Originally Posted by
Jeff Wills
The SunTour Cyclone Symettric shifters of the '80's would trim the front derailleur to match the rear derailleur's position via a cam in the shifter body:
http://www.velobase.com/ViewComponen...0-06DAA7456995
This system actually worked, but it was superseded by index shifting and then "integrated" shifting by the '90's.
A while back I test-rode a Di2 bike at the Shimano booth at a show (Handmade Bike Show? I can't remember.) The rear worked fine, the front jammed repeatedly even though I had a Shimano tech standing next to me. Don't know what was wrong, but as soon as I got off, they took the bike off the stand and hid it behind a curtain.
ive only ever seen these shifters in picture and on video (they predate me by a number of years) but i have heard mixed reviews. was it just that they were really hard to set up? i could see front derailleur cable tension being somewhat touchy (and critical)
interesting experiences with the di2. i wonder if the FD was bend or damaged.