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my knee shift comment was really just a vague recollection I have, can't recall if an old roommate told me that, or I read it, or who knows--a 35 year old plus "sort of" memory....but thats funny that you reckon its a baloney line.
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I was not going to say anything on the knee thing, but I think I once bumped my knee on a bar end shifter and the unplanned whack on the side of the handlebar coupled with an unplanned sudden upshift almost made me crash. I can't see anyone intentionally trying to use their knee to push on a lever that is attached to their steering controls when they are cycling in a high stress situation, especially if there was no reason to not use their hand for that purpose.
But I could see some racer saying the knee thing as a line of BS that was intended to impress those that were gullible.