Originally Posted by
Leinster
I don't want to get all "back in my day" on you, but...
I was riding a 5spd downtube shifter bike when I was 10/11, and learned to a) ride 1-handed to shift or take a drink with the other, and b) shift before I needed to, especially on roads I knew well. (I also learned that when riding on the tops, those suicide levers weren't worth s4it, but obviously that isn't an issue for your boys).
I know what you mean. I also learned to work the tube shifter (crank one was frozen on my first bike) and ride one handed.
The problem isn't that simple. These shifters are the twist kind. The kind MTBs have fitted next to the grips.
Trying to shift them (not to mention the brake cables often get grabbed) steers the bike. If these bikes had tube mounts, I'd keep em.
The entire bar/shifter/brake lever combo is basically fine for beating around the block, but the boys wanna rack up miles with us.
For long rides, I don't think this setup is safe.