Shimano A050 rocker shifters

[bonzobanana]

You see these on entry level road bikes from various brands. Decathlon feature it on their Triban RC100 just the right side shifter as a 1x road bike. Why this design over lets say a simple rotary bar shifter (not twist grip) or a trigger shifter? Seems a strange design that is quite bulky and more likely to be knocked by mistake. Shimano clearly felt other entry level shifters weren't as suitable for road bikes and came up with this design but I've seen it on various bikes and makes the cockpit very cluttered and difficult to fit many accessories. If you fitted mountain bike trigger shifters you would still have the top area to use for accessories. It's not obvious to me the advantages of such a shifter although I guess when you are down in the drops you possibly can operate them with your chin especially if you resemble Jimmy Hill. Seems like one of Shimano's weaker designs in ergonomics. I don't think I've seen any other company produce shifters that resemble these. Anyone use them and think they are a decent design and better than the alternatives? Obviously brifters are the standard now for slightly more expensive bikes and would be the ideal choice for a road bike. I guess these are typically fitted to road bikes sub £250 or maybe sub £300 nowadays. Bikes people buy who aren't too serious about cycling or need just a basic low value commuting bike.

 

[Cycleops]

I can guess it’s all down to cost, these would be cheaper to produce and they’re looking to save every penny on an entry level bike. You can see in the pic they’ve used a crudely welded up quill stem. Could be argued that regular thumb shifters meant for flat bars would work as well but that might prompt buyers to say they’ve got the wrong shifters. In fact these are exactly the same design but on their side. Should be easy enough to operate when on the tops with your thumb. Don’t know if it is such a bad design, I guess you’d only know after using them for a bit.
Whats the alternative? Down tube shifters would now be seen as less ergonomic as you have to reach down and there’s no visual indication of what gear you’re in.