Touring - Shifter Preference

Which do you prefer on a road tourer with drop bars......STI/Ergo?......Barends?......Downtube?.....other?
Thanks!

me like barends. they are very nice. they work like a charm. they help me shift. when indexing go bad, me switch to friction. friction good. reliable very reliable.

Me too. Bar-end shifters are the ideal, followed closely by clamp-on downtube shifters.

I have tried STI but didn't like it for a variety of reasons: somewhat hard to shift from the drops (especially the upshifts); the brake lever is acting a bit strangely. Besides STI on a snowy or frozen bike is not the best idea.
BTW, for downtube shifters, I like the shifters to be much higher than the usual position for the braze-ons

I would say in general friction is better choice for touring, since if something on you're drivetrain brakes down you can adapt a different derailleur.. cassette etc to work if in friciton mode. WHile if you are using indexed shifting this would be virtualy impossible.

Personaly I would still go with STI shifters since I just love the way they feel and work.

Bar ends with friction on my tourer.

Indexing is fine for mountain bikes and racing but friction takes a wee bit more skill, its like driving a standard transmission.

I'm building up a tourer right now...I'm thinking I might upgrade my right STI on my fast bike to dura-ace and move the 105 STI on there to my tourer, so that I would have a nine speed STI on the tourer, but have the friction on the front, where I still have the old suntour friction front mech. what do you guys think?

I like STI. Maybe I shift too much, but being able to brake and shift all from the same hand positions, and being able to grab that hand position instinctively, is an advancement in bike technology that I appreciate.

My tourer has downtube braze-ons, and I have a right downtube friction shifter that I carry in the tool bag for emergencies.

RichC

Which do you prefer on a road tourer with drop bars......STI/Ergo?......Barends?......Downtube?.....other?
Thanks!

OTHER !!! I have suntour comand shifters with an 8spd supurb pro guts. Up the rear I have an 8 spd xtr 1st generation rear mech with an xtr 12-32 8spd cassette. Not many people know of the command shifters but they mount inboard next to your brake levers and are opperated with your thumbs. :cool:

OTHER !!! I have suntour comand shifters with an 8spd supurb pro guts. Up the rear I have an 8 spd xtr 1st generation rear mech with an xtr 12-32 8spd cassette. Not many people know of the command shifters but they mount inboard next to your brake levers and are opperated with your thumbs. :cool:
Yes....the good 'ole thumb shifters. I would use them as well if I were to go with standard mtb bars. I'm assuming you're using straight bars with these shifters. Thanks..

George

Snow? Ice? Doesn't affect my shifters... Nore does mud and rain...

I'd be more afraid the brake cables would freeze up or that I would fall on a patch of ice than if my shifters would work under those conditions!

Also where do you get they would not work in snow or ice? You PUSH them with your fingers one direction... The other direction is controled by the spring on the derailleur. If the cable and spring are frozen (more likely to get snow/water and ice into the rear d's spring than into the shifter) then shifting would fail just the same with DT or BE.

Only mechanical seems to be the reason to go but my shifters have 15000 miles on them and a friend is replacing his at 30,000 miles...

Index vs friction... Well if you can't tune your system yourself then perhaps it makes sense. Can't find a shimano d in this day and age? Must be in some third world country trying to find a derailleur or at least someone who speaks english so you can ask for one.

There was already a thread like this...

Conclusion... Choose what you like.

Conclusion... Choose what you like.
Chose and purchased new barends..... Now deciding which bar to use....drop bars or moustache... I've got both.

George

Yes....the good 'ole thumb shifters. I would use them as well if I were to go with standard mtb bars. I'm assuming you're using straight bars with these shifters.

Actually SunTour command shifters were based off the old tried-and-true XC Pro thumbshifters but the levers were designed a little differently in that they have a long "back-facing" extension while the primary lever was made more offset from the mount and thinner. Mounted on a dropbar with standard road brake levers and hoods, operation is similar to that of the Modolo Morphos shifter system.

http://member.nifty.ne.jp/HiShimojo/suntour/command1.jpghttp://member.nifty.ne.jp/HiShimojo/suntour/command2.jpg

Khuon...........thanks for the clarification! Come to think of it, I've seen those before......but only in pictures.

George

Yes....the good 'ole thumb shifters. I would use them as well if I were to go with standard mtb bars. I'm assuming you're using straight bars with these shifters. Thanks..

George

No these are on drop bars they were one of the first systems to put the shifters with the brake levers quite a few years before sti and ergo shifters were even thought up. They have the advantage that you can set them up with standard road bike brake levers I have dia compe ones that allow me to run a v brake on my tourer which is great when fully loaded. Guru out :cool:

Actually SunTour command shifters were based off the old tried-and-true XC Pro thumbshifters but the levers were designed a little differently in that they have a long "back-facing" extension while the primary lever was made more offset from the mount and thinner. Mounted on a dropbar with standard road brake levers and hoods, operation is similar to that of the Modolo Morphos shifter system.

http://member.nifty.ne.jp/HiShimojo/suntour/command1.jpghttp://member.nifty.ne.jp/HiShimojo/suntour/command2.jpg


The ones i am running actually come from a latter supurb pro group set they have a much smaller clamp that is hidden out of the way under the tape.

I dont care for the moustache bar. It gives a bit more position than a straight bar but for the ultimate in comfort I use a road-bar with profile Z-strike aerobars.

I think this gives more comfort on the long haul as well as giving you a bit more aero position if required for headwinds.

I've done 3 rides with aerobars and one without of :

* 162 (cross florida race-5th place finish, no aerobars but I could hide in the pack)
* 163(Ft Lauderdale to Naples, me and one other rider... Aerobars paid off big as I did most of the pulls and we maintained a 20mph average)
* 130(me and one other rider... 20 mph head winds for 30 miles.. Woulda died without the aerobars. Managed to sustain 19mph into the wind for 3 miles at a time and getting a 1mile break from my friend, he could only do 16mph because he had no aerobars)
* 132 miles (solo with 15 mph winds for 40 miles... struggled to keep it above 15mph even with aerobars)

Tomorrow, Wednesday, I'll be doing a two day haul from Ft Lauderdale to Mt Dora (North West of Orlando) which looks to be 155 miles on first day and 105 miles on second day. Credit card style. Carrying 18 gel packs, 4 water bottles, sandles, change of clothes and extra bike clothes... Wife meeting me Friday to ride 60 mies in the Esmerelda Marsh Madness ride at Mt Dora.

Anyway that is my testimony to using standard road bars and outfitting them with comfy aero bars.

I do this on a non-touring bike (a Litespeed Catalyst outfitted with Aqua-rack to carry the extra bottles and a seat-post rack for the clothes).

I'm looking at the Airborne Carpe-diem as my tourer with a standard rack, 32 spoke standard wheels and it will be fitted with aero-bars and three bottle cages (and possibly the aqua-rack so I could carry 5 bottles).

Note the aero-bars make a good place to mount a map holder and I strap a spare tire under them.

Here is an interesting link with info about m-bars...

http://www.stanford.edu/~dru/moustache.html