• This topic has 25 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 13 years ago by tang.
Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)
  • Shifters; inconvenience by design, at no extra cost…
  • Rusty-Shackleford
    Free Member

    How come brake leavers have a clamp design that allows them to be fitted to the bars without having to remove the grips, but shifters don’t? If it’s just to get on my ****’ tits…job done 😀

    tony24
    Free Member

    sram x9 and avid matchmaker 😆

    Munqe-chick
    Free Member

    sadly not all brakes do either, such as my new M775 XTs which is a shame when cheapo stuff can manage it…

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    Sawyer
    Free Member

    Don’t understand why BMX lever style hinged clamps aren’t used all round.

    uplink
    Free Member

    Maybe they just presumed that everyone had seen the light?

    Bagstard
    Free Member

    It isn’t just the grips, you often end up with scuffed bars too.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    Don’t understand why BMX lever style hinged clamps aren’t used all round.

    To keep the weight down?

    Good point though 🙂

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    How often do you need to remove your shifters? Assuming you set the controls up properly to begin with, probably not that often. I suppose it’s a pain but then I don’t take my shifters off that often so I can live with it.

    Rusty-Shackleford
    Free Member

    Uplink, if you think lock-on grips are ‘the light’, it must be a very dim world you inhabit!

    I’m gonna pop these new shifters on, inboard of my brake leavers. However, being the inquisitive sort, I might decide to try them t’other side of the brake leavers at some point, just to see. Then my contrary streak will get the better of me and I’ll probably move them back.

    With a removable clamp, I can dick around with the minimum of fuss:-
    1. remove old shifter
    2. fit new shifter
    3. move shifter
    4. move shifter back
    5. sit around scratching myself

    Even with the shining beacon that is lock-on grips, with a non-removable clamp it goes something like this:-
    1. remove grip
    2. remove brake leaver
    3. remove old shifter
    4. fit new shifter
    5. fit brake
    6. fit grip
    7. remove grip
    8. remove brake
    9. remove shifter
    10. fit brake
    11. fit shifter
    12. fit grip
    13. remove grip
    14. remove shifter
    15. remove brake
    16. fit shifter
    17. fit brake
    18. fit grip
    19. have nap

    I take the point about not actually having to do it that often in reality, but my point is, we shouldn’t have to do it at all. It’s just an additional mundane chore that I can do without! I don’t buy the weight argument, it’s less than minimal in the big scheme of things.

    Sram X9 you say? Will it wotk with an SLX rear mech? Don’t worry, I’ll search it…bound to have been asked about a gajillion times before!

    becky_kirk43
    Free Member

    Yes it is a pain, although once the shifter is fitted if your brakes have the easy fitting thing you don’t need to take it all off just to move your shifters to the other side because you can loosen the shifter to move it and take the brake off to move that 😉

    namastebuzz
    Free Member

    How often do you need to remove your shifters? Assuming you set the controls up properly to begin with, probably not that often. I suppose it’s a pain but then I don’t take my shifters off that often so I can live with it.

    Well how often do you need to remove your bars? Not very often either but the most stems allow you to unbolt the clamp to lift them out instead of sliding them out like you used to have to do in the old days.

    Workshop mechanics love to see stuff that comes apart easily or is easy to change or service and hate stuff that isn’t coz the same job takes twice as long.

    FuzzyWuzzy
    Full Member

    Yeah Shimano shifters pee me off with their clamp design, sure it’s not a massive inconvenience as you don’t move them around often but it would still be useful to have a split or hinged clamp and presumably wouldn’t add much to the cost for SLX/XT/XTR

    Rusty-Shackleford
    Free Member

    becky_kirk43 – Member
    Yes it is a pain, although once the shifter is fitted if your brakes have the easy fitting thing you don’t need to take it all off just to move your shifters to the other side because you can loosen the shifter to move it and take the brake off to move that

    Ha ha…good point! This has clearly got me so worked up I can’t even think straight 😀

    Oh, and becky…nobody likes a smart-arse! 😉

    I_Ache
    Free Member

    But what if you r brakes are in a nice comfortable place and you dont want to risk moving them because it COULD take 20 mins extra faf to get them right again.

    A hinge/extra bolt IS the way it should be I cant believe nobody has done it yet.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    lighter weight, simple manufacture, cheaper.

    I_Ache
    Free Member

    But it wouldnt be much heavier and it wouldnt be much more complicated to produce. But it would be much easier to fit and remove.

    Rusty-Shackleford
    Free Member

    TandemJeremy – Member
    lighter weight, simple manufacture, cheaper.

    Oh, phurleeease! Any weight increase will be sooo minimal that unless you’re an anal gram-counter it doesn’t even register.

    Simple manufacture? For the likes of Shimano? Get outta here…we’re talking an extra bolt ffs!

    Cheaper? For the likes of Shimano? Get outta here…we’re talking an extra bolt ffs!

    Pennies, in the big scheme of things, pennies…

    DezB
    Free Member

    Just think yourself lucky its not a road bike like mine, with the old one bolt quill stem. Now that is a pain in the arse!

    tang
    Free Member

    like all good nerds i measure the position of the controls relative to the end of the bar when its all sweet, then promptly loose the bit of paper. in my own defence i have memorized my saddle height.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Is your life so close to perfect thats the only rant you could come up with?

    You read the guardian don’t you?

    tang
    Free Member

    i read the guardian and my life is only ‘nearly’ perfect. its the curse of being middle class.

    Rusty, you forgot the bar ends.

    You do use bar ends, don’t you ? 😉

    votchy
    Free Member

    Oh, phurleeease! Any weight increase will be sooo minimal that unless you’re an anal gram-counter it doesn’t even register.

    Simple manufacture? For the likes of Shimano? Get outta here…we’re talking an extra bolt ffs!

    Cheaper? For the likes of Shimano? Get outta here…we’re talking an extra bolt ffs!

    Pennies, in the big scheme of things, pennies…

    Obviously not from a finance, engineering nor manufacturing back ground then

    Rusty-Shackleford
    Free Member

    votchy – Member
    Obviously not from a finance, engineering nor manufacturing back ground then

    Nope. From a layman’s perspective, Shimano (bikes) raison d’être is the evolution and improvement of bicycle bits ‘n’ bobs. The company will be structured to do this in an efficient cost effective manner. I struggle to comprehend how adapting, existing, tried and tested design, such as a split clamp with an extra bolt, is going to radically impact their R and D or tooling costs! I’m all ears if you want to educate me…?

    MidlandTrailquestsGraham – Member
    Rusty, you forgot the bar ends.

    You do use bar ends, don’t you?

    😀 not at the moment…but I do have some old x-lite stubbies to call on if the urge takes me!

    FuzzyWuzzy
    Full Member

    Oh come on, Shimano probably spend more on their factory xmas party than Formula spend on manufacturing their brake levers in a year yet Formula can manage to do a split clamp (and brakes are more usually the subject of weight weenie attention than shifters). Given the trend for bumping up prices a fair bit each year I’m sure they could pass on the additional cost without anyone noticing (ofc 10sp redesign would have been a perfect opportunity for this but I’m guessing they’re still not split clamp?)

    tang
    Free Member

    think the new xtr brakes are split clamp, trickle down? yes please.

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