Shifter development

[playswithtrains]

Just curious who developed the first commercially available indexed shifters and what year did they show up.

 

[tomgaul]

Just curious who developed the first commercially available indexed shifters and what year did they show up.

I'm not sure of the exact date but I think it was Shimanos SIS system had to be early 80's - 82,83,84 or so.

 

[serenaslu]

I'm not sure of the exact date but I think it was Shimanos SIS system had to be early 80's - 82,83,84 or so.

According to:
http://corporate.shimano.com/publish/content/corporate/en/shimanocorporatesiteen/about_shimano/company_history.html

" 1984 • A new Dura-Ace series equipped with the groundbreaking Shimano Index System (SIS) for shifting is born. "

The first I personally used (and still have on a beater bike)was the '86 600(ex). So it had migrated to lower groupos by then at least.

 

[Don Shipp]

Excuse me for cut-and pasting this from elsewhere.
"Interestingly, SunTour's made an indexed stick-shift lever, called 5 Speed Click, in 1969. SunTour also made a combined freewheel plus rear hub, called Unit-Hub, in 1969 for small wheel bicycles. This was a decade before Shimano offered indexed shifting or freehubs. SunTour did not follow through on either of these innovations."

 

[serenaslu]

Excuse me for cut-and pasting this from elsewhere.
"Interestingly, SunTour's made an indexed stick-shift lever, called 5 Speed Click, in 1969. SunTour also made a combined freewheel plus rear hub, called Unit-Hub, in 1969 for small wheel bicycles. This was a decade before Shimano offered indexed shifting or freehubs. SunTour did not follow through on either of these innovations."

I remember a friend of mine had a Sears sting-ray type "Crate" bike back in the early 70's that had a click stick-shift 5-speed in front of the banana seat on the top bar (it also had a "parking brake" beside the main lever). Sounded like a coffee grinder, but it somewhat worked. May have been the Sunny components.

 

[John M]

I remember a friend of mine had a Sears sting-ray type "Crate" bike back in the early 70's that had a click stick-shift 5-speed in front of the banana seat on the top bar (it also had a "parking brake" beside the main lever). Sounded like a coffee grinder, but it somewhat worked. May have been the Sunny components.

Shimano's early attempt at indexing was the Positron system that was in the early 80's and preceded SIS.

 

[Don Shipp]

Shimano's early attempt at indexing was the Positron system that was in the early 80's and preceded SIS.

My wife's old Raleigh still has it's original positron gear which is and always was rubbish.
It's a nice, light frame tho', a perfect project for upgrading.

 

[PCC]

I rode a bike with Positron back in the day. When the cable broke it became a single-speed. What was nice was that I could shift gears while stationary by simply pushing the lower pivot in or out until it clicked into the next gear.

 

[Don Shipp]

I rode a bike with Positron back in the day. When the cable broke it became a single-speed. What was nice was that I could shift gears while stationary by simply pushing the lower pivot in or out until it clicked into the next gear.

Which is why the cable broke.

 

[ptlwp]

Speaking of shifting, my Trek has the shifter on the handle bar and I am supposed to keep my hands further out where the shifters aren't.


But my hands keep sliding inward and causing me to shift when I don't want to!!!

Any ideas to fix this, or will time take care of it?

 

[PCC]

Which is why the cable broke.

Nope, I never shifted it while stopped (as far as I can remember). I just remember that it snapped it one day and the cost of the replacement cable was more than I could afford at the time.