Hocam

Just curious to see what most folks are using these days, that is for brevets and other long distance events.

(Multiple choices are allowed)

Shifty

I also have a road bike I ride quite a bit with index dowtube shifters. They are Sun Tour Superbe Pro shifters and rear derailer, that was a quality set up, they shift fast and sure. Brifters are so much nicer.

Hocam

Yeah I really prefer brifters for everyday road riding, but the slow pace of a brevet doesn't really require it. Well, not much "requires" brifters, but you know what I mean.

CliftonGK1

I voted friction bar-ends, but I have the option of switching 'em back to indexed if I wanted to.

I don't want to.

Hydrated

I knew I was rolling old school when I stopped at the LBS for a couple of parts... a young girl (prolly 25 or 30 years old) pointed at my downtube shifters and asked "What do those do?"

*sigh*

bobbycorno

9-speed Shimano barcons on my 'bent, and Campy 10-speed ergo on my df (which I haven't ridden in over a year now...) I'm a little leery of the lack of a "fail safe" option on the ergos. If I were building up a rando df from scratch, I'd probly go for clicky barcons.

SP
Bend, OR

Paul Scearce

I would have voted for a 15mm wrench, but I didn't see that option. I think if I were to run gears on a long ride, I would opt for friction shifters, either on the downtube or barends.

supcom

Isn't that the same as a friction bar-end?

roadfix

No, he meant flipping his fixed gear wheel.

I voted what are shifters?

Reynolds 

Ergos on one bicycle, indexed DT shifters on the other.

Hocam

That falls under the "what are shifters?" category, ie. fixed, single speed, or flip flop hub.

Paul Scearce

You have a point Hocam. A wrench isn't just a shifter. The only time I ever bothered to change gears on a brevet was because I already had the wheel off to change a flat. And, I should probably have mentioned that I selected "what are shifters?" for the poll.

bmike

ergos on my ld machine... but i'm increasingly finding that a fixed brevet is in my future... just need an eno wheel so i can ride my brevet machine...

Fixedwheelnut

I'm with Paul Scearce on this one

supcom

Using a 15 mm wrench to loosen the axle nut is, in a sense, a friction shifter with the axle nut proving the friction.

USAZorro

I'm quite adaptable. I've ridden all the choices, and don't have issues with any of them. If I were to embark on a distance ride however, I'd choose indexed bar-cons that I could change to friction if necessary. Fixing STIs that have gone haywire isn't in my bag of tricks.

brunop

fixed, baby.

cyclezealot

Any thing less than STI seems.. Well, not 20th but 19th century.. But, then back then they only had but one cog , both front and back.. STI is so automatic.. Why would anyone want to be bothered with anything else... One friend does go to down tube shifting on his touring bike, in order to eliminate potential problems with shifters on long tours.. Instead, can't we do just a bit of preventative maintenance, should you be heading out on the bike for a month or so..?.

CliftonGK1

Preventive maintenance will help to keep things in a reasonable working order, but I think the concern with STI on a very long brevet is the "what if" factor. Downtube and bar-end shifters can be field serviced if something goes awry. Indexed models can be switched to friction if things are out of whack. When an STI conks out on you, there's really no choice but to stick with the gear that it broke in.

Chris_W

STI for the rear derailleur, friction down-tube for the front derailleur.

A lot of pros used to run this setup to save a little weight over a pair of STIs (look closely at pictures of Lance Armstrong in any TdF mountain stage '99-'05), but now they don't bother because they can easily hit the 6.8kg limit without doing that. However, for us un-sponsored riders it still makes sense, plus it gives more control over the front derailleur than does a Shimano STI. Plus, who needs to change gears so often on the front that they need the controls at their finger-tips all the time?

One more advantage of this setup is that if you buy yourself a pair of downtube shifters, but only use the one for the front, then you can throw the rear down-tube shifter into your emergency spares kit for long rides if you are that worried about the rear STI failing (although I've never bothered to do this).

Unfortunately, a lot of modern frames are now being made without the right mounts on the frame for downtube shifters (which is another reason why Lance won't be using a front down-tube shifter on his '09 Madone). This is therefore something that I consider when choosing which frame to buy.

roadfix

I call it the 3-minute shift.

For that reason, I don't shift...

bmike

Will be doing this with a bar end if my front ergo ever quits...

TommyL

This is what I've been wanting to do with my commuter.

bmike

i have my gearing setup so most of my riding is in the big ring... so i click through the rear plenty... i only need to drop to the small on brevets and longer rides when it gets steep. for now the ergo is good enough - but a friction bar end up front would be great...

Elderberry

I mainly ride fixed, but have 42 and 39t rings up front with a 17/19t dingle cog on one side of the hub and an 18t freewheel on the other. This provides a decent amount of flexibility while still retaining the feel that only a fixed cog can provide.