On 11/23/2014 10:57 PM, Bill Lindsay wrote:
I can only think of the one situation where you can't shift a stem
shifter but can shift a barcon. I realize it's one you say that you
do numerous times on every ride. You semi-rise out of the saddle on
an incline, in the drops, and shift down one gear at a time as the
incline steepens and then you shift up a gear at a time while you are
still out of the saddle cresting the top, carrying your momentum
through. You can shift a barcon because you can't stay out of the
saddle and let go of the drops. You couldn't do that with a brifter, a
thumbie, a downtube shifter, or a stem shifter. Only a shifter that
is right there in your hand on the drops makes that possible.
What are the other of many situations where it's possible to shift a
barcon but not possible to shift a stem shifter?
Here's one at the top of the list: You are going fast and the road is
rough: alligatored, cracked, patches upon patches with small holes in
between. (I don't know if you have stuff like that where you ride, but
where I ride in the rural areas of Southern Maryland, there's lots and
lots of it.) It's somewhat like riding on rumble strips only with the
occasional bigger impact. On surfaces like that, I wouldn't venture to
remove one hand from the bars and move it to the center line of the bike
to shift, but with bar end shifters (and brifters, of course) you can
hold on to the bar and maintain stability while shifting with your
fingers or your palm.
But basically, in any situation where the bike could be jostled, either
from road surface roughness or from irregular, gusting side winds it
would be ill-advised and sometimes downright dangerous to get yourself
into the position required to operate a stem shifter.
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