I've got my eye on a pair of NOS shifters. I think they will be about 20 years old. The photos look very good, box, full paper work, cables etc.

The two things that worry me are whether the hoods might have deteriorated just with age. And whether the problem of factory grease "drying out" happens with age or use. They're in Europe now, so hopefully not subject to extremes of temperature/humidity.

I'm thinking that they should be fine, but I wondered if anybody had every experience of rubber hoods disintegrating just with age. I know replacement hoods for these shifters are hard/impossible to get hold of.

Thanks for any advice.