SwimmerMike 

These were on a 1970 or 71 Bob Jackson. The guy who had the bike got it from a friend who passed. He said "he was an engineer and made them himself".

Has anyone ever seen this set-up before?

I'm not sure if I'm going to try riding it or just swap in some down tube shifters.

krakhaus 

Looks better than bar end shifters.

since6

God bless engineers.

Andy_K 

An early predecessor of this one:


https://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/2464/...e-bicycle-show

Cougrrcj

The OP's looks more like a repositioned 'thumbie' mount than a brifter... AndyK's example looks more like the brake lever/shifter combo we call brifters...

Road Fan

The first one looks like an original iBob diy-ing DT shifters onto the bars, or maybe one of Gugie’s middle school projects. The second one looks like Columbus was involved, and I’d like a set of those! I like Ergopowers quite a bit, but this is a very cool presentation!

steelbikeguy

heck, it would be a shame to not give them a try and see how well it works!

The general idea does pop up now and then. Kelly Take-Off shifters are a more sophisticated version of the concept.....Kelly TakeOff - Kelly Bike Company : Kelly Bike Company

and the SunTour Command shifters are yet another level of development of the concept.

Steve in Peoria

jet sanchEz

Let's see a shot of the whole bike and cockpit

I'd probably run them as is, just put in some new cables

I love guys who fred up their own contraptions for bikes

SpeedofLite 

What do you mean "we", Pale Face?

jackbombay

I would absolutely keep those shifters just as they are!

plonz 

Those second ones look a bit hazardous if braking from the top.

SwimmerMike 

Here's a couple more pictures I took after I got it home. Sorry about the mess in the background I'm in the muffle of a kitchen remodel.

I'll post more pics on the Show me your Bob Jackson thread when I get a chance.

@jackbombay I'll probably give them a try. It's raining here today so it'll be hard not to push forward with finishing getting the initial set-up done.

SwimmerMike 

Retry on the attachments

dddd

Lever clamps appear to be custom-machined alloy bits, so a solid (no pun intended) effort!

Cotton tape appears to be covering a layer of padding.

We're all in suspense here, waiting for your ride report and how the ergonomics of this arrangement feel.
Is this bike a good fit for you?

Be sure to oil up the pivots and friction surfaces of the levers, since this one may have been sitting(?). The leverage from your fingers will change quite a bit depending on what gear you are using, so I would want to bring the entire cable paths up to highest plastic-lined, compressionless standards in order to give this execution a best evaluation!
What kind of chain and freewheel are on board?

SwimmerMike 

Bike should be a good fit. I usually ride 57 c-t, with the campy posts and stem at min insert. This is a 59 c-c so it can be set up the same or less aggressive.

Yes, there is some padding under the cloth tape. The freewheel it came with is a Regina on some high flange campy hubs. They feel pretty smooth, but I put on a different set of wheels with a 600 freewheel (clinchers, since I only have one spare sew-up for the wheels it came with (Which are pretty cool Scheeren hoops)). Chain is in bad shape (I just put some chain lube on it last night as I was doing the first go-through. I did find it interesting that the chain wasn't over stretched). I'll be putting on a SRAM chain (I like their master link) today.

Good point on oiling the pivots. It has been sitting. Everything is shifting OK on the stand, but a little oil can't hurt.

Now I'm convinced that I need to keep it like this at least for a few rides... Need to pay homage to the original owner that put the effort out to engineer/fabricate these.

Andy_K 

As far as I know there was no Columbus involvement. In spite of what the article I linked to says they were made by Gevenalle. The dove is because it was a Prince tribute bike.

You can get a set of the Gevenalle levers that works with many friction shifters (https://www.gevenalle.com/product/audax/), but the Campy indexed bar end shifter here has a larger diameter and wouldn't work with the standard offering.

Andy_K 

Yeah, it looks that way, but it actually works quite well. I haven't ridden the NAHBS-winning bike, obviously, but I've got a few bikes with Gevenalle shifters and use them to brake almost exclusively from the hoods.

Cougrrcj

OK, so not everybody calls them that... but what else would you call integrated brake/shifter combo? STI is Shimano's term for theirs... I don't have a road bike with indexed shifting, so go ahead and call me a Fred or a Luddite. FRICTION SHIFTING WORKS!

jackbombay

YES!!!!!

If you do decide they are not for you, I'll gladly buy them off you and install on my Super Course!

I love DIY projects/items like this!

SurferRosa

Integrated shifters?

Although, I would call the setup in the op merely an ugly kludge.

Especially when it's simple and elegant.

73StellaSX76

Here’s a set I made a few years ago after seeing Gevenalle’s offerings. On theirs the levers generally aim down and the housings aim upward. On mine these are both reversed. I attached a machined stud to Tektro levers from the inside with a screw. They work pretty well, I just don’t have a bike needing them now. I run Gevenalles on the gravel bike and like them a lot.

oneclick 

When power shifter barcons came out I got a pair and did this:

SwimmerMike 

@oneclick Did your set-up work as planned? I I would think the goal would be to be able to shift with the hands on the hoods, thus potentially shifting either with just the pinky or pinky and ring fingers.

I'm hoping to try out the set-up I recieved either today or tomorrow to see how well they work.

oneclick 

Oh yes, many miles. I had made a large frame pack that filled the triangle so getting the shifters off the downtube was a good thing.

cudak888 

Absolutely fantastic. It'd be scoffed at if it were a lesser attempt, but these are really nicely done, and innovative positioning as well.

If they work nicely, keep them! They'd look pretty spiffy with new matching bar tape.

Can we also all appreciate that he aero-routed them, probably long before aero routing was a thing?

-Kurt