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What are brifters?

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Old 03-30-08 | 07:26 PM
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What are brifters?

What the title says.

Last edited by cb400bill; 06-03-21 at 09:30 AM.
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Old 03-30-08 | 07:28 PM
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brakes + shifter = brifters
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Old 03-30-08 | 07:28 PM
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brake levers + gear shifters in the same unit.
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Old 03-30-08 | 07:28 PM
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"Brifter" is a concatenation of "brake-shifter" lever.


Edit: (Wow, a three-way tie in responses . . . I don't know if I've ever seen that before.)
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Old 03-30-08 | 07:29 PM
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Nice use of the word concatenation.
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Old 03-30-08 | 07:33 PM
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i just call them shifters
brifters sounds ugly.
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Old 03-30-08 | 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by veggiemafia
Nice use of the word concatenation.
+1. must be a programmer.
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Old 03-30-08 | 07:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Dynamic
i just call them shifters
brifters sounds ugly.
But they are NOT just shifters.
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Old 03-30-08 | 08:23 PM
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Originally Posted by halfspeed
But they are NOT just shifters.
They're either S.T.I. Dual Control Levers, Ergopower Controls, or DoubleTap Controls. Or brifters.
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Old 03-30-08 | 08:31 PM
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I hate the word. It's dicky. Everyone knows what 'levers' do, and those that don't definitely wouldn't know what 'brifters' are. Shimano, Campag or Sram don't use the word...
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Old 03-30-08 | 08:32 PM
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Bifters is a made up work found mainly here on BF. It's sort of like the made up words they try to make you use at Starbucks when ordering.

Last edited by Cyclist01012; 03-31-08 at 02:47 PM. Reason: mis spelling
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Old 03-30-08 | 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by 531Aussie
I hate the word. It's dicky. Everyone knows what 'levers' do, and those that don't definitely wouldn't know what 'brifters' are. Shimano, Campag or Sram don't use the word...
agreed. I hate the word as well.
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Old 03-30-08 | 09:50 PM
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Brifter is a portmanteau of brake and shifter.

vocabulary++
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Old 03-30-08 | 10:35 PM
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bar end shifters... who am I kidding, the is road cycling.
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Old 06-03-21 | 04:18 PM
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Originally Posted by ted ward
Brifter is a portmanteau of brake and shifter.

vocabulary++
Brake & Shifter:

Concatenation: brakeshifter

Portmanteau: brifter
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Old 06-03-21 | 05:11 PM
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I hate the word. I'm boycotting the forum unless it's renamed.
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Old 06-03-21 | 06:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Viich
I hate the word. I'm boycotting the forum unless it's renamed.
It looks like Shimano calls their STI stuff "dual action control levers" without trademarking the phrase. Do you like that better?

I'm boycotting the forum until someone precisely defines what's early and what's not. I'd also like to see clarification as to whether 7-speed controls produced after the introduction of 10-speed still qualify.
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Old 06-03-21 | 07:18 PM
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimano_Total_Integration

Shimano Total Integration (STI) is a gearshift system designed by Shimano for racing bicycles. It combines the braking and gear shifting controls into the same component. This allows shifting gears without having to remove a hand from the bars, unlike previous down tube shifting systems. This component is usually referred to as a "shifter" or "dual-control levers", or occasionally "brifters".

In 1990, Shimano introduced their STI shifting levers for road bicycles, which completely integrated the brake lever and shifter.

In 1992, the other major global producer in bicycle components, Campagnolo, collaborated with the Sachs company to produce their ErgoPower system...
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Old 06-03-21 | 07:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
It looks like Shimano calls their STI stuff "dual action control levers" without trademarking the phrase. Do you like that better?

I'm boycotting the forum until someone precisely defines what's early and what's not. I'd also like to see clarification as to whether 7-speed controls produced after the introduction of 10-speed still qualify.
My 9-speed Sora R3000 group was bought brand new in 2018. So, I clearly cannot put it in the same place as my Campagnolo Racing Triple/Veloce 9-speed group.

No?

And am I the only one who thinks of 1950's doo wop groups when I hear about the brifters?
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Old 06-04-21 | 12:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Viich
I hate the word. I'm boycotting the forum unless it's renamed.
...shrakes ?
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Old 06-04-21 | 12:29 PM
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Bifters

or maybe, “front levers”

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Old 06-04-21 | 04:39 PM
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Originally Posted by 3alarmer
...shrakes ?
I don't see how this is different from the Road Cycling forum. Those bikes are obviously not old enough to be C&V, because that would mean that I'm old, so they're just not the newest spec stuff.
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Old 06-04-21 | 05:15 PM
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Brifter - definition: a brake lever with better things to do.
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Old 06-04-21 | 05:19 PM
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Originally Posted by BFisher
My 9-speed Sora R3000 group was bought brand new in 2018. So, I clearly cannot put it in the same place as my Campagnolo Racing Triple/Veloce 9-speed group.

No?

And am I the only one who thinks of 1950's doo wop groups when I hear about the brifters?
I think the same years, but "The Brifting Blues" by Charles Brown, later recorded as "Brifting and Brifting" by Paul Butterfield.
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Old 06-04-21 | 05:36 PM
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