Trigger wrote:531colin wrote:As somebody who has never owned a set of STIs and has no intention of owning a set, I heartily applaud Samuel for sticking to his guns and using downtube levers. I think its absurd that people will splash out on gear shifters but penny-pinch over a set of handbuilt wheels. However, many people these days have never ridden with anything other than STIs, they don't know how to use anything else, and there are wild stories of how dangerous it is to move your hand for a second to change gear. So making bikes with downtube levers isn't a way to make a living, and the same can be said for steel forks and rim braked bikes.....the market has "moved on". In my opinion theres nothing wrong with rim brakes and steel forks, but if you want to make a living you have to sell what people want to buy, and for the mainstream (that's most of the people, most of the time) what they want is disc brakes and carbon forks. Rim brakes and steel forks are a side note to history and fringe places like this forum.
(I have 4 bikes with rim brakes and steel forks, and just one with disc brakes and carbon forks. )
To be fair STIs are great, I'd always used DT levers up until recently but for anything other than plodding around they're a pain in the back side. I'm with you on some of the other modern stuff not being worth the hassle but I think STIs were a bit of a game changer.
I had one bike with STIs. Hated them especially the flippy, flappy brake levers. Ending up changing to Chorus Ergo - vastly superior though I guess it's all a matter of personal choice. Touring bikes I use barcons.
Agree with Colin about rim brakes. What does make discs seem better is hydraulic operation. My son's VSF tourer uses Magura hydraulic rim brakes. I'd be surprised if any disc braked bike stops any quicker.