Tom wrote:
> I've started building all of my new bikes with barend shifters and you
> know what? They actually shift better, cost $65 on Ebay new and I can
> tell by the feel which gear I'm in.
gee, so can I and my shifters cost $10...plus I haven't needed to
adjust my rear der for 16 years(friction shifters).
>
> Now that I've used them on my touring bike, my cyclocross bike and two
> road bikes I believe I'd have no qualms about using them for racing
> either. While I suppose that you could come up with some sort of
> scenario where you could lose a race because it tool .1 seconds longer
> to shift your barends, to tell you the truth, in all of the races I was
> in I seldom shifted at any critical time. In the crits I only used one
> or two gears and maybe one more in the sprint. But we were almost
> always on the rivet and you didn't HAVE any more gears. In road racing
> I never saw anything that might even VAGUELY be called a critical time
> for shifting.
>
> It's true that you might want to be a little smarter about your
> shifting if it takes marginally longer to move your hand to the barend
> rather than twisting it where it is, but I'm not impressed.
>
> Originally I bought STI and then Ergo because I wanted the best stuff.
> Then I bought it because it seemed to be the only stuff. Now the prices
> are so far in outer space that it no longer makes any sense on a
> recreational bike and very little on a racing bike.
>
> With 8 road bikes, a touring bike, a cyclocross bike, a fully suspended
> mountain bike and a track bike in my collection I've been able to try
> just about everything. Think I'll stick with barends from now on.