Why STI drop bar shifters are £100+

[richards]

I agree with the general moan about built-in obsolescence, overcharging, price-fixing etc. That said having accurate gear-change available and to hand like STI is dead handy in town. Makes me feel a whole lot safer to have both hands on the brakes.

Richard

[Tonyf33]

A new set of Sora sti's are approx £120 which is a rip off. I honestly think that flat bar sti's offer massively greater value over the drop bar variants. My 7 year old road SLR-440's still shift perfect after approx 20K miles, they shift as quick as the D/Ace 9 speed sti and having slightly smaller hands I never have to stretch. Been able to shift & brake using a thumb & forefinger is brilliant. Shimano replaced these with the more expensive R660's but the 3x8 speed variants can still be had for £36 new. New 9 speed MTB shifters seem to start around the £35 mark & 2nd hand are ten a penny.

[Ivor Tingting]

You can pick up Campag 10sp for less than £50 and the perfectly adequate Veloce 10sp for £63 (both from Ribble) and that includes a full cable set!

Not wshing to resurrect an old argument, but I've no idea why the Shimano equivalents are so much more

Because Shimano STIs are so much easier to ride with. You can easily brake and change at the same time. Campag are a little more tricky the functions not all being on the same lever each function is controlled individually. My Campag 10 speed Chorus Ergos seized after only two seasons where as my Ultegra STIs are still going strong after 5 years touch wood - famous last words.

[PW]

The Campag ones are repairable with spares back-up - I rebuilt a set of Centaur 10 speed a month or so back. Shimano don't sell spares.