Originally Posted by
Sprocket Man
That's exactly what it means, but to call brake lever/shifter system a "fad" is stupid. I've owned bikes with "brifters" since '91. They've only increased in popularity since then. It's not a fad.
Not a fad? That's for future historians to decide, not you or I. Right now it still meets the definition of "fad" even if largely embraced by the pro-peleton copying cycling population. (Oh,
why does the word "sheeple" come to mind?)
You stick with your "brifters" and I'll stay with my downtube friction shifters. I wouldn't put a spoiler on a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air any more than I'd put "brifters" on a classic 80s De Rosa, but to each his own.