I foresee 2015 being the year that road shifters are all useable from the drops to the hoods because those silly thumb clickers are gone! Kind of like when SIS took over all friction shifting systems, or brifters made DT shifters old school.

P.S. I know Campy still has a thumb operation to their shifters, but they're all about nostalgic. Right?

Campy's thumb lever can be reached from the drops.

The only "brifters" that suck in the drops are Sora-Ace(and that has been changed).

I have Campy on one bike and Shimano on my other road bike... I can shift both from the hoods to the drops, no problems and in both directions. Granted, I have big hands... do those with smaller hands find some of the shifters difficult in some positions?

That changed for 2014, even Claris which is the spec below Sora doesn't have the thumb shifters buttons.

Nope. Unless your thumbs are a couple of centimeters long, you can shift from the drops.

I've ridden Campy many times, but you have to twist your wrist to reach and downshift. It's not as ergonomic as SRAM or Shimano's systems in my opinion.

Not my experience at all. I find the thumb shift button in exactly the right location from the drops. Maybe handle bar shape plays a role in this though? Not sure.

If you've been using Shimano "thumb clickers" you should have upgraded your drivetrain years ago. Those groups aren't even on the radar for most cyclists (as opposed to folks who just own a bicycle.)

Notice how I said that even that has been changed?

The OP said for 2015, nothing is changing for 2015, it all changed for 2014 as clarified.

Please shoot me in the head twice.

For the enthusiast for sure, but I imagine there are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions who bought old Sora or 2300 shifters who won't be switching until a shifter breaks.

I've owned Campy many times and have never had to twist my wrist. I prefer Campy over anything. Which sucks since all my current bikes have Shimano.

Haven't tried them, eh ?

Incorrect.

Do you really think that they would overlook a serious design flaw like this? Chances are the idjits who set up the bike did it wrong or you are a troll.

splitting the shifting/downshifting actions into two movements is more ergonomic for me.

The Sora thumb shift levers have been seemingly every entry level bike up until this year

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<------------------ You find this difficult?

Last year's Sora eliminated the thumb shifter. I know because my wife bought a road bike with the now obsolete 2300 gruppo/grupsan.

Another solution in search of a problem.


S

I use to be a bike mechanic, and once worked in marketing, but I am currently a design engineer. The handlebars have been set up fine many times *mechanic*. Campy isn't the italian steed that many think: It's just the most expensive and that makes it cool *marketing*. Campy isn't the top of the line when it comes to performance, but that's the engine *engineer*. And it's funny how touchey posters have been in this thread.

You are Megan Fox, and I claim my $5.




Rode my Mirage shifters today for the first time in months and didn't miss a beat.

I am a designer of bicycle equipment and used to run a Campagnolo Service Center. If you had a problem reaching the thumb shifter then the bars you rode were set up wrong. This is a tired old comment made many times by those with no *hands on* experience with the product. It is utter nonsense.

I have known many bike *mechanics* who didn't know **** esp when it came to setting up Campagnolo. Jack your shifters like some do with Shimano and the thumb shifter on the Campy levers is in the wrong place. This can be a problem but it could with any lever.

If you really are an *engineer* (like on a train?) then you would recognize that the performance difference between Shimano and Campagnolo is non-existent. Both perform amazingly well. Sram? Not so much.

What on earth are you talking about? Campy downshifting is virtually the same ergonomically as the other brands, with the gear lever just inside the break lever. It's the upshifting that's different with the thumbshifter.

And the upshifting works fine in the drops.