brifter setup

Resound said:

It occured to me the other day that I never ride in the drops. I don't race,
I'm a commuter so getting all tucked and aero really isn't a priority is.
Riding on the hood means I have crappy braking though. So I started thinking
about the possible merits of swapping the drop bars for a set of
bullhorn/messenger type bars and mentally it was looking pretty good until I
realised that the little thumbknob on my Sora brifters is only really
reachable from the hoods. I could go Tiagra or 105 brifters to get the
little inner lever instead but they're indexed for 9spd and I don't really
want to swap out to a full 9spd setup...I can't really justify the expense.
Sooo...what are my options? I found these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Shimano-Ultegra-600-STI-shifters-levers-8-spd-6400_W0QQitemZ7215565668QQcategoryZ36140QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
which aren't cheap, but are indexed for 8spd. I've also been considering
basic aero brake levers and indexed barcons on the ends of the bullhorns.

Thoughts?

I thought you're meant to be able to reach shifters from drops? You can
on Campy's - if the curve in the drop is sharp enough

T

Resound said:

It occured to me the other day that I never ride in the drops. I don't race,
I'm a commuter so getting all tucked and aero really isn't a priority is.
Riding on the hood means I have crappy braking though.

That shouldn't be the case. Having low end road bike brakes (sora
shifters and what calipers?) will be the cause of the less than optimal
braking.

Quoted message said:

So I started thinking
about the possible merits of swapping the drop bars for a set of
bullhorn/messenger type bars and mentally it was looking pretty good until I
realised that the little thumbknob on my Sora brifters is only really
reachable from the hoods. I could go Tiagra or 105 brifters to get the
little inner lever instead but they're indexed for 9spd and I don't really
want to swap out to a full 9spd setup...I can't really justify the expense.
Sooo...what are my options? I found these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Shimano-Ultegra-600-STI-shifters-levers-8-spd-6400_W0QQitemZ7215565668QQcategoryZ36140QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
which aren't cheap, but are indexed for 8spd. I've also been considering
basic aero brake levers and indexed barcons on the ends of the bullhorns.

Thoughts?

you can always use friction shifters on your bar ends or *cough*
downtube 🙂
cheap, simple, reliable ...

"Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Resound said:

It occured to me the other day that I never ride in the drops. I don't
race,
I'm a commuter so getting all tucked and aero really isn't a priority is.
Riding on the hood means I have crappy braking though.

That shouldn't be the case. Having low end road bike brakes (sora
shifters and what calipers?) will be the cause of the less than optimal
braking.

Quoted message said:

So I started thinking
about the possible merits of swapping the drop bars for a set of
bullhorn/messenger type bars and mentally it was looking pretty good
until I
realised that the little thumbknob on my Sora brifters is only really
reachable from the hoods. I could go Tiagra or 105 brifters to get the
little inner lever instead but they're indexed for 9spd and I don't
really
want to swap out to a full 9spd setup...I can't really justify the
expense.
Sooo...what are my options? I found these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Shimano-Ultegra-600-STI-shifters-levers-8-spd-6400_W0QQitemZ7215565668QQcategoryZ36140QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
which aren't cheap, but are indexed for 8spd. I've also been considering
basic aero brake levers and indexed barcons on the ends of the bullhorns.

Thoughts?

you can always use friction shifters on your bar ends or *cough*
downtube 🙂
cheap, simple, reliable ...

Nowhere to mount downtube shifters on an OCR3. As for friction shifters on
the bar ends, that's where the barcons come in as an option. They're looking
better all the time.

Resound said:

It occured to me the other day that I never ride in the drops. I don't race,
I'm a commuter so getting all tucked and aero really isn't a priority is.
Riding on the hood means I have crappy braking though. So I started thinking
about the possible merits of swapping the drop bars for a set of
bullhorn/messenger type bars and mentally it was looking pretty good until I
realised that the little thumbknob on my Sora brifters is only really
reachable from the hoods. I could go Tiagra or 105 brifters to get the
little inner lever instead but they're indexed for 9spd and I don't really
want to swap out to a full 9spd setup...I can't really justify the expense.
Sooo...what are my options? I found these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Shimano-Ultegra-600-STI-shifters-levers-8-spd-6400_W0QQitemZ7215565668QQcategoryZ36140QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
which aren't cheap, but are indexed for 8spd. I've also been considering
basic aero brake levers and indexed barcons on the ends of the bullhorns.

Thoughts?

I think your last suggestion there is similat to what I've done here, although without the aero brake levers : http://www.flickr.com/photos/17285052@N00/87985570/

It works really well, but looks completely fugly...

Bleve said:

Resound said:

It occured to me the other day that I never ride in the drops. I don't race,
I'm a commuter so getting all tucked and aero really isn't a priority is.
Riding on the hood means I have crappy braking though.

That shouldn't be the case. Having low end road bike brakes (sora
shifters and what calipers?) will be the cause of the less than optimal
braking.

<snip>

WTF? Surely most people can generate more torque on the brake levers
from the drops than they can from the hoods.

I get much better braking on the drops than on the hoods, despite having
good brakes.

Tam

Resound said:

Riding on the hood means I have crappy braking though.

If that's your reason for wanting to get new bars etc then consider sorting out your brakes. Properly adjusted braking on the hoods is just fine 'cause that's where you're ment to be 90% of the time.

