The 'Growth' Of STI Levers

[Gravity Aided]

It’s progress. It means we no longer live in caves, and hunt deer ( or whatever ) with spears.

Well, there goes my weekend...

 

[Nonethewiser]

When I returned to cyling last autumn after a good few years off, I'd only ever owned bikes with downtube shifters. What a revelation brifters are! I love the fact that I don't have to take my hands off the bars to fiddle about when selecting the cogs and I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't now wish to return to the downtubers. I'm vertically challenged and have quite small hands but find the 105 brifters on my BMC ALR01 to be fine.

 

[mjr]

When I returned to cyling last autumn after a good few years off, I'd only ever owned bikes with downtube shifters. What a revelation brifters are! I love the fact that I don't have to take my hands off the bars to fiddle about when selecting the cogs and I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't now wish to return to the downtubers. I'm vertically challenged and have quite small hands but find the 105 brifters on my BMC ALR01 to be fine.

Wait until you break one and see the replacement cost, then we'll see if you still love them!

Or if you change the number of cogs at the back and can't get a new right lever to match the left.

They're a dashed silly idea for anyone who's not riding close formation.

 

[Nonethewiser]

Mmmmmm I see what you mean mjr, replacements are a tad pricey and, yes, they are quite complicated but I can't see I'll go back to downtube shifters so we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

 

[mjr]

I think that if you're riding a bike with drops they are a superb ergonomic solution (even if they are expensive, over-complicated, incompatible, a hideous engineering bodge etc etc). Ergonomically they are very nice to use.

Maybe it's my spindly fingers and bony hands, but I never found any that really compared to lovely squishy thick-rubber brake hoods and braking from the drops on brifters always feels compromised - to help braking from the hoods, perhaps? But I spend far more time in the drops than on the hoods because I'm old and that's how I set my drop-barred bikes up. Can't see the point in having drops if you don't use them.

 

[si_c]

Maybe it's my spindly fingers and bony hands, but I never found any that really compared to lovely squishy thick-rubber brake hoods and braking from the drops on brifters always feels compromised - to help braking from the hoods, perhaps? But I spend far more time in the drops than on the hoods because I'm old and that's how I set my drop-barred bikes up. Can't see the point in having drops if you don't use them.

Compromised how? Braking on the drops is great on my commuter, far better than some of the traditional brake lever styles I've used.

They tend to be much better designed with two usable braking positions so braking from the goods is not totally ineffective either.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I have bar end shifters so brake levers are for brakes only. I find them as comfortable as any sti lever I have used.

 

[Andrew_P]

It's the main reason I love SRAM so much, and I am not so comfortable on a hydro disc bike. Much more comfortable with SRAM after a while I got to prefer the shifting system too.

The hydraulic shifters are huge braking from the hood's felt fairly awkward but I have fairly small hands.

 

[mustang1]

Soon enough the STI levers will be as long as tri-bars so you can get rid of the tri bars and save weight. No doubt the marketing department will wax lyrical about aerodynamics.

 

[mustang1]

Imagine having these STI levers on kids' drop-bar bikes. Ludicrous.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Compromised how? Braking on the drops is great on my commuter, far better than some of the traditional brake lever styles I've used.

They tend to be much better designed with two usable braking positions so braking from the goods is not totally ineffective either.

I've done an awful lot of fiddling around with hood placement and angle on the bars, and definitely agree with this. Modern STIs are much easier to set up so you can get good braking power from both the drops and the hoods. When using non-aero old-school levers I've struggled to manage this.

 

[Elybazza61]

Actually really like the long hoods on 105 hydros:especially good for that low 'on the rivet' position and for 'puppy paws'

Also never had any issues with breaking,the Dura-Ace shifter/caliper combo are particularly good even with carbon rims.

 

[mjr]

Compromised how? Braking on the drops is great on my commuter, far better than some of the traditional brake lever styles I've used.

They tend to be much better designed with two usable braking positions so braking from the goods is not totally ineffective either.

Compromised in that there seems to be less feeling/feedback, hindering accurate braking, and the maximum force seems lower. Maybe the test bikes I've ridden weren't set up right but harder setup wouldn't be a good thing either.

So you can brake more from the hoods? Who brakes hard from the hoods, where their hands can slide forwards more easily, reducing braking force and control? (Sorry if you do but I learned that was bad form.)

 

[si_c]

Compromised in that there seems to be less feeling/feedback, hindering accurate braking, and the maximum force seems lower. Maybe the test bikes I've ridden weren't set up right but harder setup wouldn't be a good thing either.

So you can brake more from the hoods? Who brakes hard from the hoods, where their hands can slide forwards more easily, reducing braking force and control? (Sorry if you do but I learned that was bad form.)

I spend the vast majority of my time on the hoods, granted when I'm descending or riding hard then I'll probably be on the drops for more control and more responsive braking. However when I'm on the hoods I still get good braking from the hoods - enough to get the back wheel in the air a good couple of inches.

With Shimano levers I've not once felt that my hand was going to slide off them even in really heavy rain. I've had that with other models of hood though.

 

[cyberknight]

http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/2013/10/changing-positions.html