Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
One of the group on that cross country ride had her rear brifter stop working, she had to finish the cross country trip with three gears. Fortunately, she had a triple crank so she had three gears instead of only one or two.
If she was more than a couple days from the end of the trip I'd think she could have installed a bar end or down tube shifter (friction if necessary) if a replacement brifter wasn't available.