Originally Posted by
s70rguy
Simplex/Mavic/Spidel retrofrictions are my favorite, but with the 'pro' modification: a simple bottle cage bolt to replace that awful screw. Hard to see I have to admit, but its there.
What is the purpose of that tubing on the cable, does it cause the shifter to pull more cable? If so, what sort of material did you use and how well does it hold up over time?
Originally Posted by
dddd
Unworthy1 wrote:
"...I swear there's a SunTour DT lever with a very compact ratchet mech that looks like one of their stylish Superbes, but I can't find it in Velobase...must be very rare or I imagined it."
You're right, those were the trim-looking Suntour Sprint levers that had the very fine-tooth ratchet in them. I bought a pair back in 1985 or so from Nashbar for my Cannondale R300.
True Retrofriction levers use a spring-wrap clutch instead of a ratchet, so there's no friction adjustment at all.
The beauty of that is that the positioning is infinite (no click-stops at all), for better feel and greater resolution and more-precise movement.
Shimano made perhaps THE first, true Retrofriction lever in the early 1970's!
They called it Unishift. Rather long and plain-looking, but with rubber tips, and delivers race-quality actuation just like Simplex's version.
Shown in foreground:
Shimano also made the "beer tap handles" in the VERY early 1970's that I saved for 15 years(!!!) before finally installing them last weekend on my 1972 American-Eagle / Nishiki Kokusai:
Originally Posted by
leaping_gnome
I'd be interested in the seller, VonCarlos! I am ISO that same deal for Power Shifters. I also like the Sprint version, LD-4850, like I have on my Sequoia. Here's a few pics on my various shifter combos. The classic Campagnolo NR on my Masi and Gitane. Simplex Retrofriction (also a favorite) on my Eisentraut. The Trek gets Suntour Blue Line and the Sequoia with the Power Shifters. My Tesch gets 10-speed STI for it's Dura Ace RD-7402 shifting 9-speed spaced Dura Ace cogs on a 126 OLD.
BTW, I attribute the success of my Sequoia's 8-of-9-on-7 gearing on the precision and feel of the Power Shifters. I really like 'em.
I'd like to hear more about the Shimano Unishift and Shimano SLA400 Light Action types!
Jim
I Love those "beer tap" shifters! A forum member gifted me a different version that has a big clunky ball on top, but I haven't installed them yet.
For what it's worth, the two types of ratcheting Suntour levers (Sprint and Power Shifters) are still available as NOS through
Bikestash.