albrt 

Funny thing, I posted about the Montagner right after I bought it, and it seemed to draw very little interest. The guy who sold it to me said he got no other calls in 5 days listing on Craigslist. It is somewhat cosmetically challenged and appears to have few if any components from the original build, so I concluded it was a good light frame to play around with for urban riding. I have not seen a bike better suited to my needs in several years of looking. Also, I have not mutilated the frame at all. I was forced to do seatpost removal surgery, but it was successful with only a few small chips to the paint at the top of the seatpost.

nlerner

Yup, as @bulgie shows, standard S-A pulley wheel at the top of the downtube, and cable goes right to the hub indicator along the right side seat stay. You can kinda see it in this pic:

SurferRosa

You sure?

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Classtime 

I guess I'm the only one who feels very unsafe using stem shifters. No way I'd shift during a descent or at any significant speed. Maybe I don't know how to use them properly?

smd4

I guess they're OK if they are original equipment, and one is trying to keep a bike as original as possible.

Why one would use them willingly in any other application is beyond me. Same with (un)safety levers.

genejockey 

Back when I was a dumb kid, in the early 70s, I got a 10 speed, the usual cheap, heavy ones that were popular then. I "upgraded" it with stem-mounted levers and 'turkey levers' for the brakes, and, of course, I road almost exclusively on the tops, so reaching down for DT shifters, or having to get in the drops to brake seemed dangerous!

Then I got a drivers license and essentially didn't ride a bike again for something like 22 years.

When I did start riding again, brifters were available, so I got those, and subsequently rode tens of thousands of miles with them. Then, when I got a hankering for an "old fashioned" bike with DT shifter, I was initially concerned, remembering how terrified I'd been. Turns out, though, that all the time I'd spent riding with the brifters had improved my bikehandling to the point where taking my hand off the bars to shift is no big deal, even when I'm in the drops.

genejockey 

Oh, but the answer to why C&V riders are rarely interested in stem-mounted shifters and turkey levers has to do with why people collect things like bikes, or cars, or watches. Most collectors seem to be most interested in the things they WANTED when they were younger, not the things they HAD. Guys who grew up in families that owned Ford Galaxies and Falcons collect Mustangs and T-birds, not Galaxies and Falcons. Hence, guys like me who grew up with heavy, generic "10 speeds", but wanted a lightweight racing bike collect lightweight racing bikes. So, no stem-mounted levers.

rudypyatt

You can get a new bike with stem shifters. The Windsor Wellington 1.0 is similar:

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I had a Sears Free Spirit 10 speed (heavy, impossible to stop in the rain) as a kid that had stem shifters and turkey wing brake levers. I should get it from my parents’ garage and restore it.

DMC707 

I actually think seeing a Paramount with those is pretty cool !

clubman 

As long as you're wearing Clark's Wallabees.

jon c. 

I always thought they were inconvenient and uncomfortable to use. Didn't like them as a teen and nothing in the intervening half century has changed that opinion.

Jimbo1983

Yeah I should probably apologise, it was slightly tongue in cheek as I live on the other side of the world so shipping it here would be difficult, it's a beautiful frame though. Sorry!

wrk101

It's just a tell tale sign of a low end bike. Typically will have high ten steel frame, stamped dropouts, turkey levers, etc. There are ALWAYS exceptions!

Functionally they work fine. I had a buyer of a Trek 520 that was scared of bar end shifters. I offered to swap them with stem shifters. No charge. Buyer was delighted, seller was too!

For someone doing a MTB drop bar conversion, using stem shifters is the cheapest option, and they work fine!

albrt 

No offense taken. I will take good care of the bike (other than putting hideous components on it), and barring major accidents the frame will not be in substantially worse condition when its time with me is done.

albrt 

I love them for this purpose, but they only work with bikes that have the smaller stems. Most Specialized hardtails took smaller stems, but most Treks don't. I have not found shims or clamp adapters that work.

jonwvara 

I don't scoff at them, but I admit to smirking.

DMC707 

LOL ! I love that image ! --


I turned up precious little photos of stem shiftered Paramounts, but i know they existed as i've seen one or two examples here on the forum in the past --- however,

These ads were pure gold ! The lifestyle they tried to capture -- a fit couple staying "trim", an 'ol boy mackin' on chicks down by the pool, and the - well, - by modern standards that sure is an odd looking picture, but its Kip and Chip from Delta house taking a cruise around campus wearing spring fashionable attire !

I found a couple of pics of Schwinns with stem shifters but they were Continentals,

clubman 

It's astounding that humans were able to couple up while wearing 60's fashion. Such a turn-off.

Oh yeah, you take them off. Carry on Chip!

DiabloScott

I learned to scoff at stem shifters very early in my cycling life because I wanted to fit in with the racer crowd... just being snobby.

But on those really tall bikes where you really tall guys have to reach way down to access downtube shifters... and for whatever reason electronic shifting or brifters are not options... stem shifters are better than barcons. I have never owned one but the bikes I've ridden with barcons were knee hazards.

smd4

The less-expensive mid-1980s Centurions in my local shop—including my new Sport DLX—had stem shifters. And a bolt-on rear axle. The Prestige was not so equipped.

It was a no-brained what kind of shifters my next bike would have.

cudak888 

"Well, would you look at that. No stem shifters. And if the saddle is lowered just a bit, I might fit it."

No joke, she's looking directly where stem shifters would be mounted if they were there. That's the reason this photo exists.



Also, why is Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane hawking Schwinn Paramounts?

-Kurt

3alarmer 

.


...I remembered that I set up a Raleigh Competition once with stem shifters, a long time ago when I hurt my back. Scoff if you want to, but it was either that or quit riding for a while.




...but after all the peer pressure I got for it from C+V people, I eventually switched them over to barcons.

smd4

Take the stem shifters over Barcons. It’s between road rider and tourist at that point.

dddd

In fairness to bar-end levers, one is supposed to first shorten (cut) the handlebar drops by at least an inch when installing them.

This 1975 Schwinn (with it's modified original steel handlebar and lengthened (by 2cm) stem) needed it's handlebar trimmed even when using "stem" levers, though only because of the bar's odd dimensions and that the Electro-forged Schwinn frames have such a short reach for their height (credit to the 70-degree seat tube angle, which pulls about three cm out out of the reach dimension).



Yeah, that's a Garmin and clipless pedals on a Varsity.

Fredo76

Luckily I did not ask BF members for permission or approval before putting on a taller stem and stem shifters as one of my first geezer modifications, primarily for safety reasons, as it's a long reach down there for me on my 26-inch frame, and I am not as flexible as I used to be.



Fredo at Rio Grande

They are working well for me, almost as well as DT shifters, with the stiff, skinny Jagwire cables, and the Suntour barrel-style shifters. I always thought that the separate barrel looked kinda clunky and heavy, but boy does it work well. Just one JIS screwdriver to tighten, and it won't scratch up your stem, either.



Suntour stem shifters are just so cool!

My magnificant 'cockpit', above, and I typed that with a straight face!