iarefred

hey friends. so i'm wondering what you guys think about racing on downtube shifters? in about a month i'm looking to make my racing debut (crit). my bike is an allez steel.

Phantoj

Go for it!

M_FactorX19

shouldnt be a problem. especially i you are use to them. remeber they use to race on them back in the day and brifters arent going to make you win the race nor will DT shifters make you lose.

bikes dont win races riders do. good luck and be safe!

merlinextraligh

We did it for years. You'll be at an extremely slight disadvantage. Biggest thing is that you won't be able to upshift in a sprint ( unless you've mastered the technique of doing it with your knee). So you'll need to pick a gear for the sprint and stay with it.

Also, you'll tend to shift less in and out of corners, which may be slightly more fatiguing than being in the right gear all the time.

That said the advantage of integrated shifters is pretty small, and it's highly unlikely it will make any difference in your placing. So don't let the bike hold you back.

caloso

You'll be fine. Ride hard. Good luck!

Psimet2001 

No worries, but you'll have to race smarter. Think in advance.

urbanknight

No problem. The only time I felt hindered by downtube shifters was when I was in the final sprint and the 2 guys who beat me were able to shift while sprinting while I just threw the lever down and mashed. Of course, I got brifters the next season.

carpediemracing 

For an inexpensive fix, get a right side bar end shifter. Cut the bar back just a touch so your bars are the same length. Or cut them down more so that you have a more usable bit of bar (I cut about 2 inches off the end of my bars).

https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...for-crits.html

But for use right now you'll be fine. As mentioned above you'll need to anticipate some of your shifts. Other times you'll have to deal with a short period of over- or under-gearing.

Good luck
cdr

ultraman6970

Go for it dude, besides, nobody has time for shifting in criteriums, once you are in a gear basically the whole race will be in the same gear, maybe one gear lighter but besides that, criteriums are like that. Race smart and in the front (1st 10 positions) all the time.

Now you will discover that from the 10 gears you will use no more than 4 or 3 all the time

Psimet2001 

I can't disagree more. Sure when it's smooth and long then yeah, but a bunched up technical crit with 100 of your closest friends is a veritable shift fest every time some 20 yr old thinks he's smarter than everyone else in the pack, or when all of a sudden the front is swamped by a bunch of guys who've been told to race in the first 10 positions but none of them want to actually be on the front so the race comes to a veritable standstill.

Remember - this is the OP's first race so it will be cat 5 and even worse.
Race smart and in the front (1st 10 positions) all the time.

- better yet just ride out front and win every race. That way you can always pick the line you want....

OP - just race/ride within your ability. Riding nearer the front you will find there is less of a surge around every corner. Be smart, pick your lines and look at the riders around you. If you notice someone is grabbing a handful of brake in every corner than get away from them. Look for ways to carry speed through corners reducing your need to shift. That's good advice - integrated shifters or DT shifters.

Crappymonkey

I did it last year on my Cannondale. It works fine but I think I was the only person using DT shifters

Zillon

Do it.

I've done it for the past two years with some success - no wins, but a couple top-10s. I'm not really a road racer, just a mountain biker throwing himself into collegiate road races for training purposes. This year, I upgraded to brifters, but there's no shame in racing with downtube shifters. I actually enjoyed the reaction of shock I would get from other racers when I would pull up next to someone and reach down to click into the next gear and proceed to stand up and drop them on a climb. It's a great feeling.

In fact, racing with DT shifters will make you a smarter racer and make you much more aware of what gear you are in and what gear you will need. It will also teach you to anticipate certain elements of races, such as sprints, jumps, etc.

Just go for it.

iarefred

cool. thanks everyone. my only reservation was the final sprint, but ima win it for ya.

DinoShepherd

I was the last kid in the SoCal college racing scene to hold onto downtube. Really never felt at a disadvantage even for springs.

Spin out - sit down - shift - stand again. Really not a big deal.

I later changed to STI and was disappointed my results didn't appreciably improve.

- Z

Zillon

Also, unless your derailleur hanger is severely bent or your cables are ridiculously gunked up... DT shifters usually always work.

clink83

Even better is indexed DTs shifters that can be turned to friction mode..

ciocc_cat

"Smart shifting" (anticipating your opponents' next move and shifting accordingly) is a powerful tool that will enable even an old-fart like me riding a "vintage" steel frame to beat someone at least 20 years my junior on a CF superbike to the line. The problem with modern brifters is that they often encourage those with more $ than common sense to shift more often than they need to. I'll usually upshift a wee bit early and pedal at a slightly lower cadence while sucking my mark's wheel, then hammer it in and blow by brifter-boy over the line. Doesn't always work, but it has worked enough.

Ultimately, its the MOTOR (that's you) that makes the difference. Not the bike.

Btw - I hate crits. Too many opportunities for a "demolition derby" when you're Cat V/IV - JMHO. Give me a road race or a time trial any day.

socalrider

Once you the learn the art of the right knee shift, you will rock it during the sprints.. That is how we did in the 80's..

Zillon

Indeed. 'twas what I rode with.

I wish I had thought of this myself or even heard of it before now... I might've hung onto my DT shifters a little longer.

stien

Seems like you'd have to finesse a knee shift or you'd end up with a bloody knee. Finesse is not synonymous with sprinting in my mind. A lost art I'm sure.

I don't feel much slower on my DT shifted bike btw, plus it's much more thrilling to ride for some reason.

socalrider

It was even trickier before Shimano came out with index shifting, with DA 6 speed.. When Campy Nuovo and Super Record dominated the fields of all races, shifting during crits required quite a bit of finesse..

ultraman6970

More than finesse you need it to know what you were doing.

About the shifting, ex tracker here, never used more than 3 cogs out of the 6 i had in the clusters. What i been noticing lately it is a tendency for new comers and weekend warriors to shift like crazy monkeys when is not even that necessary some times. Well whatever

ciocc_cat

It certainly did! Ahhhh, those were the days . . .

Phantoj

if you contest the final sprint in your first crit, you are one in a thousand!

ultraman6970

The good old days