I finally rid my bike of those pesky Ultegra STI brifters that failed to shift after 1500 miles.

I replaced them with Cane Creek brake levers and my shifting is now down tube specific.

A gram or two lighter and some better looks makes all the difference.

I think at this point my commuter/racer is complete and I am very happy with it.

It took me 10 years but I finished it.

Steel Frame 853 I think
Bontrager Race Bars
Cane Creek Levers
Sram Apex brakes
Swiss Stop Pads
Look Carbon Fork
Rol Volant Wheels
FSA Energy 53/39 (it is a triple but I removed the granny)
Sram Power Link 9 speed
Hyperglide 12/25 cassette
Truvativ GigaPipe ISIS BB
105 Rear D
Ultegra Front D
Light weight commuter pedals
Pake Space Straps and plastic clips
23c Dillos
Ritchey Head set
Ritchey WCS seat post
Trek commuter saddle.

She flies and climbs hills, its like a new bike.

I'll say it first: This thread is worthless without pics.

Pics?

STI brifters are nice, but I have found that indexed DT shifters are good enough for me on a couple bikes I own and I kinda like them. I never would have thought that I would say that. I guess part of it is I am more budget-minded than being able to shift at a moment's notice. I'll probably have another STI brifter bike at some point though.

Soooo..... what didja do with the Ultegras?

It's good to hear people are still very much fond of non-STI shifting. I've only used STI shifted road bikes since I started commuting/cycling regularly, but I'm building a 1x8 commuter that will utilize a bar-end shifter and I'm unsure if I'll like it. Posts like these make me think I'll get by without STI just fine.

It is a requirement if one posts a brag (and it appears a well played one) to include pics. I ran a 1x9 for a while with a $1.99 thumb shifter and it was just fine. I do prefer my STI though.

The 2 bikes I have DT STI shifting on have at most 10 total usable gears because of cross chaining so its not like I shift a ton with those bikes. I am starting to see the reason people go to the 1X__ setup more than I did before because depending on what you rode before you don't give up much in the way of gearing. I think you will like your setup.

I just got rid of flatbar brifters for downtubes. No regrets.

As long as we're ripping on STI, I'll just state that I've switched to Campy ErgoPower shifters. You can mix Campy shifters with Shimano rear derailleurs by using the proper Jtek "Shiftmate".

Campy shifters are relatively easy to repair. Why Shimano thought having the brake lever double as a shift lever was a good idea is beyond me.

I do not have a camera or a phone. My co worker does. Perhaps she can snap a quick pic for me.

As far as the ultegras go the left one shifts a three speed I think. I have not used it in a while the right is crapped out. They work as brake levers. The right one has some cosmetic damage as I took a spill on some light rail tracks.

My DTs are Sachs-Hurets. According to Sheldon they are neo-retro friction or something like that. I'll get a pic up as soon as I can.

Prolly tonight. (I use Prolly cause it annoys some)

This was a pic I posted before the change from STI, so if you can imagine black on black Cane Creek levers with Apex Brakes.

BTW the white wrap on the TT is to protect the underside from brake cable rattle. The cable stripped the paint off the underside of the tube. I am going to touch up the under side tonight and get rid of the wrap.

Yea. I've moved to SRAM and one of the things I really like is that the brake lever feels like a brake lever. Firm, stiff and precise. The lever on my shimano brifters felt wobbly (because it could move in) and I think because of how they made the lever or pivot it feels like it's bending under hard braking.

The other thing I like is that I can wrap my hands around the non-shimano stuff. I understand that giant freaks of nature, err I mean tall people, feel the opposite way. I only hope that with electric someone realizes they can make 12 different brifter shapes with nearly no R&D...

i love indexed DT shifters.
so snappy

I'm a big fan of bar ends. Handy, functional, and reliable.

I feel that my bar ends are safer for me than reaching toward the down tube when bike handling/control is an issue. I can keep most of my fingers around the bar while still shifting. This allows me to stand up or deal with potholes while shifting more confidently.

I like the simplicity of maintaining friction shifting for my beater commuter. I do think I've lost a little bit of responsiveness due to the extra cable length. (This is a 1982 Trek 500 that I converted from down tube shifters.) But on a new bike I prefer brifters.

+1 on the friction.

I have one bike that is full-friction with bar-end shifters, one that is SIS with head-tubes, and one STI with brifters, in order of preference. It is all about maintainability.

Stem mounted friction shifters here. I wouldn't do brifters.