Smokin Joe
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
I've used those for years, never dropped a chain since I fitted one.
Reliable shifting on a triple
- Thread starter Crackle
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
numbnuts
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gone over the hill and far away
Me too
slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
I drop chains on the triple all the time. I think I might need one of these dog fang jobbies. Thanks for the information.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Bar end friction shift. Perfect shifts every time and infinite trimming capability built in.
DCBassman
Guru
- Location
- The lumpy far South West
DCBassman
Guru
- Location
- The lumpy far South West
And I have nothing but triples, and no problems once the adjustment is right.
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
I know of one bloke who claims to have over 70,000 miles of reliable shifts from sti units but they're not something I'd want going wrong miles from home...too bloody complicated.
Thumbshifters or downtube Levers are about as simple as can be and so less likely to fail. The mounting positions for either of these is almost limitless due to the various brackets and adapters available.
The only time I've had a dropped chain was down to poor setup and that's easily fixed.
Chain suck can be an issue but usually that's due to the metal on the granny ring teeth being squished up when it's new. The ridges can be filed off and you can go back to normal shifting again.
Thumbshifters or downtube Levers are about as simple as can be and so less likely to fail. The mounting positions for either of these is almost limitless due to the various brackets and adapters available.
The only time I've had a dropped chain was down to poor setup and that's easily fixed.
Chain suck can be an issue but usually that's due to the metal on the granny ring teeth being squished up when it's new. The ridges can be filed off and you can go back to normal shifting again.
KneesUp
Guru
Bar ends set to friction for me. Shimano LX cranks with a mix of Shimano and Spa rings and a c. 30 year old Suntour XCE derailleur up front and a 8 speed cassette with a Alvio mech at the back. All very reliable although the top limit screw on the front shifter is stuck so you can overahift if you’re being brutal.
Interesting Vantage. I know a lot of serious tourers only use friction shifters for the reasons you state. Personally I find Sti's fine for my purposes and the only time I've not been able to fix gearing is when a component has actually broken.
STI shifters work well for me, my commuter is at 12k all weather (snow, rain, more rain, heavy rain and the occaisonal sun) with no shifting problems at all. Aside from one frayed cable which broke.
I'd be quite happy touring with them, but if I was going somewhere where parts might be difficult to come by, I may well be tempted to go with bar ends.
- Location
- London
What's the error you reckon causes it?
One of my bikes drops the chain sometimes - have the impression that it might have something to do with changing gear when rolling over a speedbump. Make any sense?
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
Absolutely makes sense. Mine COULD be that I’m trying to be too clever by shifting to a smaller chainring while simultaneously shifting to a bigger gear on the cassette. Usually as I’m coming off a quick downhill/flat onto a climb. Both recent occurrences have been on a left hand bend. In both cases I had the presence of mind not to force the chain so it wedged itself on the B.B.
I too could do with a dog’s tooth. I wouldn’t have dropped it I’m sure.
Last edited:
