I need a solution to mount the shifter on a new build. I'm not paying 60 bucks for the barend adaptor, and Id rather not wait for the thorn accessory bar to arrive (plus it is black, which would be gauche on this build)

anyone know of any other elegant solutions? do I have to have a 22mm section of tubing welded to a 1-1/8th headset spacer?

what about the clamp-on nitto lamp holder? anyone own one and want to take measurements for me?

Ideas?!?

I just used the mountain bike bar end extension mounted to the stem and sawn down to appropriate length, as suggested on Sheldon Brown's site. Seemed the most elegant (er, least ugly) and economical method.

Pics (excuse bad quality, just snapped these a minute ago)

I would love to do that, alas, threadless steertube- this is why I would love to find a spacer with a section of 22mm tube.... How do you like the shifter in that position? It seems the best to me, but i waffle as to whether I want it on the bar end.

Nice merc by the way...

Thanks! Love this bike.

I like the shifter in that position fine, though being an ass about aesthetics, it would be a little functionally nicer if I mounted it higher and damned the looks - but not enough to actually do it.

One thing about the Rohloff (if you haven't used yours yet) is that it inspires you to shift a whole lot more, and while I enjoyed the ease of STI shifters for years and years on my Bianchi, for the last few years my ride-about-town bike has been a Bike Friday with barcons, and since I rarely ride in the drops this is no worse, and even a little better since it's a single shifting operation rather than using two shifters.

I'm not sure, but you might still be able to mount one of these on your threadless because of the leeway you have in a semi open-ended mount like this (it attaches the same way the stem clamps the bars, with a little allen bolt to tighten it), though it would probably be tight. If you happen to be in the WNY area, I have the other bar end and would be happy to give it to you so you could try.

thanks for the offer, I do have a perfect little barend for that purpose, but there's just no way its going to fit the larger steertube...

I know a machinist/artist who might be able to sort out a piece for me, but itll take some time; hes working on an X-ray pinhole camera made out of titanium, tungsten and leaded glass to take photos of particle destruction in the high energy synchotron at stanford university- and I think that takes priority over my bike parts... i cant imagine why.

edit: heres one of his cameras...https://www.boyofblue.com/cameras/hiv.html (in case its of interest)

Bah! Hrmm...I wonder if there's a bar-end or some similar thing to accommodate a larger gauge tube. I'm sure your (what sounds like ingenious) friend could figure out something, ya. I did not like the barcon Rohloff thing at all. It not only looks odd, but seeing the two cables coming out of it seems to me potentially awkward. There was a German company called Norwid (?) that made a steerer with a welded-on piece of tube jutting out of the side, and I think that was threadless, but if I remember correctly it was pricy.

That camera is wild!

Edit: Found it. At the bottom. https://www.norwid.de/komponenten.html

I've nothing to add except that I'm curious about the piano. What make is it? I have a small Schiedmayer & Soehne myself, from 1920s (fully restored though).

--J

It's a 1996 Steinway M (NYC-built). Thinking of trading it in for an Estonia and the extra change.

I take it you're a pianist then? Me too; mostly 19th - 20th century literature (Ravel is probably my favorite) and jazz (Bill Evans-ish player)

I used to. I play far too seldom nowadays, I should really sell the thing to some young and ambitious aspiring future professional. I just cannot make that decision, that piano was a big part of my life for several years.

Trading a Steinway for an Estonia? Do you do your own tuning and repairs?

--J

Didn't I see that bike on the Campus Wheel Works Facebook page? Super envious, that's a gorgeous build.

What sort of music do you generally play on it?

Heh, Estonias have higher and higher reputations these days since the business was taken over by Indrek Laul in 1995 and he started to work on making a world-class brand out of them. They are known at least here in the US as a tremendous value with the European characteristic of a more fundamental tone rather than the NYC Steinway overtone-heavier one. I actually have never played an Estonia. I've just read about them, but their current reputation makes me want to try one and see.

I love the Steinway with a great, great love, but if I found something of comparable (or better?) value and could get back some extra money to put away, I would.

Yep! Ethan built it up for me. Are you a Buffalonian?

that norwid system would be perfect, alas, I just bought a nice silver stem. Could I drill and tap the aluminum stem to mount a post you think? (asking for disaster, Im sure, but I would try it...)

Someone needs to sort out this one issue with the rohloff.

There are people who have made their own shifters too. The inner mechanism of the shifter itself is super-simple.

https://www.minortriad.com/twist.html



I agree there needs to be a better solution to the shifter and drop bars, but there are alternatives out there if one is resourceful enough.

yeah, I saw that wood shifter. I like it very much- I just wish i could buy an aluminum version! Im not that crafty yet

There's a link in that above link to this, though the price is a bit stupid.

https://www.mittelmeyer.de/html/rennlenker.htm

I've put a 22.2mm twist shifter on "drop bars" two ways. One is to use a flat MTB bar; put the shifter on that, then mount drop bar extensions like these, and put your brake levers on those. I had to try several different brake levers before I found some that fit (Shimano RSX-100 aero levers fit).
This worked fine. It was very strong. I didn't like it because it was so ugly.

Another way to do it... cut your drop bar somewhere to the right of center and find a section of tubing that fits snugly inside it... drill and tap several holes through the aluminum bar and put set screws in to hold it all together.... and wrap something (aluminum beer can scrap? around the section of thinner tubing to get it up to 22.2 mm where you mount the shifter. This is the setup I'm currently running on my touring bike (with a Shimano Nexus 8 hub). No problem so far. It looks much better than the first method, but somehow I doubt it's as strong.

Yeah, raised in Buffalo though currently living in Fredonia. Knew I recognized that bike from somewhere!

Have you done much touring from out of Buffalo?

I love to play Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy. But they take some dedication. Also jazz standards and I like to make quick & dirty pop song arrangements, never to be heard again. But mostly I get my musical kicks from choral music nowadays.

Regarding Estonias, you're right, they have a decent reputation today around here as well. They suffer from the fact that decades ago many people had to play Estonias that weren't up to the task at that time. Takes a long time to cure that.

--J

Right on! Used to date a girl who studied at Fredonia, so I know the area. I didn't think there were any other tourists around here.

I've toured around WNY pretty extensively, yes, though I'm more of a bike camper. I like the Buffalo to Letchworth ride a lot, and I do weekend stealth camps at various state parks and public use lands within 60 miles of here.

If I have the time, I like to tackle Buffalo-to-Allegheny. If you ever decide to tour there, there's an old service road that cuts into the Appalachian trail and empties out into the, uh, metropolis of Steamburg, NY, where you don't have to take the giant hill into or out of the park on a loaded bike. It's kind of hard to spot, but the exit onto this road from inside the park is right at exit 19 just before the highway.

For real international touring stuff, I've only ever really taken the Bike Friday through 500 miles of Thailand along the Andaman Sea. When I lived in California I pretty much functioned like I do here, bike camping, only through miles and miles of excellent vineyards. You?

Aha, excellent! A well-rounded musician! Beethoven, Chopin, and Debussy are big favorites of mine too, but like you said, it's hard work. Sometimes I need sabbaticals, so I take them. Right now I'm working on a lot of Ravel and some Scriabin, but I always come back to those three you named at some point.