This will probably get me a lot of flack but please keep in mind that one of my non-RBW bike is a Claud Butler, so I'm no enemy of tradition. Having said that, I believe that each generation of shifters has represented evolution and that the state of the art has improved. My Butler originally had Campy downtube shifters and, aside from the question of reach, they were extremely vague and had a mind of their own about shifting. Before you get on me about adjustments, please know that in addition to my own efforts these were adjusted by very experienced mechanics including those at my LBS, Harris Cyclery.
I then went to Campy bar ends and found the position much better but the shifting equally vague. From there to Sun Tour bar ends and a whole new world! Using them in friction mode (I've never tried them in indexed mode), these are still my favorites. For a couple of years, I had a Cannondale touring bike with Shimano STI brifters and I have to say they were a pleasure. I spend most of my time on the tops and on the hoods and the STI's were convenient, effective and very reliable. While the STI indexing worked flawlessly, I still prefer friction and have thus resorted to bar ends on both the Butler (Sun Tour) and my Bleriot (Shimano). I've heard the arguments that if you're in Katmandu and your STI's break down, who's going to fix them. Since the next time I'm in Katmandu will be the first time, that's a bridge I'm willing to cross later! In the interest of full disclosure, I also have a Cervelo Soloist with Dure Ace STI shifters but that's a completely different story! On Aug 2, 2:31 pm, Roger <rogerdhod...@gmail.com> wrote: > I ride a 65cm, and the downtube shifters are right in the arcswing of > my arm if I bend my other elbow just a bit to lower myself. If one's > arm doesn't swing to the dt shifters, I wouldn't recommend using them > no matter what height they are. It may have to do with leg/torso/arm > proportions, but I don't think it's intrinsic to being tall. > > I think it's a losing battle to ever encourage someone to switch to > dt's. Probably most new users in this era will be self-motivators who > will try it on their own, and some will stick with it. I like it > really well, but no one was gonna tell me to use such an elegantly > simple way to shift. > > The only time that dt's make one's life demonstrably better is while > experimenting with stems and bars. > > On Aug 2, 11:02 am, Rex Kerr <rexk...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Interesting question. I'm also curious how much frame size has to do with > > DT shifter preferences. > > > I ride a ~67 cm frame and the reach to DT shifters is insane, making me > > uncomfortable using them. For this reason I have a strong preference for > > barend shifters. I'm curious if this is true for other tall riders. > > > -Rex > > > On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 5:00 AM, Forrest <ftme...@me.com> wrote: > > > Among those of you who now use downtube shifters (or have in the past), > > > how > > > many of you are confirmed fans of downtube shifting, and how many of you > > > tried it as an experiment but then switched to a different shifting system > > > that you felt was better? Oh, and any thoughts re downtube indexed vs. > > > downtube friction would be welcome. > > > > Thanks, -- Forrest (Iowa City) > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > > To view this discussion on the web visit > > >https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/ewWKs5Wvv_gJ. > > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
