Categories: Accessories and GearCyclocrossLe GraveurNostalgiaTechniqueTechnologyTradition

The Bro-Set Experience

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.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

frank says:

Aug 22 2013 at 9:16 am

@EricW

I don't want to pick on your wife's bike, but that looks like RSX, not DA. Great look bike, though, aside from the EPMS.

And that 'nago is a work of art.

@ten B

a quick upshift (downshift? Crap, we need to get an official ruling on this @frank) when I stuff up.

Not a ruling so much as a definition. The convention is very well established and is a carry-over from motorized vehicles. A low gear is an easy gear, a high gear is a hard gear. You shift from a high gear down to a low year and from a low gear up to a high gear. Hence, downshift, upshift.
Buck Rogers says:

Aug 22 2013 at 9:17 am

@scaler911

@frank

@mouse

@frank

Babe indeed.

Interesting to note the 0mm extension on that stem. Would have been a fucker to steer that, I'd imagine.

Those bars, if I recall correctly, came out from the headset at about 45 degrees to the frame, so her hands would have been over the wheel as usual and the handling should have been "normal".

@scaler911

You didin't put up the whole thing. STI right lever, std left, 1 dt shifter, broomstick. The only way that could have been cooler was if you'd had some spinazis on there.

I was Rule #37 complaint before The Rules even existed.

Point of clarification: The Rules have always existed, it has just taken this long for the Keepers to discover and publish them.
DeKerr says:

Aug 22 2013 at 9:17 am

@ToeOverlap

@ten B

@ten B - I'm starting to get better at feeling if I'm on the top cog when I touch the lever, and follow-up with a quick upshift (downshift? Crap, we need to get an official ruling on this @frank) when I stuff up.

For my money, I find saying a shift is either in(ward) or out(ward) is unambiguous, so long as it's clear if speaking about the front or rear mech (which is not a problem in use, as We who Ride with The V typically loc-tite our FD in situ so that it cannot be inadvertently dropped into the little ring, which is for pussies).

Trying to make the terms up and down clear in usage will be a fruitless enterprise, any ruling from @frank notwithstanding, due to the following:

If upshifting were moving to an inward cog - truly a downshift, w.r.t gear ratio - the chain physically 'climbs' up the cassette to this 'lower' gear... meaning it should be a downshift... Reductio ad absurdum.

Inward and outward stops all this nonsense.

Or "V"ing up for moving Sur La Plaque or on the 11 and "anti-V" for anything else.
frank says:

Aug 22 2013 at 9:19 am

@Fausto

The Tioga disk drives weren't just covers, they took an XT hub and a Mavic (IIRC) rim, bolted on some adapters to the spoke holes and then laced them and the disks together with a giant Kevlar shoelace. You couldn't true them, they cost a fortune (back in the day) but were clearly cool as fuck 'cos Johnny T rode them. The cheaper ones used black discs, the 'Pro' model was see-through. The accompanying rumbling noise was awesome too, loved hearing him come down the pipeline descent at Newmham Park XC in the mid nineties. Best example ever though was the Spain XC round a year or two before when he launched down a drop-in fully crossed up;

rumblerumblerumble*silence, whistling of air past the bike*rumblerumblerumble*fucking huge cheers*

Legend.

Solid gold, all the way around. Didn't know that about the wheels - so cool!

@graham d.m.

I ride Shimano, but really think SRAM and Campagnolo seem so much cooler. No real reason, just my emotion attached to it. Problem is I'm waiting for some 105 bits to die before changing, thusly it may be awhile. There's the rub isn't it. My Group-sanstuff just works, really well.

Did I mention that all those 105 bits mentioned in the article are still around and kicking? That stuff never dies.
frank says:

Aug 22 2013 at 9:22 am

@Dr C

Anyway, back on trail, how do you find our cross compatibilty with different shifter and brakes? I'm contemplating going Avid Ultimate Canti brakes on my cross bike, but it has 105 STIs

I cannot understand the science behind the double tap Force shifters, though I like the idea of not changing gear when I toss the anchors, but would financially be happy to not have to change my shifters in one move

Or should I just stay with my Cx50s, and stop looking at the bike to make up for my shortcomings....

If you fancy stopping at all, its TRP Mini-V's or nothing. They make different models for Shimano and other brifters based on cable pull. Work great.
frank says:

Aug 22 2013 at 9:24 am

@Buck Rogers

As for the FMB: SHIT! Is it repairable???

Not after I tried to use a PitStop to fix it.

@Buck Rogers

And how can we have a discussion of absolutely adolescent fantasy cycling women without Dede Demet??? How many dreams did I have of meeting her at a race and striking up a romance when I was a teeneager!

How old are you? She's my age...
Ron says:

Aug 22 2013 at 10:13 am

Ouch, that is one expensive flat, Frank. How'd you get home? Slow ride on it, anti-van Summeren style? And, I'm guessing you stopped for some post-ride recovery drinks to drown the sorrows.
Angling Saxon says:

Aug 22 2013 at 10:15 am

"Campa"? What is "Campa"?

Surely you mean Campag or Campy?
Buck Rogers says:

Aug 22 2013 at 10:20 am

@frank

@Buck Rogers

As for the FMB: SHIT! Is it repairable???

Not after I tried to use a PitStop to fix it.

@Buck Rogers

And how can we have a discussion of absolutely adolescent fantasy cycling women without Dede Demet??? How many dreams did I have of meeting her at a race and striking up a romance when I was a teeneager!

How old are you? She's my age...

Dede Demet ... sob ... Barry is 9 months and a day younger than I am. She turns 41 in 6 weeks. Yeah, serious stalker right here.

I thought you were like 34-35 or something?
Buck Rogers says:

Aug 22 2013 at 10:21 am

Definitely her sexiest photo!