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Anyone else hate integrated shift/brake levers?

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Anyone else hate integrated shift/brake levers?

Old 03-05-20, 12:23 PM
  #26  
indyfabz
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Originally Posted by jpescatore
My multi-day touring is never longer than 4 or 5 days - I know long distance tourers still prefer the bar end or even down tube shifters for simplicity and fix-ability, but in those 20 years and three bikes with integrated, I've never had a failure. For 99.99% of my riding, having my hands near both the brakes and the shifters when riding on the hoods or the drops has been a big gain in my ability to quickly react.
I have always done unsupported touring with bar ends. Usually, it's fine, but there was one day riding across PA that I really wish I had brifters. There was a long stretch of road that had lots of ups and downs. The shoulder was often bumpy and/or gravelly. I didn't feel comfortable taking my hands off the bars to shift at speed as I made the transition from down to up. I ended up coasting the descents and waiting for the bike to slow down enough until it "caught up" to the low gear the bike was in, which doesn't take long when you're fully loaded. Then I would start grinding up the next incline. Had I had brifters I could have shifted cog to cog pedaled to take advantage of momentum longer and conserve energy.
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Old 03-05-20, 12:28 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by DMC707
That darn power steering on these modern cars -- Anyone else hate that?
ABS too, makes it too easy
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Old 03-05-20, 12:33 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by DMC707
That darn power steering on these modern cars -- Anyone else hate that?

Don't even get me started on flip-top cans. That church key is getting awfully lonely.
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Old 03-05-20, 01:16 PM
  #29  
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Can't think of any reason to dislike them. I've never had a pair fail since the year they came out, makes shifting to a better gear while stopping easier when riding in traffic, the bigger design made holding onto the brake levers an easier and comfortable hand position. Could complain about the cost but I think most bike parts are inflated anyways, so nothing new there.
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Old 03-05-20, 01:24 PM
  #30  
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I have currently have bar end shifters (for a number of reasons), but let's face it, for performance and safety brifters are better.
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Old 03-05-20, 01:31 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Rajflyboy
this 👍

I should have mentioned flat bars as well (integrated into drops makes total sense)

lots of great thoughts and comments (as usual)
And, that is how this thread took the wrong direction. I was tempted to ask a question about this very thing, but I hesitated thinking that someone else might also ask about what sort of bars these integrated shifters might be mounted on. Thanks for clearing this up, however belatedly.
Had you mentioned flat bars at the outset, the term "brifter" would probably never have come up

Last edited by alcjphil; 03-05-20 at 01:34 PM.
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Old 03-05-20, 01:36 PM
  #32  
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Ergo's are better than STI's tho (Why are there two different "dead horse" smileys? I thought there was a poking-beehive smiley but it's not in the editor)

So are we specifically talking about EZ-fires and their ancestors? Those are the only examples I can think of. Except for the short lived floppy-brake things Shimano tried like 15 years ago
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Old 03-05-20, 01:42 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Don't even get me started on flip-top cans. That church key is getting awfully lonely.

I saw a guy once start a campfire with a -- get this -- a Bic lighter! A Bic lighter? -- LOL -- doesn't anyone know how to rub 2 sticks together anymore for hecks sake?
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Old 03-05-20, 01:50 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by DMC707
I saw a guy once start a campfire with a -- get this -- a Bic lighter! A Bic lighter? -- LOL -- doesn't anyone know how to rub 2 sticks together anymore for hecks sake?

What is this fire stuff of which you speak?
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Old 03-05-20, 03:09 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by alcjphil
And, that is how this thread took the wrong direction. I was tempted to ask a question about this very thing, but I hesitated thinking that someone else might also ask about what sort of bars these integrated shifters might be mounted on. Thanks for clearing this up, however belatedly.
Had you mentioned flat bars at the outset, the term "brifter" would probably never have come up
well at least my mess up added some spice to the thread
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Old 03-05-20, 04:19 PM
  #36  
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Love them. Wouldn't ride anything else.

Although not surprised in the least the OP hates them.
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Old 03-05-20, 11:36 PM
  #37  
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I have everything from down tube, bar ends, integrated mechanical to Di2. Its all good. Most fave? Di2, Least fave ? down tube. For vintage bikes bar ends are the best. There are times that when riding my Di2, I've reached down to the non-existent bar ends, and even tried to flick shift the brake levers on the vintage bikes. It can get confusing from bike to bike, but its all good, just enjoy the ride. Hate isn't really a word that I apply to any of my bikes. Broken cables are a pain to change on the mechanical integrated shifters, but how often do you do that?
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Old 03-06-20, 07:47 AM
  #38  
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I do prefer the Campy shifter design over Shimano, so I guess you could say I prefer a non-integrated shift/brake lever... however I don't 'hate' the shimano layout.
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Old 03-06-20, 08:57 AM
  #39  
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I'll offer another vote for Campagnolo Ergo. The lever behind the brake lever shifts one way. The mouse ear on the side of the hood shifts the other way. It's simple to keep straight. I have two road bikes with that system (Veloce & Mirage). They date from the mid-1990s. I can't remember when was the last time I saw a new bike equipped with Campagnolo in a bike shop.

