Perhaps i need to clarify my "pause" comment about ShiftMates. I run Ergo levers of the pointy hood vintage. When the ShiftMate is used the index gear (inside the lever) has been changed out from the 8 speed to the 9 speed version. The need to use a ShiftMate is driven by the desire to mix system brands. In my case Ergo levers and Campy rear ders with Shimano cassettes.

So the ability to directly compare the feel of the same set up BUT without the shiftmate (in real world riding) is pretty much not going to happen. As we all know after a couple/three shifts the index movement differences will build up and the shifting will suffer (with the mixed brands). My perception of a "pause" is, therefore, not directly comparable. I do feel a little bit more direct a call anresponsece with my Ergoed bikes that don't have a ShiftMate. BUT these bikes also run Sachs freewheels with no shift gates on the cogs. So their shifts are starting to happen sooner then when Shimano HG cogs are in play (with the ShiftMated bikes).

I have set up a ShiftMated bikes initially without the SM (didn't have one on hand yet and wanted to do all the adjustments and bar wrap I could while waiting for the SM to arrive) and I do feel that the first shift (or two) felt more direct then after installing the SM. I attribute this slight difference in call and response to the added cable length and it's wrapping around a small diameter pulley. There is a slight amount of cable settling into the pulley's grooves as one pulls on the cable. (Now this lessens with time as the cable gets broken in but a small amount still persists).

I never have found this small, added feel, to be a problem. My use of the word "pause' was to try to verbalize what my hands and brain feel. Perhaps I should have said "I feel a small amount of cable wind up during the shift movement".

By the same standards I can feel the difference in cable movement between a down tube lever and a bar end lever. The, maybe, 50% more cable length is noticed. Not a problem but noticed. I last used DT levers in 1973 on my own bikes, switching over to ST Barcons as soon as I saw them. But I do get to service bikes with DT mounted levers often enough to enjoy their very direct feel, even if i don't like their location. Andy.