Bmach

Why do people use the term brifter when the manufactures don’t use the term? Am I missing something?

HTupolev

Because most of the terms used by manufacturers refer specifically to their proprietary implementations, and for a general term, "brifter" has far fewer syllables than "integrated brake/shift lever."

Crankycrank

This. I'm a slow typist and brifter is far easier to type. Carbon Fiber = CF, Bottom Bracket = BB, etc. Of course sometimes you need to elaborate. My neighbor is young and in the Navy and every conversation with her is abbreviation & acronym hell .

70sSanO

It actually happened in the 90’s. When Shimano came out with their STI shifters, there needed to be a distinction between the traditional down tube shifters that were just called shifters and the new integrated brake and shifter system.

So you couldn’t call STI levers 8 speed shifters, because there were other 8 speed shifters available. And because they were not just shifters, as noted above, the term brifter was coined. Today the term shifters or road shifters would probably suffice since there are no other road type shifters offered for the current groups.

What is interesting is that when mountain bike trigger shifters came out, the term triggers were used, but that has not stuck over the years, although it is sometimes used, people just talk shifters.

John

HTupolev

There are, to a degree. The TT/Tri market has helped keep bar-end shifters slightly alive on the high-end market, and Shimano actually still sells an 8-speed downtube shifter under Claris. Outside of the major brands, there are loads of such shifters still available.

"Road shifter" isn't a good substitute for "brifter" because it's both less specific and more of a mouthful. "Shifter" isn't a bad phrase, but it's not useful for distinguishing among shifter types.

That's a very different situation from brifters. "Trigger" refers to the shift lever mechanism, not the degree of integration. In the MTB world, they get called "trigger" shifters when there's a reason to distinguish them from "thumb" shifters.

Miele Man

Brifter is a conjunction of BRake and shIFTER and precisely describes what the combination brake and ****fing mechanism is and what it does. More so, since in the Shimano product the brake lever itself is used to do some of the shifting,

Cheers

andrewclaus

We English speakers love combining words, that's all. Smog, Brexit, brunch, motel, Medicare, paratrooper are examples. They're called portmanteaus.

HillRider

What's wrong with "brifter"? It accurately describes the combination shifter/brake lever and avoids copyrighted marketing names like STI and Ergo.

BTW, there is another road "brifter" configuration, the Gevenalle version that uses downtube or barend levers mounted on modified brake levers. They are marketed primarily to cyclocross riders but are wonderful, versatile, durable brifters for road and touring bikes too.

70sSanO

Nothing wrong with brifter. But as generations come and go, the old nuances won’t mean anything. Each succeeding generation will have little use for jargon from the past.

We’ve all heard parents and grandparents use terms based on their life experiences that we just don’t use anymore. I can seethe term brifter disappearing. It will be a BITD.

John

HillRider

I dunno. Unless something completely replaces both shifters (mechanical or electronic) and brake levers I don't see the term brifter going away in the foreseeable future.

Since I'm both a parent and a grandparent, I do use terms that are no longer technically current like "dialing a phone" or "filming a video" but even my grandchildren know what they mean.

70sSanO

My point was that one day no one will care that it both shifts and brakes. That’s all a generation(s) know. As, what’s so special about that? I have kids and grandkids, they may understand but they don’t use my jargon.

John

crowbike

If I'm not mistaken, the term brifter was coined by Sheldon Brown.

davidad

Bingo!

Schmalejandreau

We call 'em "duals", "elephants" or "pistols" in Russian here.

70sSanO

It is unfortunate that at the turn of the “20th” century the term bredals was not coined. Since they are a combination of pedaling and braking. Turn the pedals one direction and you propel forward. Turn the pedals in the opposite direction and you stop.

Bredals... an innovation for the ages.

John

HTupolev

Not a comparable situation, because whether a bicycle is freewheeling or fixed-gear or coaster, the pedals themselves are the same mechanism. If you use a pedal to brake, it's still a pedal. Brifters are not the same mechanisms as brake levers and non-integrated shifters.

70sSanO

While it was tongue-in-cheek, I can picture a younger generation... 🙄

John

texaspandj

How did this get on the mechanics thread? Oh well, in the spirit of this thread, my 5 year old daughter calls hand sanitizer Hanitizer...and we know exactly what she means.

Amt0571

You, English people, are not as good as germans at combining words though

andrewclaus

Agreed. Schadenfreude is a favorite. But ours are short!