Low Gear Guy
Veteran
- Location
- Surrey
Hmmm. Why exactly were they called suicide levers?Suicide levers for drop bars. Very useful when pootling around.
Hmmm. Why exactly were they called suicide levers?Suicide levers for drop bars. Very useful when pootling around.
Heavy and lardy are what e bike customers want. What they don't want is pedal it yourself. Will it do 10mph in town, with minimal effort on my part? Good enough.So would I, preferably with a nice lightweight quality double butted steel frame and alloy rims. That way I wouldnt be forced to build my own from a 531 touring frame!
Most utility e-bikes I see are way too heavy and lardy. Big thick frames, suspension forks, fat heavy tyres. The assistance is used as an excuse to let weight control go out of the window.
I don't like downtube shifters. They're in the wrong place. You don't put a car's gearshift behind the passenger seat, after all. Years ago I had a 10 speed bike with the shifters moved to the stem. I never knew why they weren't more popular. They were very close to being thumbies before thumbies were invented.I’m in two minds about bar end shifters. I have them on an old Galaxy, but there’s a sticky-out inelegance about them that you don’t get with diwntube shifters.
Apparently, they stuck into your chest when you braked suddenly and were propelled forward.I don't like downtube shifters. They're in the wrong place. You don't put a car's gearshift behind the passenger seat, after all. Years ago I had a 10 speed bike with the shifters moved to the stem. I never knew why they weren't more popular. They were very close to being thumbies before thumbies were invented.
Not much use at speed. On the flat, when you're going slower, they'll slow you.Hmmm. Why exactly were they called suicide levers?
Not when I had them on my bike. I never got close to it happening, even during any number of teenage crashes.Apparently, they stuck into your chest when you braked suddenly and were propelled forward.
That's as may be if you are planning a trip round the world. I'm not, I live in Yorkshire and don't need to put up with a more difficult solution that may be a good idea if I break down in Afghanistan. I don't have to put up with a Land Rover every day so that I can drive off road either. If either of these situations changes, I'll review it, but my road bike would be useless in Afghanistan for any number of reasons, the shifters would be the least of my worries.Downtube friction levers work on any number of gears and are easily fixed. That's why a lot of world expedition touring cyclists still use friction shifters, you can't replace a sti lever in the middle of nowhere.
Suicide levers for drop bars. Very useful when pootling around.
Hmmm. Why exactly were they called suicide levers?
haha - I was going to post that! They are, after all, extinct according to many ...Rim brakes
I don't like downtube shifters. They're in the wrong place. You don't put a car's gearshift behind the passenger seat, after all. Years ago I had a 10 speed bike with the shifters moved to the stem. I never knew why they weren't more popular. They were very close to being thumbies before thumbies were invented.
That sounds like a good description of most utterly crap brakes.They work perfectly fine in non emergency braking situations.
Rim brakes nearly made me extinct coming off Ventoux. It was filthy weather, couldn't see 10 metres, heavy rain. I was wearing everything I had, 5 layers, and I was freezing. I had to stop and run up and down halfway down the descent. 10mph was an absolute maximum speed until we dropped out of the cloud, so my pal and I were both hard on the brakes. Both of us needed new rear blocks at the bottom, and mine had been nearly new.haha - I was going to post that! They are, after all, extinct according to many ...