Bike Forums - Stem Shifters

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Quote:

Originally Posted by wrk101 (Post 11879586)

Be careful with any hard and fast rule. You could get a nice Paramount in the 1970s with turkey levers. But 99.9% of the time, it is a sure sign of a cheap bike.

Consider adding QR hubs to your quick glance list. As a minimum, a decent bike will almost always come with at least a QR front, and usually, both ends QR.

Indeed. Even the World Voyageur I sold you had turkey wings on it.

One thing that stem shifters are good for is flipper bikes. For some reason the less a person knows about cycling, the more they want turkey wings and stem shifters.

I've also found stem shifters to be good for converting beater MTB's into city bikes. They already have the downtube cable stops and used stem shifters are easy to come by. (At least at the local co-op they are).

I love my bar end shifters though, I have 8 speed shimanos on my t700 and my rockhopper, and will probably find a set when I'm building my trike. just wish the rear one didn't require a tandem cable...

Stem shifters work great on city/campus bikes, and most of the women I sell bikes to seem to prefer them. When I build up a small frame set for resale, I always install stem shifters if I have any laying about. They are wonderful for casual and/or more upright riders. Ditto for safety levers. Properly set up, they are a very nice convenience to have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by corkscrew (Post 11882291)

For some reason the less a person knows about cycling, the more they want turkey wings and stem shifters.
...

Thanks, I like turkey wings and stem shifters.:notamused:

I prefer the stem shifter, shifting gears stem or down tube is an interruption for the reach any way you look at it. Stem shifters being mounted on the stem are one less threaded item that is welded to the frame that could be stripped out somehow ? Or have paint chipped off and develop rust ?

I like em as well. I have them on my commuter( cheap ) and they came on the 80"s Raleigh reliant mixte I am building up, I have no plans on changing them out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nlerner (Post 11879524)

Huret stem shifters came standard on my '74 Raleigh Super Tourer--full 531 frameset, Huret Jubilee mechs, Stronglight 93 cranks:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GmYBBzTzcVQ/Sn...erTourer10.jpg

In other words, they weren't always found on low-end bikes (though they mostly were).

Neal

I put some Huret (a little longer than these) on a 78 Peugeot UO8 because they are French and were 4$. There's no room on the DT because of braze on cable stops. Polished up they look good on that bike with all it's chrome. It's heavier than the dickens anyway. They seem smooth but I haven't ridden it yet.