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Foot shifting - what could possibly go wrong?

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Foot shifting - what could possibly go wrong?

Old 11-18-21, 07:52 PM
  #26  
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Common practice to use your hand of foot in the early 30s.

_MG_9137 by iabisdb, on Flickr
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Old 11-18-21, 07:58 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by degan
I mean, I guess if you're just trying to maximize usefulness and you don't have the resources for an alternative it works, but I think this guy is doing it not out of necessity but to be real neato.
I think Sheldon Brown would approve. He was all about doing silly impractical things with bikes, just to do it.
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Old 11-18-21, 08:16 PM
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Paul de Vivie (alias Vélocio) recommended using a stick for upshifts and the heel of the boot for downshifts.

Just going back to their roots at Riv, clearly.
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Old 11-18-21, 08:29 PM
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I’ll bet I could pull off this maneuver at least a half dozen times before something tragic happens.
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Old 11-18-21, 08:42 PM
  #30  
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First thought was how gross your shoes would become, followed shortly thereafter by how bad it'd hurt getting your foot stuck.
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Old 11-18-21, 08:47 PM
  #31  
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I think you need to lose the shoelaces...
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Old 11-18-21, 11:11 PM
  #32  
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There are foot-operated rear derailleurs too:


https://www.biciclassiche.com/search/label/Fiochi

Last edited by Reynolds; 11-18-21 at 11:16 PM.
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Old 11-18-21, 11:24 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by gugie
$113.50 could buy you a real nice front derailleur and shift lever.
I saw that, thought 1930s. $5 new.
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Old 11-19-21, 12:03 AM
  #34  
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Note that the video shows this being done on a Riv model that features their now-almost ubiquitous loooooooooooong chainstays. You could park a 1969 Cadillac El Dorado between that seat tube and rear wheel.

I like Riv and buy parts and sometime clothes from them on a semi-regular basis. Will, the Riv employee in the video, is a great guy; you'd be hard pressed to find a friendlier guy. I'm glad Rivendell is there to be a quirky niche voice in the cycling world. But I don't agree with everything Riv. This is one of their ideas I will never adopt. Even if I had a bike with chainstays that long (I don't and likely never will), I do not trust my (fading) coordination nearly enough to risk the potentially really bad outcome of miscalculating. But I'm old and stodgy and allergic to pain. YMMV.
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Old 11-19-21, 12:03 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by iab
Common practice to use your hand of foot in the early 30s.

_MG_9137 by iabisdb, on Flickr
Would love to see a video of that shifting!
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Old 11-19-21, 12:43 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by repechage
Try shifting a Campagnolo Cambio Corsa going up hill.
I am not nearly flexible enough to reach that far back and down, even with one of the "tourist" models with the longer controls.

Note to shift any one of the Campagnolo lever shifters, the chain must be backpedaled, catch the new gear, cock the lever and resume pedaling.
All the while keeping the forward momentum going.
Shifts must be planned in advance so the bike keeps rolling forward.
Dang. So your real name isn't Gino Bartali?
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Old 11-19-21, 11:40 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by gugie
Would love to see a video of that shifting!
I also thought that the last time @iab posted about a Vittoria Margherita! The only video I could find was this one.
Looks like the version in the video has some paddles mounted on the chainstay that guide the chain. Not sure if this is a later version or IAB's photo is of an incomplete drivetrain.
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Old 11-19-21, 12:26 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by tricky
Not sure if this is a later version or IAB's photo is of an incomplete drivetrain.
It is indeed a second gen that came out in 1935-ish. First gen had no paddles and required the use of your hand, foot, stick, etc to move the chain side to side when backpedaling.
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Old 11-19-21, 01:07 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by juvela
-----

...can see the coming thread where enthusiasts argue over which is the best model of Chuck for this practice

next comes mods to shoes

then folks begin selling their mods mailorder...

who knew there was a Converse brand of front mech!
-----
There are also Vans bicycle tyres!
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Old 11-19-21, 01:17 PM
  #40  
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Hey, if you can shift your bar end lever with your knee, riding home from the bar...
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Old 11-19-21, 04:14 PM
  #41  
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I watch this and just feel old... WHY!!!!

And having once, when young, attempted to check my chain with my fingers and getting them sucked in the chain ring, I feel I can ask that question.
And when it finally comes to pass when the foot gets sucked into the tire... the "I told you so" will role right off the tongue without a gram of sympathy.
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Old 11-19-21, 05:01 PM
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Originally Posted by iab
It is indeed a second gen that came out in 1935-ish. First gen had no paddles and required the use of your hand, foot, stick, etc to move the chain side to side when backpedaling.

Oh! I am only just now realizing that the lever by the seat tube is only for tensioning and de-tensioning the chain. It doesn't provided any side to side movement of the chain. Wow
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Old 11-19-21, 06:00 PM
  #43  
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In "The Dancing Chain," Frank Berto talks about cyclists in the 1930s downshifting chainrings with their feet and upshifting by pulling the chain up and over by hand. Okay, I guess ... .
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