Alathea

Okay guys and gals, maybe this is a dumb question, but Ill shoot. I just got a really nice Trek 1,0 for a song. Ive always ridden std mtn bikes, never a roadbike. THere are the brake levers at the center, but are those sliver levers up front shifters or brakes- or both? I know the little triggers move the derailleur in 1 direction, but how do I shift it back and forth?

dr_lha

Push the silver brake levers towards the middle of the bike to shift one way, press the triggers to shift the other way.

For the rear derailleur, the thumb clicker shifts to a smaller cog, the brake lever shifts to a larger one. It's the opposite for the front derailleur.

Alathea

So those are not a separate set of brakes?


***Oh Good Grief.....**** Im a Derp.

Thank you, Dr. Lha.

CAS

dr_lha

They're brakes as well! They do both. People commonly call them "Brifters" (brake/shifter).

The brakes in the middle of your bars are commonly referred to as "suicide brakes" and are effectually a second set of brake levers for when you're riding on the tops. They're common on cross or touring bikes, not common on road bikes (unless you're in the TDF and riding on cobbles).

Alathea

I just figured that out. And here I am , a support engineer for a health care provider. Derrrr........

It is a clever mechanism. What are its main faults? Im horrible with Derailleurs, and I weigh 335 so Im hard on them as well. Its a stock set up from what I can tell.

dr_lha

The main faults I would say is that it's a complex mechanism and therefore expensive to replace when they break.

On my bike, the Brifters are the single most expensive part after the the frame. Which is probably a sign that I should buy more expensive wheels!

kc0bbq

Yup, outside of special conditions with drop bars you normally set the bike up so that the "normal" position would be riding with your hands on the brifter hoods (like a ****** grip). I probably spend 90% of my time on the hoods, 1% on the tops - if I'm eating or completely exhausted. Used to spend a little more on the tops before my flexibility (and gut) got to where it needed to be.

If you're riding mostly on the top of the bars I can see where the extra levers could be nice, but if you ride more in the other positions I think they'd be something that gets in the way changing grips.

Like everything else, if they work for how you ride, keep them. It's no one else's business what's on your cockpit unless you're being a hazard. If you don't like them, have them removed. I imagine they're aftermarket additions.