Originally Posted by
jfmckenna
Really? After all those years using DT you still are not used to them
I have both STI and DT and in fact race both. I find it weird how people think they are unsafe because you have to move your hand off the bar to shift but then they think nothing of reaching down to grab a water bottle, drink and put it back in while cruising in a field of 60 at 30 MPH... much more dangerous. I never have to look down to shift my DT shifters and my hand can be right on the front brake in case something happens.
Is STI safer? sure but when used to DT I really think the safety is marginal. My 2 cents
Thanks for your $.02. I raced with a DT bike in jr. high/high school in a small Texas border town. I "retired" when I went off to college and never really got back into it. I took up running. In 2002 I injured my knee and had to lay off the running. After gaining 50lbs, something had to happen. I took up cycling again. By this time I was in rural Oklahoma not having to deal with lots of traffic. I'm back in Dallas again (round two) and haven't been used to heavy traffic on a bicycle. I did fine with the DT shifters and was safe, however, the traffic lights issue just makes it safer and easier--at least as far as my sense of it. I know our feelings on safety don't make it safer, but in this case, it helps me at the stops ans starts.