Originally Posted by
Cycle Tourist
OK. Now I know I'm taking heresy here but why are these things verboten. When I learned that stem shifters were not cool I moved to install bar end shifters in my cro-mo Shwinn and likewise when I changed a gearset on my first racing bike, off came the pie plate for the same reason. Recently I've been updating some vintage bikes from 6 to 7 speeds and found some very cheap thumb shifters that look like a good fit. Yes, I know they are meant to fit a much narrower bar but assuming I can get around that problem, is it so different to use thumb shifters rather than barends.
I was recently beat out by a last second bid on a nice set of indexed bar ends and some very low priced thumb shifters popped up as an alternative. I remember some reference to stem shifters being inaccurate because of the longer routing or that they were dangerous when being launched over the handlebars. I always found other things to be worried about as I flew over the handlebars and the stem shifters I have used seem as percise as any other. Why do bike manufacturers include a plastic or metal spoke protector on all bikes? The minor weight penalty seems insignificant to all but the most competitive cyclists and the rather remote possibly of bouncing a chain or running over a stick causing the chain to get caught in the spokes seems like a reasonable precaution. While upgrading my personal old Cannondale I again considered leaving off the plastic pie plate but since everything fit perfectly without removing it, I once again left it on. While being passed on a hill by a rider 50 years my junior riding a carbon fiber wonder I'll probably receive a derisive snort but I've outgrown the need to be cool. Heck, I will probably get passed by a thirteen years old girl on a Huffy with a plaid skirt carrying a book bag so the cool ship has probably already sailed anyway.
So I put it to you, is their any legitimate reason for eschewing the venerable pie plate and stem shifters and for riders that spend nearly all their time on the tops of road bars why not use thumb shifters? Let the discussion begin.
,,,,,so you have outgrown the Cool facter, I don't know if that's a good thing , you know you can be slower and still be cool I'm finding that out right now myself,,,, I'm realizing there's a whole different lifeform in the slower ranks and it's easier to be cool if you're not out there trying to be number one at every event, obviously those times have passed for you and me by the way you're talking,,, so I say keep all the coolness you still have, buy some more if you want just use them in other ranks,,,,, I've gone so far as to start a new club,,,,,, yeah,,,, The used to be fast/ faster ridding group,,,,,, they're starting to pay attention to the idea,,,,,