What are brifters?
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Before 1990, the basic design of the road bike wasn't finished.
That's what brifters are - the final element of our favourite machine.
That's what brifters are - the final element of our favourite machine.
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To me, it's just a very interesting period in road bike history. You have it coinciding with the end of the steel era, and these were put on some of the best steel frames ever built. And I hate to say this, but a lot of the early brifter stuff just looks good. The fact that it still works is also pretty great. For the most part, they got it right the first time.
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On the manufacture of words that describe multiple function objects...
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I avoid using the term “brifters”. Ergo levers for Campagnolo, STI for Shimano or integrated shifters & brake levers as a universal term.
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Call it what you want, I'm just glad the section is here. Maybe someone can explain Campagnolo vintage brifters to me, what works with what, and I can finally start venturing out beyond Shimano.
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Brifters are...
Too Expensive!
I do have to admit they are coming down in price...
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Anybody who doesn't like the term "brifter" is welcome to come up with something better. But it has to be generic (Microshift doesn't make "Ergopowers", and Campy doesn't make "STIs") and concise in order to catch on (are you really going to say "shifting brake levers" every time?), so good luck with that.
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Anybody who doesn't like the term "brifter" is welcome to come up with something better. But it has to be generic (Microshift doesn't make "Ergopowers", and Campy doesn't make "STIs") and concise in order to catch on (are you really going to say "shifting brake levers" every time?), so good luck with that.
Any replacement for the generic term "brifter" can only have a maximum of two words or it's too long to ever catch on. "Brake shifters" or, even worse, "shift brakers" won't work because it's confusing. It sounds like it's shifting the brakes or braking the shifts.
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#41
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I'm calling BS on this one
"B"rake + "S"hifter = BS
"B"rake + "S"hifter = BS
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#42
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hmmmm.
I haven't heard or read a word "brifters" in Japan.
I looked in a dictionary and found none, but internet taught me. lol!
Friends and I still call them brake levers.
Bike shop guys call STI or dual control levers for Shimano, Ergo Levers for Campy.
I'm not sure if "brifter" is a common term for them in Japanese.
I haven't heard or read a word "brifters" in Japan.
I looked in a dictionary and found none, but internet taught me. lol!
Friends and I still call them brake levers.
Bike shop guys call STI or dual control levers for Shimano, Ergo Levers for Campy.
I'm not sure if "brifter" is a common term for them in Japanese.
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#44
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You heard it here first... X-Ys. Levers where you move in the Y direction for brake actuation, and the X direction for shifting.
At first I pined for them, until I read about their swiss-watch complexity, lower durability, inability to fix on the road, and no friction backup mode. I haven't used my road bike in 20 years, but if I refit it from downtube levers, it would be for bar-end-shifters on the end of the bullhorn bars, they're as simple and durable as downtubes, just closer at hand.
My townie uses gripshifts.
But X-Ys are a definite plus for road racers; faster shifts while keeping both hands on the bars, a major plus when climbing out of the saddle.
At first I pined for them, until I read about their swiss-watch complexity, lower durability, inability to fix on the road, and no friction backup mode. I haven't used my road bike in 20 years, but if I refit it from downtube levers, it would be for bar-end-shifters on the end of the bullhorn bars, they're as simple and durable as downtubes, just closer at hand.
My townie uses gripshifts.
But X-Ys are a definite plus for road racers; faster shifts while keeping both hands on the bars, a major plus when climbing out of the saddle.