Commuting - <vent><rant>shifters...

If I might vent for a moment, why is it that twist/grip shifters are becoming seemingly such the norm? Especially on internal gear hubs... why not thumb shifters or similar - items that could more sensibly be mounted to any bar... ie drop or bullhorn... what's the deal? bah ... </vent></rant>

Because twist shifters are "neater" to those not familiar with the intricacies of thumb shifters or rapid-fires.

Myself I would think rapid-fire would be the norm now, even for internal hub. They are SO much easier in use.

Because twist shifters are "neater" to those not familiar with the intricacies of thumb shifters or rapid-fires.

Myself I would think rapid-fire would be the norm now, even for internal hub. They are SO much easier in use.

Indeed, easier, nicer... cooler... like the old SA 3 speed trigger shifters... what gives... and what makes me even more... dismayed is that SRAM makes a trigger shifter for their 3 speed hub (why not their 5 or 7?? which is what I'm more interested in) but only sells it in Europe!

The simple solution: Get rid of all those redundant gears and you'll be much happier. ;)

-Trevor

The simple solution: Get rid of all those redundant gears and you'll be much happier. ;)

-Trevor

Perhaps in mind, but not in knee... I don't think that the extra gears are so much redundant (especially when its only 3 or 5, from from it, not little increments so much)... and I've done SS... that's probably why my knee still hurts to this day.

What I would eventually love to see for commuters or cruisers is electronic shifting.

Have the actual shifter integrated into the derailer, and just have a thumb toggle up/down/indicator device on your handlebars that tells it what to do and finds out what gear your in via a connector on the shifter/derailer assembly. If done right, the litlle junciton area between the downtube and seatpost would be great to fit the electronics for both front and rear.

On note of power, I don't see this process drinking up tons of power, unless your Mr McShifthappy, so it could possibly be powered by the same waterbottle battery your average halogen or HID lighting system runs off of. Shift indicator could simply be a set of x LEDS (depending on how many gears you have), and if they want to make it look spiff, place the LEDS under clear numbers so it's more like a car's transmission indicator.

It may not add anything performance wise, but it will simplify things a bit, possibly making cable routing issues a thing of the past.

What I would eventually love to see for commuters or cruisers is electronic shifting.

Have the actual shifter integrated into the derailer, and just have a thumb toggle up/down/indicator device on your handlebars that tells it what to do and finds out what gear your in via a connector on the shifter/derailer assembly. If done right, the litlle junciton area between the downtube and seatpost would be great to fit the electronics for both front and rear.

On note of power, I don't see this process drinking up tons of power, unless your Mr McShifthappy, so it could possibly be powered by the same waterbottle battery your average halogen or HID lighting system runs off of. Shift indicator could simply be a set of x LEDS (depending on how many gears you have), and if they want to make it look spiff, place the LEDS under clear numbers so it's more like a car's transmission indicator.

It may not add anything performance wise, but it will simplify things a bit, possibly making cable routing issues a thing of the past.

I'd only even consider something like that if it could be run off a generator of some type...

What makes a bike great is its simplicity.

What makes a bike great is its simplicity.

Agreed, and even with an internal hub, its more simple than a car or even a biological entity.

True I like simplicity as well, but my inner geek still screams to tweak the daylights out of something. It's a massive struggle to NOT put a multi-dyno powered car stereo on my diamondback...of course it will have to have a cd of hte worst of the 80s constantly playing just to see how many forehead veins can possibly explode in an hour.