Next time you watch a road race just look at where the majority of the riders have their hands, they're not in the drops, they're on the hoods. Even pulling turns on the front on a breakaway most people ride on the hoods.

It's very rare I get in the drops myself but it's nice to have the option :-)

Tamyka Bell said:

WTF? Surely most people can generate more torque on the brake levers
from the drops than they can from the hoods.

I get much better braking on the drops than on the hoods, despite having
good brakes.

I can quite happily lock up both wheels from the hoods, I don't really want any more torque than that! ;-)

Quoted message said:

I think your last suggestion there is similat to what I've done here,
although without the aero brake levers :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17285052@N00/87985570/

It works really well, but looks completely fugly...

--
eddiec

Something like that except that with barcons and aero levers all the cables
would be under the tape.

Tamyka Bell said:

Bleve said:

Resound said:

It occured to me the other day that I never ride in the drops. I don't race,
I'm a commuter so getting all tucked and aero really isn't a priority is.
Riding on the hood means I have crappy braking though.

That shouldn't be the case. Having low end road bike brakes (sora
shifters and what calipers?) will be the cause of the less than optimal
braking.

<snip>

WTF? Surely most people can generate more torque on the brake levers
from the drops than they can from the hoods.

You should still get ample braking on the hoods.

"EuanB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tamyka Bell said:

WTF? Surely most people can generate more torque on the brake levers
from the drops than they can from the hoods.

I get much better braking on the drops than on the hoods, despite
having
good brakes.

I can quite happily lock up both wheels from the hoods, I don't really
want any more torque than that! ;-)

--
EuanB

Ah, see I can't get close to locking the front wheel or getting the back
wheel off the deck. Granted that could be partly laid at the feet of the
Tektro calipers on the OCR3 but I stop harder if I get into the drops and
grab a big handful.

On 2006-02-02, Resound (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

"EuanB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I can quite happily lock up both wheels from the hoods, I don't really
want any more torque than that! ;-)

Ah, see I can't get close to locking the front wheel or getting the back
wheel off the deck. Granted that could be partly laid at the feet of the
Tektro calipers on the OCR3 but I stop harder if I get into the drops and
grab a big handful.

Same. So this is a function of it being an OCR3 eh?

I thought it was just "normal". Explains why I seem to be the only
one around who gets in the hoods when I know I'll be needing a bit of
brake in the near future.

--
TimC
If it weren't for C, we'd be writing programs in BASI, PASAL, and OBOL.

Most people find that grabing a handful of front brake will lift the
back end, and as a result are quite wary of grabbing the front brake
to hard. But if you cant, try cleaning the rims's braking surface and
the brake pad surface, or prehaps even the pads themselves. Low end
shimano pads brake exceptionally well, usually at the expense of pad
life.

Changing the bars to a flat bar may mean also changing the stem to a
longer stem to retain some length in the cockpit. If you go this path,
try some deore mtb brifters, they'll surely give you enough of a lever
to stop pretty well.

EuanB said:

I can quite happily lock up both wheels from the hoods, I don't really
want any more torque than that! ;-)

[censored], I dream of being able to do that. What kind of pads are you
using?

DaveB

In article <[email hidden]>,

Resound' [email protected] said:

I can't get close to locking the front wheel or getting the back
wheel off the deck.

Neither can I if I don't regularly clean my rims but especially the
brake blocks. I sure can after a good clean, though (which often
involves picking bits of Al and grit out of the blocks with something
pointy).

--
Shane Stanley

Bleve said:

Tamyka Bell said:

Bleve said:

Resound wrote:
> It occured to me the other day that I never ride in the drops. I don't race,
> I'm a commuter so getting all tucked and aero really isn't a priority is.
> Riding on the hood means I have crappy braking though.

That shouldn't be the case. Having low end road bike brakes (sora
shifters and what calipers?) will be the cause of the less than optimal
braking.

<snip>

WTF? Surely most people can generate more torque on the brake levers
from the drops than they can from the hoods.

You should still get ample braking on the hoods.

I do under normal conitions, but wouldn't rely upon it in the wet or on
a big descent. Men tend to underestimate how much difference _little
fingers_ can make.

Tam

Shane Stanley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Resound' [email protected] said:

I can't get close to locking the front wheel or getting the back
wheel off the deck.

Neither can I if I don't regularly clean my rims but especially the
brake blocks. I sure can after a good clean, though (which often
involves picking bits of Al and grit out of the blocks with something
pointy).

--
Shane Stanley

It helps if you're a lightweight 😄

I haven't gotten the rear wheel up despite braking hard because MTB
tendencies have me throwing my bum back and using both brakes. (Please
do not post a link to Sheldon's braking article, we have all read it a
million times.)

Tam

Tamyka Bell said:

It helps if you're a lightweight 😄

I'm 92kg, and can lift the back wheel when braking from the hoods.

On 2006-02-02, Tamyka Bell (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Men tend to underestimate how much difference _little
fingers_ can make.

FNARR?

--
TimC
"No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical." -- Niels Bohr

Tamyka Bell said:

Men tend to underestimate how much difference
_little fingers_ can make.

Hmm, thumb to ring-finger span is 270mm. Surely that's normal. :-)

Theo