Originally Posted by
shipwreck
...not everyone enjoys working on the simplest IG hub ever made like I do.
When I had to get into one for repairs, I had it all laid out on the bench and my first thought was, "Wow, that's all there is to it?!? What a brilliant, simple system!" And also, find me a 40 yr old unmaintained derailleur equipped bike on which the shifting can be brought back to life as easily as a 60 yr old unmaintained AW-equipped bike...
Originally Posted by
mdilthey
Cool. I dig this setup. I really like keeping the bar-end shifters in your pannier as a backup. I don't particularly see the merit of brifters on a touring rig, but if I were to use brifters, having a 10sp shifter in hand for an accident seems like a super simple solution. When my bar-end shifters wear out (or fade in my eyes) I'll keep them as spares just like this.
Good idea!
See, I think most tourers and especially potential tourers overthink things a bit much, especially where "But what if my [insert part here] breaks when I'm in the middle of nowhere?!?" And for some reason, with the touring crowd, brifters are seen as some kind of fragile thing prone to blowing up at the worst possible moment. All while ignoring roadies who get tens of thousands of miles on a pair of shifters... If I was touring North America, Europe, parts of Asia, Australia, etc., I wouldn't even bring backup shifters. Brifters are awesome because in the most used handlebar position -- out on the hoods -- you've got shifting and braking at your fingertips, no hands off the handlebars shifting necessary, as with bar ends.
Don't get me wrong, commuted with bar end shifters for a number of years, but next mod for my commuter is brifters...