Kelly Take-Offs
#1
Jet Jockey
Thread Starter
Kelly Take-Offs
I've been writing recently with a variety of technical questions ultimately centering around converting my flat-bar road bike commuter into a drop bar bike. Here's my latest.
Has anyone used Kelly Take-offs? If so, do you like them, hate them, etc? What are the pros and cons of this system. Do you have pics of your handlebar setup if you use them?
Rivendell bikes speaks fairly highly of these little contraptions. Their take on shifters can be found here .
Here is the link to Kelly bikes website. Take-offs .
There's also the cost. Is it more economical to buy a set of R-500 STI shifters, or is it better to buy downtube shifters, take-offs, and brake levers?
Thanks for your input.
Has anyone used Kelly Take-offs? If so, do you like them, hate them, etc? What are the pros and cons of this system. Do you have pics of your handlebar setup if you use them?
Rivendell bikes speaks fairly highly of these little contraptions. Their take on shifters can be found here .
Here is the link to Kelly bikes website. Take-offs .
There's also the cost. Is it more economical to buy a set of R-500 STI shifters, or is it better to buy downtube shifters, take-offs, and brake levers?
Thanks for your input.
#2
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I have them.
Allows me to run 9spd sti with friction shifting.
Not bad for commuting or recreation. Reach is a bit far for competitive riding or group rides.
Allows me to run 9spd sti with friction shifting.
Not bad for commuting or recreation. Reach is a bit far for competitive riding or group rides.
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I like 'em. You can operate them from both the tops and the hoods (actualy sort of an intermediate position in between). If you like friction only than you can use whatever cheap down-tube shifter you like. The real advantage is that they let you use the 287-v brake levers and v-brakes which are by far the best rim brakes for most situations and are very easy to adjust.
#4
Jet Jockey
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by ApolloCVermouth
I like 'em. You can operate them from both the tops and the hoods (actualy sort of an intermediate position in between). If you like friction only than you can use whatever cheap down-tube shifter you like. The real advantage is that they let you use the 287-v brake levers and v-brakes which are by far the best rim brakes for most situations and are very easy to adjust.
"For half a century road bike levers were used with cantilever brakes and nobody squawked. But with the introduction of low profile cantilevers, and the proliferation of cantilever designs in general (due to so many mountain bikes), there must have been some combinations of brake levers and cantilever brakes that didn't work, because back around 1987, Dia-Compe introduced a "cantilever-specific" road brake lever (mod. 287). It's mere existence sent the erroneous message that existing, non-cantilever specific road levers didn't work well with cantilevers. "They don't pull enough cable!" was the charge. But we have used a tremendous variety of road levers and cantilevers, and have NEVER experienced inadequate braking. Not even close. It could be that we've been walking through a mine field with a dozen guardian angels looking over us, but we've used road levers from Campy, SunTour, Shimano, Dia-Compe, and Modolo with cantilevers from Mafac, SunTour, Shimano, Dia-Compe, more SunTour, more Shimano, more Dia-Compe, and Paul."
Is there any truth to this?
#5
Jet Jockey
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by K6-III
I have them.
Allows me to run 9spd sti with friction shifting.
Not bad for commuting or recreation. Reach is a bit far for competitive riding or group rides.
Allows me to run 9spd sti with friction shifting.
Not bad for commuting or recreation. Reach is a bit far for competitive riding or group rides.
#6
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Originally Posted by banzai_f16
Here's a follow up query: Bar Cons are another option I'm considering, in addition to STI. I mainly commute, but I'm also looking into doing group rides. Would you, by this logic, also say that bar cons are too far of a reach?
I used bar-cons for years; first Campy friction (on a Crescent Pro) and later 6-speed Shimano Ultegra (on a custom Gilmour). I got so used to it that shifting became an unconscious motion, but I really do like my Curtlo (XT drivetrain w/ a Dura Ace triple crank; yeah, I know the chainrings are weird, but I like the way it looks and it works great).
The bar cons take a bit of getting used to but if you set them up right they work well.
Let us know how it turns out!
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Two things. First, ApolloCVermouth is referring to V-brakes, not cantilever brakes. Cantilever brakes, as Rivendell rightly notes, require about the same amount of cable pull as caliper brakes, centerpull brakes, etc., and brake levers for any of these three types of brakes should be interchangable. V-brakes, on the other hand, require more cable pull and need special levers. Brake levers designed for V-brakes shouldn't be used with caliper brakes or cantilevers.
Second, I've got barcons on my Raleigh, and like them. I've not used take-offs, but barcons are easy enough to get to in a group ride situation. Your hands remain on the bars while shifting. And the times where you'd need that sort of control, you're likely to be in the drops anyway. Pros got along for years with down-tube shifters, remember.
Second, I've got barcons on my Raleigh, and like them. I've not used take-offs, but barcons are easy enough to get to in a group ride situation. Your hands remain on the bars while shifting. And the times where you'd need that sort of control, you're likely to be in the drops anyway. Pros got along for years with down-tube shifters, remember.
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I recently installed Kelly Take-Offs with 7-speed indexing downtube shifters on my rain/beater bike to replace the former 7-speed indexing barcons. I wanted to be able to shift while standing and I could never do that with the barcons and the bike certainly didn't warrent the cost of STI/Ergo's.
Anyway, I'm happy with the change. The Take-Offs aren't as convenient as STI's but they are plenty close enough.
Anyway, I'm happy with the change. The Take-Offs aren't as convenient as STI's but they are plenty close enough.
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Originally Posted by banzai_f16
That's not a bad endorsement. I read on Rivendell's site that the whole thing with the 287 brake lever was meaningless.
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There is another manufacturer of something very similar to Take-Offs. The other one mounts the shifter much closer to the handlebar. There have been recent threads with pictures on bentrideronline about them. Unfortunately I can't remember the maker and I can't seem to get on bentrider at the moment.
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#11
Jet Jockey
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Originally Posted by soonerschwinn
There is another manufacturer of something very similar to Take-Offs. The other one mounts the shifter much closer to the handlebar. There have been recent threads with pictures on bentrideronline about them. Unfortunately I can't remember the maker and I can't seem to get on bentrider at the moment.
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#12
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Originally Posted by soonerschwinn
There is another manufacturer of something very similar to Take-Offs. The other one mounts the shifter much closer to the handlebar. There have been recent threads with pictures on bentrideronline about them. Unfortunately I can't remember the maker and I can't seem to get on bentrider at the moment.
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#13
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I really like the old SunTour nonindexed ratcheting barcons.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
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Originally Posted by John E
I really like the old SunTour nonindexed ratcheting barcons.
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Truly interesting would be a brake lever with an integrated shifter boss. Mount a downtube shifter directly to the brake lever. Could have better cable routing, too.
#16
Jet Jockey
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Originally Posted by K6-III
Truly interesting would be a brake lever with an integrated shifter boss. Mount a downtube shifter directly to the brake lever. Could have better cable routing, too.
I'm working on a simple experiment now with our aluminum metals tech shop with my 440 flat-bar shifters. Hopefully it works out and isn't a total abortion. We'll see in a few days.
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Originally Posted by K6-III
Truly interesting would be a brake lever with an integrated shifter boss. Mount a downtube shifter directly to the brake lever. Could have better cable routing, too.
#18
Jet Jockey
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Originally Posted by HillRider
Except the shift pattern would be "backwards" form normal. To avoid this, you would have to mount the shift levers on the outsides of the brake hoods and they would get in the way of your hands and not be reachable with your thumbs. The Take-Offs avoid this by putting the shift levers on the inside of the brackets and offsetting them away from the insides of the brake levers.