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welshwheels:
1984 PARIS / ROUBAIX am I right in thinking that the first rider has bar end shifters ?
LittleWheelsandBig:
Yup, both of them. Common with sprinters because they could change gears with their hands on the bars in a tight bunch. Useful in cobbled classics too. There was life before STI-power brake levers.
Ian H:
Do I remember correctly that the disadvantage was that your rival could reach over and change your gears for you?
LittleWheelsandBig:
Yes, it was harder to upshift an opponent with downtube levers.
Not sure how much of a problem that was in real life. I remember an early adopter of STI levers complaining that a particularly crowded sprint resulting in been downshifted while trying to get past somebody's bars. I suspect that was an excuse for not winning as that doesn't seem to be much of a problem nowadays.
tatanab:
--- Quote from: Ian H on August 30, 2012, 10:44:21 PM ---Do I remember correctly that the disadvantage was that your rival could reach over and change your gears for you?
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: LittleWheelsandBig on August 31, 2012, 06:03:48 AM ---Yes, it was harder to upshift an opponent with downtube levers.
--- End quote ---
Bar end or downtube, changing gear unexpectedly for your clubmate was all part of the fun and games on clubruns in the 60s/70s. I do recall a ride where one chap who had broken his collar bone so could not move his arm a great deal; he would drop back through the bunch to ask some trusted friend to change gear for him.
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