don’t want my brake lever wobbling about as I’m trying to control a bouncing, bobbing machine on a twisting gravel or single track descent. Shimano was out, which left me with the choice between Command Shifters and SRAM. SRAM it is, then.
It took me an age to get used to how to adjust it, and how to shift. It requires a lot less cable tension than Shimano or Campa, a trick that took me a while to discover. Upshifts are totally awesome – tap, tap, tap and the chain just drops down along the cassette irrespective of mud or sticks or whatever is in there. I found half a tree trunk in my cassette after my ride this morning, and it didn’t adversely affect the shifting. The front shifting is absolutely blazingly fast, once you get the thing adjusted correctly. And the hoods themselves are very comfortable, possibly even more so than my 10spd Ergos.
But to this day, I still have to think about downshifting (push, *click*, push a bit more, *click*). And Merckx forbid I try shifting more than one gear at a time – I’ll invariably lose track of my clicks and wind up air-shifting between cogs. That’s going to inspire some new curses in a race situation, so there’s that to look forward to.
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TBONE's 4th pic...I picked up a pair of those Shimano mtn. shoes a few years back, NOS for $0.99. They're fantastic.
I recall somewhere around '87 when I first saw (and heard) the Shimano STI or whatever it was called back then. At a local weekly circuit race and here's this bike that goes "click.. ker-chunk" upon shifting. Almost like a pistol cocking and firing with an empty chamber. Kind of shocked the lot of us as we were all used to the fine whirring and grinding of Campa SR. Of course we generally sneered at such an invention only later to be secretly envious of being able to shift out of the saddle. It didn't take long till everyone but me was riding some type of index shifting... Not because I was making a heroic stand - only because I was too F'n poor to do so. barely had enough $$ for my CG tubbies. Aaaaah... The good old days. VLVV
Good article mate and nice shot but I'm totally tortured by your description of shifting.If you are trying to shift in the same way you described it no wonder you can't.
"Upshifts are totally awesome - tap, tap, tap and the chain just drops down along the cassette irrespective of mud or sticks or whatever is in there".
"But to this day, I still have to think about downshifting (push, *click*, push a bit more, *click*)."
You touch the lever and before you know it the chain moves down to a next sprocket.What's hard about it with Sram? It's the upshifts you need to think about more cause you have to move the lever in one quick motion otherwise you will downshift.
As far as the cable tension goes the rear derailleur needs less tension but not the front one.
I'm surprised you were readjusting Record 10. It's the most solid set up ever.Install it and forget it.
I've got a Bro-Set on Bike #1, a Group-San on #2 and Ergos on the Gravel/Cross bike. I love the light weight and precise shifting of the Bro-Set, even at the lowly Rival level; I love how completely silent and smooth my Group-San is, even if the levers are ugly as sin; and I love the shape and size of the Ergo levers, as well as the look of them. If I could just merge those aspects of all three I'd have the perfect Brupp-San.
I have nothing but contempt for SRAM. Broke a lever off in my hand on a trip where I was 100miles from a shop. Front shifting I could never get quite right (believe me I tried). But then it wasn't Red, and some of my 'cross bro's love it. That's just my HO.
@TommyTubolare
Wow, I've never had the pleasure of correcting you before. Downshifting is to an easier gear, upshifting is to a harder gear - no the direction the chain moves, mate. You downshift to a lower gear.
As for Campa - I've always found myself tweaking just the slightest bit...I'm talking fractions of a turn, just to get the chain absolutely silent.
@scaler911
A mate of mine snapped off his shifter a few weeks ago - he chalked it up to too many phantom down-shifts when already in the granny gear. That's about the only quibble I have with the bro-set - when I'm on the limit and my oxygen-deprived brain thinks I have one more down-shift left in the cassette than I actually do. Not only does it feel awful (and potentially damaging) in the shifter to hit the limit, the bloody thing upshifts for my troubles!
@frank Maybe you did but it doesn't matter now. I'm talking about shifting process itself not gear you gonna end up with thus the chain direction/movement. If the chain drops down the cassette I doubt it's the easier gear.Don't start me on which sprocket you call number 1 and which one you call number 10. You are shifting like young Andy-perfect for a bro set.
@frank
@frank
This is really strange since the cables run outside on the R3. I don't tweak at all and cables run internally which is always worse for cable friction.
I use Rival on both my road and cross bike. (and X9 on my mountain bike, but that's another world).
I agree that tuning it can be a bit of a nightmare at first, but i haven't adjusted either bike in months. The downshifts are also lackluster, but at the same time, once i figured it out, you can go from 11 to 23 in about 2.2 shifts (I can drop 4 gears in one swing)
Also, as much as I hate when you try and shift into a lower gear when you're at the bottom and it upshifts you instead, I feel it is my bike telling me to HTFU.