Friction shifters on tandem
11-06-22, 10:52 AM
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Friction shifters on tandem
I came accross these and got me thinking about a few things.
https://www.gevenalle.com/shifters
I've read that the Tektro drop bar brakes are good for tandems. I have these on my single speed and they are nice. Would this mean that I would not need to use travel agents to get good brake performance with v-brakes? That sounds good right there but say I was to mismatch my rear derailleur and used the friction shift option with these levers. I've not ridden a tandem before so how vague is friction shifting the rear derailleur since it's way back there? It's not like I can peek down and verify where the chain is like on a solo bike. Is this a non issue or are there some considerations I should be aware of? Anyone use these?
https://www.gevenalle.com/shifters
I've read that the Tektro drop bar brakes are good for tandems. I have these on my single speed and they are nice. Would this mean that I would not need to use travel agents to get good brake performance with v-brakes? That sounds good right there but say I was to mismatch my rear derailleur and used the friction shift option with these levers. I've not ridden a tandem before so how vague is friction shifting the rear derailleur since it's way back there? It's not like I can peek down and verify where the chain is like on a solo bike. Is this a non issue or are there some considerations I should be aware of? Anyone use these?
11-07-22, 11:06 AM
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Keep in mind the work I did was more than a decade ago ... so I kind of had your problem. The tandem was a 2005 Raleigh Coupe with Avid BB7 MTB pull (V-Brake) disc calipers. I wanted drop bars, but 9sp brifters in those days were $300/pr. Not happening. I haven't read that Tektro drop bar levers are especially good for tandems, but Tektro is about the only lever brand available in a drop bar form factor that will work with long pull brake calipers. But they aren't brifters. What would you use for shifters?? Bar ends? Meh. Cable routing nightmare and not a sporting look for a Club Racer. Our solution was radical. Downtube levers. In 2007! They thought I was crazy at the LBS because the downtube of the Coupe is 2-1/4" diam. No DT clamp on collars for tubing that big and I wasn't eager to braze on shifter bosses and ruin the pain job. NP. I found a guy making custom clamp on bosses for large diameter tubing.
Because of the savings (the Tektro levers are seriously affordable) over brifters I was able to buy top of the line shift levers. Shimano Dura-Ace 9sp index or friction rear/3 sp friction only front. Index shifting is way more demanding of cable/housing quality and routing than friction. Friction mode is a non-issue AFAIC. I'm not even sure I've tried the friction option because the indexing works so well. The Genevale levers were around in 2007 but I didn't see much advantage. They aren't cheap, and the cable routing has to be planned with care, and I don't really know that they work well with long pull calipers.
Because of the savings (the Tektro levers are seriously affordable) over brifters I was able to buy top of the line shift levers. Shimano Dura-Ace 9sp index or friction rear/3 sp friction only front. Index shifting is way more demanding of cable/housing quality and routing than friction. Friction mode is a non-issue AFAIC. I'm not even sure I've tried the friction option because the indexing works so well. The Genevale levers were around in 2007 but I didn't see much advantage. They aren't cheap, and the cable routing has to be planned with care, and I don't really know that they work well with long pull calipers.
11-07-22, 12:27 PM
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11-07-22, 10:12 PM
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We happily use friction on our tandems -- I'm lazy, and friction just works without fooling around with much of anything (we ride three different tandems with 7 to 9-speed rear cassettes).
11-07-22, 11:09 PM
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I was thinking that they might be "vague" because of all the distance to the sound of the shift and all the extra cable to connect to it. No? Is that a non-issue? Maybe I'm over thinking it?
11-08-22, 05:56 AM
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I do not find it to be an issue at all. Depending upon what setup you are using you might consider Shimano bar end shifters -- can operate rear derailleur in either friction or indexed mode. Then you can use V-brake compatible brake levers w/o a travel agent.
11-08-22, 03:42 PM
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We have about a 25 year old CoMotion with V-brakes (direct pull). It is set up with bar end shifters and Dia-Comp 287V brake levers. These are available new on eBay. The right (rear) shifter was indexed. The left (front) shifter was friction. This setup worked great. The brakes worked well without Travel Agents and the shifters were crisp and reliable. Not sure what and earlier poster meant about difficulty in cable routing with bar end shifters.
11-08-22, 05:10 PM
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Of the two ways to run cable to Bar Ends the one where the cable exits the tape at the drops looks awkward to me. Running the cables to the shifters is better aesthetically but more work. Downtube shifters for the (lazy) win.
11-10-22, 12:07 PM
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Here is a link to the Dia-Compe 287V brake levers on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/33361113158...%26sd%3D155237
https://www.ebay.com/itm/33361113158...%26sd%3D155237
11-10-22, 09:09 PM
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So I pulled the trigger on a set of the Gevenalle shifters. We'll see how it goes. I am not immediately drawn to friction shift but riding tandem is an unknown so I don't know what I may want to do. There is going to be some different phases to this pursuit so I punted to advance the ball. I think I have everything inbound except cables to control everything.
