I have seen some things recently described as retro. I understood the word to mean that it was a new part to fit only an older obsolete application. Like a complete friction shifter assembly with frame strap would be retro. This would allow one to install a set of friction shifters on a bike with no shifter bosses. Some time ago, I saw a listing for "Simplex retrofriction" shifters. Today, retro brake levers. Is the word "retro" simply being used in place of old? Retrofriction is really just an ordinary shifter...Right?

I thinks it's often a hopeful description used to generate interest and/or justify a price. I ignore it, because it's used so widely, I can never be sure what it means. Still, when I see it on CL, I look at the listing...so it works, in that regard.

I agree with Robbie.

Looking at CL listings this morning, I observed many folks using this to market old, beat up bicycles.

If we say retro in the ad, we surely "can add a couple hundred" must be their line of thought.

Certainly a tiresome expression when used in that regard.

"Retro" basically means backward. In the case of Retrofriction shifters, I would surmise that the name came from the concept that the internal spring provided a counteracting (backward) force to obviate slippage. In rocketry, it's a rocket that blows in the reverse direction.

I think for everything else it's just a marketing buzzword: I.e., anything that harkens back to an earlier stage or period.

Retro is sometimes used in reference to style, izznit? Something styled to look old-ish but is in fact quite new. But what do I know?

Actually, I think the Simplex "retrofriction" is some kind of one-way clutch arrangement. Supposed to provide very light downshift action because you're not pulling against both the derailleur spring AND lever friction.

And as far as the term "retro", AFAIAC it just means new crap designed to look old without any regard to the the qualities that made the old stuff good in the first place.

SP
OC, OR

...and a style always popular when the population can't really get comfortable with the social upheaval that modern technology causes. Just look at the history. Industrial revolution breaks out, and boom, everybody build ugly neo-gothic crap and people like sir Walter Scott and Henri Conscience suddenly start writing tales of knights and damsels. The internet hits, and now all the hipster kids want to dress like their grand parents while watching Mad Men and riding on vintage bikes or modern knock offs. Me included!

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[TD="class: word"]retro[/TD]
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[TD][/TD]
[TD="class: text, colspan: 2"]When someone wears an old style clothing that was popular years past. This can include vintage hairstyles, shoes, pants, shirts, jewelry, etc.
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https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=retro

riding an old bike to be cool, retro

Well said! Cheers ... Lorne/Lenton

No, Retrofriction is not an ordinary friction shifter. You really don't know that? I would have thought that someone that has been around bikes for as long as you obviously have would know about Simplex Retrofrictions.

Our local CL has turned into a joke, it's the same overpriced, overposted garbage every day.

How is it different though?

They have a spring that "assists" in shifting.

https://www.classiclightweights.co.uk...omponents.html

> Our local CL has turned into a joke, it's the same overpriced, overposted garbage every day.

I feel your pain. And the keyword spamming is out of control.

The coil spring spreads as it uncoils, putting pressure on the friction disks. This counteracts the pull of the derailer spring on the cable. The pressure required to move the lever in either is nearly equal and very light. No readjustment is necessary once they're set up correctly. Many of us consider them to be the best friction shifters ever made. Some pros insisted on using them on the Campy-equipped bikes. There is also a very rare bar end version. I have the first generation downtube version and the bar end version and I love them.

Great thanks for the info! I do love my Suntour bar end shifters that are "Retrofriction". That little *click* is a satisfying sound to my ears. I do think the term retrofriction is odd though. Any idea why they chose to call it that?

I think of retro as "throwback" or a nod to the past, but new. Such as the new VW Beetle, or 60's mod inspired clothing, but with a modern twist...so not an exact reproduction of the past. I do see a lot of British folks using the term retro simply to mean old, especially in eBay.u.k. ads. Like "retro 1974 Holdsworth Mistral" so there seems to be some cross over usage of the term.

I also find "retrofit" a bit odd. It's one of those terms that doesn't really fit what it describes IMO

Retrogressive. Just like me.

SunTour bar ends don't operate the same way. I've seen people refer to them as retrofriction, but that's incorrect. They operate with a micro-ratcheting mechanism to help hold the tension and have no spring.

Yes, I figured they differed somehow. Suntour uses a term like "ratcheting power shift" or something. Maybe I'll have to keep an eye out for the Simplex ones, I'm curious to try them now.

I dislike the Suntour ratcheting shifters because they click. Friction shifters shouldn't click, IMO.

Golly! - I would have them on (almost) every bike if I could! (Of course, I haven't tried Simplex Retrofrictions (yet)).

I like components that work well, regardless of the sound they make. Some of my favorite bike parts click, like when you have a Sturmey Archer AW 3 speed hub tuned just right and you get that nice steady ticking in 2nd gear. Music to my ears.

So can ANYONE shed some light on why Simplex calls them "Retrofriction?"

I thought Justin and Auchen covered it pretty well. The spring add resistance against (backward, retro) the pull of the derailleur spring to lighten its action.

As for me, I like my "friction" shifters to click a little. The micro-ratchet allows the shifter to hold its position without requiring as much friction as the older-style friction shifters. Thanks, Shimano and SunTour!

Right on, it didn't seem as though there was a definitive source for the information, but it does make sense the way auchencrow explains it.