Wow! Thanks for all the helpful and thoughtful replies; you have all given me much to consider.
Yes, I shift too much, an accurate diagnosis. I remember that chapter from Grant's book, though at the time I did not think it applied to me. Overshifting is a habit I come by honestly. (True for most bad habits?) I came to biking 20 years ago with bad knees that did not (still don't) allow me to run much. In an effort to minimize sore knees as I cycyled more, I developed a habit of frequent shifting to minize heavy effort on the pedals. This is especially true when commuting as I am in more of a hurry. My knees are much stronger now, though 20 miles on my old 10 speed with friction shifting gives me sore knees. Whereas 20 miles on the bike with grip shifting does not leave me with sore knees. This is a result of better gear ratios on the 27 speed bike with grip shifts, I think, and not a reflection on the type of shifting. My second confession is I never learned to ride a bike without my hands; I was an overcautious child. Even as adult, I am most comfortable with both hands on the bars. Therefore my preference to keep all my controls at my finger tips. I do not even like to pull my water bottle and drink while cycling, prefering to stop to drink. Boy, do I have issues. :) Thanks to all who weighed in on using the bar-ends with the Albatross. This is a great group. I will practice moderating my shifting and likely give the bar-ends a try. I came across this image of a set-up I might try: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27209537@N00/3454710706/ Many thanks again and safe cycling, Erl -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