My second choice would be the Shimano STI system. Shimano used to have the shift cables sticking out of the side of the hoods, but they now have hidden cables on most of their groupsets, so they now look as sleek as Campagnolo. In the heat of the moment, I do sometimes get confused between whether I need to click the brake handle or the small handle. I seem to have less confusion with Campagnolo. I have one road bike with that system (105).

I have never tried SRAM DoubleTap. I think it would tax my cognitive ability to keep it straight that I need to push the same lever in the same direction either one click or two clicks depending on whether I want to shift up or down.

I have both a touring bike and a triathlon bike with bar end shifters. It's a good system. My only complaint is having to move my hand away from the brake levers to shift gears.

I have a mountain bike and a tandem with Grip Shift. It works well for a straight handlebar bike. I recently saw a road bike with a twist-type shifter on the handlebars near the stem.

The Nishiki Olympiad I had when I was in school had shift levers mounted on the stem. Having shifters on the stem instead of the downtube seemed way cooler at the time even though professional racers never used stem shifters.

Of course, all this is going out the window with the advent of electronic shifting. I haven't yet stuck my toe in that pool. I see issues with having to worry about whether my bike is charged before I go for a ride.
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Old 03-06-20, 09:24 AM
  #40  
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anyone else still sometimes find their fingers reach for phantom suicide levers? every now & then I find my fingers doing the little squeeze at the top of my drop bars. silly dumb dumb
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Old 03-06-20, 09:53 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
anyone else still sometimes find their fingers reach for phantom suicide levers? every now & then I find my fingers doing the little squeeze at the top of my drop bars. silly dumb dumb
Sometimes...



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Old 03-06-20, 01:11 PM
  #42  
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As for cost, downtube shifters up to 8 spd are cheap and easy to find. Go to 9 or 10 and you're limited to Dura-ace at $90+ or crappy suntour which ghost shift and last 12 months. My flatbar "pub bike" which I built largely from my parts bin, the downtube 9 spd shifters were the greatest cost.
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Old 03-06-20, 02:32 PM
  #43  
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Back in 2001 I built up a steel frame bicycle and used Mirage 9-speed Ergo levers and Mirage front the derailleur with everything else being 9-speed Veloce. I like it so much that I put 9-speed Mirage Ergo levers nd rear derailleur onto my touring bike.

Cheers
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Old 03-06-20, 03:11 PM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by bluehills3149
As for cost, downtube shifters up to 8 spd are cheap and easy to find. Go to 9 or 10 and you're limited to Dura-ace at $90+ or crappy suntour which ghost shift and last 12 months. My flatbar "pub bike" which I built largely from my parts bin, the downtube 9 spd shifters were the greatest cost.
I’ve used a 9speed freewheel with 6spd 105 downtube shifters set to friction and it worked great. I don’t know if they would have enough cable pull to get all the way across a 11 or 12 speed cassette. Maybe there’s a shiftmate that can be used for that?
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Old 03-09-20, 11:47 AM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by Rides4Beer
and that's no longer an issue with di2.
or with SRAM WiFli wireless on our tandem, but I do agree that the shifting problem described is probably a setup one.
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Old 03-09-20, 12:09 PM
  #46  
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Rode with a friend on the weekend who had a flat bar conversion road bike, with an old 8-spd XT group, but retaining the downtube friction shifter on the left. I was instantly jealous and looked up downtube shifter options on eBay as soon as I got home. They are unreasonably expensive nowadays for such a straightforward piece of tech.
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Old 03-09-20, 12:21 PM
  #47  
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Originally Posted by Rajflyboy
I’m getting tired of integrated brake/shift levers. Separate Is much better in my opinion. Makes it easier to change out one or the other if you want to. (Less expensive too)
I’ve always preferred barcon shifters. But Campy stopped making them so I’m thinking about a walk on the dark side like Shimano.
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Old 03-09-20, 12:37 PM
  #48  
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I had one bike with brifters, I thought they worked quite well, until they didn’t. Seeing as the bike was modified to fit them, it was pretty easy, and cheap just to put the down tube shift, and bar brake levers back on. If the brifters would have been reasonably repairable, or replaceable, I would have. Although, they never did look quite right on a vintage Paramount.
Tim
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Old 03-09-20, 01:22 PM
  #49  
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I don't hate them but I'd never use em on my touring bike. Barends are unbreakable and convenient for me but I'm used to them. DT shifters are just a little too inconvenient these days.
I've never found a set of Integrated levers that worked properly on my garage finds or Craigslist cheapies. On the flip side they are usually fixable and can make for a better profit margin. 😁
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Old 03-09-20, 02:46 PM
  #50  
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I wouldn't go as far as to say I hate them--I have no NEED for them. I ride dt friction shifting (after 50 yrs it's second-nature any way). Having the controls separate makes repairs a LOT simpler.
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